Volkswagen Repair: large loose spring under front seats, seat frame, drivers seat

Question
greetings. i just bought a 2001 passat for my son to drive to school, and was looking on the internet for information on the car, when i noticed a post where someone with a passat said they found a large spring lying under the drivers seat.
i went out, and looked under the front seats of the car, and lying under both seats was a spring about 7 inches long, and 3/4 in diameter.

where are they for, and how do i re-attach them?

many thanks, oscar  

Answer
The spring is from the seat lifting adjustment. The lever on the side of the seat that lifts the seat up and down uses that spring to help with leverage. The spring can not be reattach. Even if you could get the spring back on it would just fall off. The spring is very strong and it bends the metal where it attaches at the tabs. A new seat frame is needed to correct but is very expensive. Average seat frame is $400 and labor is around $150. If you don't use the spring the seat frame will be just fine but just a tad bit harder to lift. Keep in touch.