Help - Clio 172 caught fire!
Discussion
I am a very happy owner of a less than a year old renault clio 172 cup until saturday of last week , my wife was driving the car on her own and bumped the drivers side frount wheel up a kirb on a corner , she hit the kirb about 5 - 10 mph and didnt even pop the tire and very little damage to the alloy. Now she got out of the car and got onto the phone to me and whilst doing this the car caught fire under the bonnet, Luckly the fire was put out quickly and not to much damage from the look of it. The insurance company has written off the car because off the fire damage and not the accident damage , In my opinion in a minor accident like this that the car should nt have caught fire , how many people have slid up a kirb , i have done it and you wouldnt expect the car to burst into flames from this . The car wouldnt have been written off if it had not of caught fire , What i need help with is should this really happen with a modern car with fuel cut off switches and especally as renault pride there product with there safty standards. I will be at a loss if the car is written off money wise so should renault be taking responsability for the fire damage , Where do i stand , if any one has any experiances like this or legally what can i do. i have already been on the phone to renault and we are talking . WHERE DO I STAND . Any help much appreciated. THANK YOU.
If the cars still under warranty, id have a word with Renault Uk, quoting the vehicle details and see what they say.
Gotta admit, it dosent look too good if after a minor shunt the bloody car goes up in smoke!
Get on to them and see what they say.
Or maybe get an independent inspection done on the car to determine the fire cause...could be that the battery got shorted out or something similar and is a design fault...
Hope this helps.
Gotta admit, it dosent look too good if after a minor shunt the bloody car goes up in smoke!
Get on to them and see what they say.
Or maybe get an independent inspection done on the car to determine the fire cause...could be that the battery got shorted out or something similar and is a design fault...
Hope this helps.
Thankyou .
When i first spoke to renault they have never had any other clio burst in to flames like this, as in terms of insurance they will not replace the car with a new one just give me market value , the car has finance against it and i will be in negative equaty if it is written off.
>> Edited by wellard on Thursday 11th September 13:17
When i first spoke to renault they have never had any other clio burst in to flames like this, as in terms of insurance they will not replace the car with a new one just give me market value , the car has finance against it and i will be in negative equaty if it is written off.
>> Edited by wellard on Thursday 11th September 13:17
wellard said:
Thankyou .
When i first spoke to renault they have never had any other clio burst in to flames like this, as in terms of insurance they will not replace the car with a new one just give me market value , the car has finance against it and i will be in negative equaty if it is written off.
>> Edited by wellard on Thursday 11th September 13:17
Seems harsh. depending on WHY the car burst into flames... if it can be deamed as a mechanical fault, then surely THEY should foot the bill!
wellard said:
Thankyou .
When i first spoke to renault they have never had any other clio burst in to flames like this, as in terms of insurance they will not replace the car with a new one just give me market value , the car has finance against it and i will be in negative equaty if it is written off.
>> Edited by wellard on Thursday 11th September 13:17
Check your policy, if its less than 1 year old, and you are the original owner full replacement cost. Good Luck.
Alan
In a minor bump like that what could have caused a fire? No compression or distortion of the engine compartment so either something under the car got caught (unlikely?) or the shock jolted something free from where it ought to be.
If you can, take a look at the break and clutch servos. I have heard of some designs where "minor" shocks have dislodged a resevoir. It falls on something hot and the plastic melts through. Unlike peterol, put break or clutch fluid onto a hot exhaust manifold and it ignites (peterol would evaporate but still need an ignition source), and no smell / warning either.
Please remember to post the answer when you know what caused it to burn
If you can, take a look at the break and clutch servos. I have heard of some designs where "minor" shocks have dislodged a resevoir. It falls on something hot and the plastic melts through. Unlike peterol, put break or clutch fluid onto a hot exhaust manifold and it ignites (peterol would evaporate but still need an ignition source), and no smell / warning either.
Please remember to post the answer when you know what caused it to burn
Very few car fires are from fuel - more likely is electrical systems or hydraulics. A short circuit resulting from a lose component across the terminals on the starter for instance will see the battery overheat and either set the wiring alight or explode. There are no fuses to blow in this circumstance as the power is normally regulated by the operation of the starter solenoid. The alternator is quite capable of melting wiring and creating a potentially lethal shortcircuit as well.
The problem with both scenarios is that they are both symptoms not the cause of the fire - something else has to happen first.
Bumping the car up the kerb could have disturbed something in the engine bay but it had to be lose to begin with. The impact might have conceivably broken a rigid brake line though and on a hot exhaust or brake disc might start a fire.
The problem with both scenarios is that they are both symptoms not the cause of the fire - something else has to happen first.
Bumping the car up the kerb could have disturbed something in the engine bay but it had to be lose to begin with. The impact might have conceivably broken a rigid brake line though and on a hot exhaust or brake disc might start a fire.
wellard said:
Now she got out of the car and got onto the phone to me and whilst doing this the car caught fire under the bonnet
Sounds like to me the car was switched off at the time and the fire was caused by a fluid leaking from a reservoir dislodged by the shunt/impact onto a hot component.
