bought used car, now 60 miles/90 mins later on fire!
Discussion
Hi,
So my Father just picked up his new car (05 plate golf, dealer purchase) and it managed a sum total of about 60 miles before it caught fire and was written off.
Now he's thinking that he has to now go through his insurance but I'm wondering if SOGA applies here? I mean clearly the car was not right/fit for sale, so why should he have to take the increased premium loading on the chin while the dealer who sold the car has all his cash for selling a car that was a [lynn faulds wood] potential death trap [/lynn faulds wood]
Anybody got any words of wisdom?
So my Father just picked up his new car (05 plate golf, dealer purchase) and it managed a sum total of about 60 miles before it caught fire and was written off.
Now he's thinking that he has to now go through his insurance but I'm wondering if SOGA applies here? I mean clearly the car was not right/fit for sale, so why should he have to take the increased premium loading on the chin while the dealer who sold the car has all his cash for selling a car that was a [lynn faulds wood] potential death trap [/lynn faulds wood]
Anybody got any words of wisdom?
EDLT said:
It depends on why it caught fire.
Superhoop said:
What was the cause of the fire? The most common being a discarded cigarette
Well considering it first lost power and then caught fire I would say a fault with the car rather than a discarded cigarette.He did say that the entire battery area was really gone and considering his fire investigation skills I'd say it was more than you'd normally expect, so I'd imagine alternator fault causing massive overcharging could have caused it but I'm not sure.
t!Would that be the battery, that sits right by the air box, which have a habit of ingesting cigarettes and also houses the MAF sensor, which if faulty would cause power loss?
An alternator would have to be going some to overcharge a battery to the point that it caught fire. It would have been letting out a very obvious strong smell of sulphur long before catching fire and once the battery got over a certain level, the dashboard would have illuminated at least the MIL as control modules like excessively high voltage about as much as they do low
An alternator would have to be going some to overcharge a battery to the point that it caught fire. It would have been letting out a very obvious strong smell of sulphur long before catching fire and once the battery got over a certain level, the dashboard would have illuminated at least the MIL as control modules like excessively high voltage about as much as they do low
I've been trying to write a polite reply to say why I'm pretty much completely discounting a cigarette but they all just end up looking pissy! So, I'll say this...
I'm not looking at cigarettes as a likely candidate.
And leave it at that!
It still looks agro but I've got to go out so can't spend any more time trying to beat around the bush!
I'll look into the concept of an engineers report when I find out what the garage say tomorrow, I've told him not to carry on with a claim straight away so he's just reported that it happened and swapped his insurance back to his old car.
I'm not looking at cigarettes as a likely candidate.
And leave it at that!
It still looks agro but I've got to go out so can't spend any more time trying to beat around the bush!
I'll look into the concept of an engineers report when I find out what the garage say tomorrow, I've told him not to carry on with a claim straight away so he's just reported that it happened and swapped his insurance back to his old car.
I had a similar problem on my 02 plate golf.
Had car a couple of weeks and sat in car talking to a couple of mates who were sat outside.
The engine had was running on tickover for 10 minutes or so when they told me smoke / steam was coming from under the bonnet. Lifted bonnet and the cooling fan had seized and the motor housing was on fire.
I'd not noticed the smoke sat in the car so if id been in traffic this could have been a lot worse.
I believe this is a common problem on mk4 golfs and i'd imagine the mk5 is the same setup. The fan is also close to the battery.
Hope this helps.
Had car a couple of weeks and sat in car talking to a couple of mates who were sat outside.
The engine had was running on tickover for 10 minutes or so when they told me smoke / steam was coming from under the bonnet. Lifted bonnet and the cooling fan had seized and the motor housing was on fire.
I'd not noticed the smoke sat in the car so if id been in traffic this could have been a lot worse.
I believe this is a common problem on mk4 golfs and i'd imagine the mk5 is the same setup. The fan is also close to the battery.
Hope this helps.
Superhoop said:
Would that be the battery, that sits right by the air box, which have a habit of ingesting cigarettes and also houses the MAF sensor, which if faulty would cause power loss?
An alternator would have to be going some to overcharge a battery to the point that it caught fire. It would have been letting out a very obvious strong smell of sulphur long before catching fire and once the battery got over a certain level, the dashboard would have illuminated at least the MIL as control modules like excessively high voltage about as much as they do low
WTF?An alternator would have to be going some to overcharge a battery to the point that it caught fire. It would have been letting out a very obvious strong smell of sulphur long before catching fire and once the battery got over a certain level, the dashboard would have illuminated at least the MIL as control modules like excessively high voltage about as much as they do low
freecar said:
I've been trying to write a polite reply to say why I'm pretty much completely discounting a cigarette but they all just end up looking pissy! So, I'll say this...
I'm not looking at cigarettes as a likely candidate.
And leave it at that!
It still looks agro but I've got to go out so can't spend any more time trying to beat around the bush!
I'll look into the concept of an engineers report when I find out what the garage say tomorrow, I've told him not to carry on with a claim straight away so he's just reported that it happened and swapped his insurance back to his old car.
