Has anybody on this forum heard anything about cars catching fire by themselves (new ones)?
My C8 (4 months old) did this 2 weeks ago, and Citroen are not coming clean with providing a replacement under warranty. In fact they are basically doing nothing..
Two witnesses saw it start, after it has been locked and stationary for over an hour. The fire brigade report has noted it down as "Electrical Short Circuit - defective wiring", but still Citroen are not doing anything about it.
I know of another C8 that did the same thing not too long ago as well - in a dealers workshop! We were lucky that the kids were not in the car at the time - we often leave ( make that used to leave) our 6 month olf daughter to sleep in the car over lunch time. I am very concerned that the next people might not be so lucky..
Anybody got any advice on how to handle this? Right now my family do not have any way of getting to and from school (apart from help from friends etc)..
Moi.
Picture of car here - adrianharvey.me.uk/c8fire/c8_2.jpg, it used to be a nice shiny Wicked Red....
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> Citroen are not doing anything about it.
And nor will they. Your car is written off, and its now down to the insuance comany to put you back where you were before, not Citroen. Your insurance company can pursue Citroen for expenses, but this is not your job (except to make sure you dont loose your NCB)
What do your insuarance company say?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Just reading through old threads and found this one - www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=i&t=24...1 where similar issue, but with Peugeot. Looks like Peugeot replaced vehicle under warranty...
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So my thinking was that if the car was faulty that Citroen should replace it - surely this is normal ??? Any insurance policy I decide to take out (I only have to take out 3rd party cover) should be separate to my new car warranty.
If I buy a new television and it blows up, I would expect the television company to replace it.
What is the general poll of this forum, because this is a key point for me.
"If a new car is destroyed due to a faulty component, should the manufacture replace the car under warranty?"
Yes or No ????
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"If a new car is destroyed due to a faulty component, should the manufacture replace the car under warranty?"
The trouble is, that after a big fire, and yours is a big fire, you wont ever prove it was Citreon caused issue.
That is why you have insurance -
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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That makes sense. However, in my case I think that we have a good case to demonstrate that the 99% probability is that it was caused by a fault with the vehicle itself and not any external influence.
I guess it's just a game of convincing them, and getting them to take responsibility..
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I guess it's just a game of convincing them and getting them to take responsibility..
Surely it is a game for your insurer to play on your behalf. Your insurer has underwritten the risk of fire and it is up to them to recover the amount they are paying you from the manufacturer.
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what do your insurance assesors say for starters?
and what do you mean by leaving a small child in a car unattended
shocked of yorkshire :-oooooooooooo(
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Shocked of Yorkshire - To be clear, baby never unattended, but yes, left to sleep.. Just the thought of it scares me though...
Insurance company is processing the claim, but are in danger of not paying out due to it being a manufacturing or design fault.
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Insurance company is processing the claim but are in danger of not paying out due to it being a manufacturing or design fault.
They wont. They will pay.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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>>and what do you mean by leaving a small child in a car unattended
I do it all the time. Sometimes the kids go out to the car and let themselves into the car to watch a DVD or two in piece.
Of course the car is within my [high] boundary wall, and concealed from view, and there are dogs - big ones, so the girls are safe enough.
Mind you, this thread has made me think about it a bit.
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> Has anybody on this forum heard anything about cars catching fire by themselves (new ones)?
Yes its really rather common.
Peugeots had a spate of car fires, One burnt down the owners house (it was in the attached garage when it caught fire) and a search will reveal quite a few VW touran infernos (those these were always when going along not sure if thats better or not!)
Based on this its amount to criminal to leaves kids unattended in cars.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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It also happened to a few Volvo XC90s a year or so ago...
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=40475&...e
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Ah, the benefits of a battery cut-out switch.
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Trouble with modern elektriky is that disabling the battery screws the ECU up, or it did on our more modern tractors (when i was farming)
Every time the battery flattened or a silly wire fell off we had to get the dealer in to sort it out.
Also the Missus was out on a round (Royal Mail) with a Vauxhall Combi and the alternator failed and unbelievably the engine konked out because the fuel pump is electric,on a diesel!!.
Is this progress ?.
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Surely everything except the really high current stuff is fused anyway? Most modern cars seem to have dozens of fuses.
Or maybe it's the really high current stuff starting the fires..:-/
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can-bus
the futures bright
;-)
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While I can understand your concern I think you have to let your insurer sort this one out. Whatever the fire service put on the paperwork I don't think it will stand up as "evidence" in a contested warranty claim.
I don't think, assuming it happens in your own driveway, you can be criticised in any way for letting a sleeping child finish the snooze in the car. We let both ours do it, and occasionally took them out in the car to get the snooze started in the first place. Chances of any car, even another C8 self immolating with a child snoozing in it may be marginally higher than it's been struck by a meteorite, but as nothing compared to the risks of travelling at 70mph half a car's width from a 40 tonne artic - which we do without a second thought.
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Just to give you an idea of how this can happen... and with another Citroen too.
Citroën UK recalled 3,600 C3 cars, fitted with ABS, delivered between 2002 and 2003. There had been a small number of cases of water ingress into the ABS Control Unit; this can cause the warning light to illuminate on the dashboard. Although normal braking will continue to operate 100% effectively, the ABS will not function under these conditions. In very exceptional circumstances, this water can damage the Electronic Control Unit, causing a short circuit that could ultimately lead to the risk of a fire under the bonnet.
And indeed it did cause some to catch fire... including one sitting round the back of our Citroen Dealer while booked in for the mod!!
As others have said claim on your insurance first and hassle Citroen afterwards if you have the time.
DW
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I would be hassling Citroen, why should you pay the excess and have a claim against you for a faulty vehicle? Won't they have to prove that the vehicle was of satisfactory quality if it was under 6 months old? I think thats how the sale of goods act puts it!
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The insurer will only pay out the value of a 4 month old C8 - less excess. What you want is a replacement under warranty (do you really want one?).
I would be making a noise in the dealers - when the showroom is busy this weekend!.
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