Can only guess at this, but if the reservoir and it's broken fixings/mountings haven't melted too much in the fire, you've got the evidence to build a case and present a claim to Renault.
Good luck and please post the source of the fire if/when you find out.
Edited - 'cos I can't spell
>> Edited by AC79xxx on Thursday 11th September 14:36
Someone on Cliosport has just given me a link to this discussion. This has just happened to me!
Got woken up by my car alarm at 1.30am on Monday to find my 18 month old 172 on fire!!
All the bonnet was in flames and had loud bangs as the tyres were going.
Hands were shaking as I called the Fire Brigade and they got there within 4 minutes. A bunch of very good lads!
It has turned this - http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/cliosport/gallery/full/1085482399__IMGP0108.jpg
Into this - http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/cliosport/gallery/full/1085482657__IMGP0544.jpg
Words can not express how gutted I am! The Fire man in charge says that it was not arson and there were no suspicious circumstances. He says that the fire had started in the drivers headlight area of the car and then spread across the engine under the bonnet! The car had not been moved for 2 days so the engine was stone cold as well! The officer in charge believed that there must have been some electrical fault in the headlight area which caused the fire.
My insurance company have phoned me today to tell me the car is a write off and that they will be paying me out.
I have phoned Renault and they have not been very fothcoming. I asked them to inspect the car but they say that it is not their job and to leave it to the insurance company. I stand to lose thousands with the loss of my NCB and should not see why I have to stand this when it is a manufacturing fault. The car was bought from Renault, serviced by Renault, and still had 18 months of Renault warranty left - and they still don't want to know.
Does any body know anyone at Renault who I can speak to about this? I know Jas works for Renault but if anyone can give me names and numbes of people high up I can start kicking and screaming!! What would have happened if I was doing 70 in the car at the time???
I have hundreds of pics will i will post shortly but I hope someone can give me a bit of a lead.
A very gutted, and now 172'less, Mark
Got woken up by my car alarm at 1.30am on Monday to find my 18 month old 172 on fire!!
All the bonnet was in flames and had loud bangs as the tyres were going.
Hands were shaking as I called the Fire Brigade and they got there within 4 minutes. A bunch of very good lads!
It has turned this - http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/cliosport/gallery/full/1085482399__IMGP0108.jpg
Into this - http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/cliosport/gallery/full/1085482657__IMGP0544.jpg
Words can not express how gutted I am! The Fire man in charge says that it was not arson and there were no suspicious circumstances. He says that the fire had started in the drivers headlight area of the car and then spread across the engine under the bonnet! The car had not been moved for 2 days so the engine was stone cold as well! The officer in charge believed that there must have been some electrical fault in the headlight area which caused the fire.
My insurance company have phoned me today to tell me the car is a write off and that they will be paying me out.
I have phoned Renault and they have not been very fothcoming. I asked them to inspect the car but they say that it is not their job and to leave it to the insurance company. I stand to lose thousands with the loss of my NCB and should not see why I have to stand this when it is a manufacturing fault. The car was bought from Renault, serviced by Renault, and still had 18 months of Renault warranty left - and they still don't want to know.
Does any body know anyone at Renault who I can speak to about this? I know Jas works for Renault but if anyone can give me names and numbes of people high up I can start kicking and screaming!! What would have happened if I was doing 70 in the car at the time???
I have hundreds of pics will i will post shortly but I hope someone can give me a bit of a lead.
A very gutted, and now 172'less, Mark
Get an independent inpection carried out to determine cause.
Seems iffy to say the least.
If i was to hazard a guess, id say a power lead has chafed/shorted/cut on sharp plastic edge? (renault love sharp plastic edges) and dumped the full battery capacity of around 500amps to the chassis ground causing the result you now see.
HTH
Seems iffy to say the least.
If i was to hazard a guess, id say a power lead has chafed/shorted/cut on sharp plastic edge? (renault love sharp plastic edges) and dumped the full battery capacity of around 500amps to the chassis ground causing the result you now see.
HTH
I would suggest that the engine fire had absolutely nothing to do with the shunt into the kerb...
(White Van Man) and I know someone who's Honda S2000 engine caught fire (for no apparent reason). Honda fixed the car from head to toe for free (52 plate , this happened about a month or two ago)
In that instance Honda refused to state what the problem was but fixed it all for free... curious.. Renault probably want to keep such faults hush hush.
I'd be amazed if scraping the kerb could cause a fire when euroncap drive these cars into concrete walls at 35mph...........
Under one year old? Renault should be fitting the bill & sucking up big time for you not to take your business to a manafacturer whose car's don't spontaniously combust for no reason...
(White Van Man) and I know someone who's Honda S2000 engine caught fire (for no apparent reason). Honda fixed the car from head to toe for free (52 plate , this happened about a month or two ago)
In that instance Honda refused to state what the problem was but fixed it all for free... curious.. Renault probably want to keep such faults hush hush.
I'd be amazed if scraping the kerb could cause a fire when euroncap drive these cars into concrete walls at 35mph...........
Under one year old? Renault should be fitting the bill & sucking up big time for you not to take your business to a manafacturer whose car's don't spontaniously combust for no reason...
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