State "he doesn't smoke" before the parrot comes along to tell you what you will be told when you claim it was the car...I'm not looking at cigarettes as a likely candidate.
And leave it at that!
It still looks agro but I've got to go out so can't spend any more time trying to beat around the bush!
I'll look into the concept of an engineers report when I find out what the garage say tomorrow, I've told him not to carry on with a claim straight away so he's just reported that it happened and swapped his insurance back to his old car.
0a said:
freecar said:
I've been trying to write a polite reply to say why I'm pretty much completely discounting a cigarette but they all just end up looking pissy! So, I'll say this...
I'm not looking at cigarettes as a likely candidate.
And leave it at that!
It still looks agro but I've got to go out so can't spend any more time trying to beat around the bush!
I'll look into the concept of an engineers report when I find out what the garage say tomorrow, I've told him not to carry on with a claim straight away so he's just reported that it happened and swapped his insurance back to his old car.
State "he doesn't smoke" before the parrot comes along to tell you what you will be told when you claim it was the car...I'm not looking at cigarettes as a likely candidate.
And leave it at that!
It still looks agro but I've got to go out so can't spend any more time trying to beat around the bush!
I'll look into the concept of an engineers report when I find out what the garage say tomorrow, I've told him not to carry on with a claim straight away so he's just reported that it happened and swapped his insurance back to his old car.
I don't quite get the rest of your post, is the parrot the guy coming back to try to tell me it was a cigarette again or do you expect problems with the dealer accepting that the car was at fault?
I'd think, in this timeline, that it'd be the dealers job to prove it wasn't the car rather than my father proving it was, MOT yesterday on fire today, surely there's something amiss here?
I'll embarrass my Father further by telling everybody he's a fire officer and has been for over 45 years! Which is why I know it wasn't a cigarette, the engine bay was so consumed by fire that the heat build up was way more than a hot engine and cigarette could possibly provide (hypothetically, I can't find one instance of a cigarette entering an airbox or otherwise getting trapped in another's car and catching fire) which is what makes me think electrical, something got hot enough to catch fire and it would be very energetic unlike a cigarette which would smoulder and do less damage.
It takes the shielding on the positive terminal to be damaged and short against anyhing in the engine bay to turn a battery into a 600amp arc Welder.
Total loss of power woul happen as the battery dumps all it's charge, fries electrics, and generally goes on fire.
If the seat of the fire looks like being near the battery, that's what I'd look at ,with a particular view to is the battery terminals have been altered/messed around with to fit a powerful audio amplifier, for example.
Total loss of power woul happen as the battery dumps all it's charge, fries electrics, and generally goes on fire.
If the seat of the fire looks like being near the battery, that's what I'd look at ,with a particular view to is the battery terminals have been altered/messed around with to fit a powerful audio amplifier, for example.
freecar said:
well he doesn't.
I don't quite get the rest of your post, is the parrot the guy coming back to try to tell me it was a cigarette again or do you expect problems with the dealer accepting that the car was at fault?
I'd think, in this timeline, that it'd be the dealers job to prove it wasn't the car rather than my father proving it was, MOT yesterday on fire today, surely there's something amiss here?
I'll embarrass my Father further by telling everybody he's a fire officer and has been for over 45 years! Which is why I know it wasn't a cigarette, the engine bay was so consumed by fire that the heat build up was way more than a hot engine and cigarette could possibly provide (hypothetically, I can't find one instance of a cigarette entering an airbox or otherwise getting trapped in another's car and catching fire) which is what makes me think electrical, something got hot enough to catch fire and it would be very energetic unlike a cigarette which would smoulder and do less damage.
45 years? Why didn't he retire on a full pension 15 years ago? In 45 years he's never seen a cigarette cause a car fire?I don't quite get the rest of your post, is the parrot the guy coming back to try to tell me it was a cigarette again or do you expect problems with the dealer accepting that the car was at fault?
I'd think, in this timeline, that it'd be the dealers job to prove it wasn't the car rather than my father proving it was, MOT yesterday on fire today, surely there's something amiss here?
I'll embarrass my Father further by telling everybody he's a fire officer and has been for over 45 years! Which is why I know it wasn't a cigarette, the engine bay was so consumed by fire that the heat build up was way more than a hot engine and cigarette could possibly provide (hypothetically, I can't find one instance of a cigarette entering an airbox or otherwise getting trapped in another's car and catching fire) which is what makes me think electrical, something got hot enough to catch fire and it would be very energetic unlike a cigarette which would smoulder and do less damage.
Blimey.
LoonR1 said:
45 years? Why didn't he retire on a full pension 15 years ago? In 45 years he's never seen a cigarette cause a car fire?
Blimey.
He's a fire officer, you're not.Blimey.
He's seen the car. You haven't.
Time to wind your neck in, you're being less than helpful with your assumptions and trolling.
Vee said:
VAG engines of that era have large fuses on top of the battery which were prone to melting the casing. This could easily have led to a fire in that area.
This.Also incidents of the coil packs going up in smoke.
Did the engine look rather clean when he picked it up, like someone might have power washed it??
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