[souravc]

News in the mainstream media , hope this proves to be self explanatory
Volkswagen Vento car fire: bizman dies - Indian Express

Originally Posted by bluevolt

I did posted link of this thread on VW page and they deleted in few minutes. I again posted the link with other accounts and all were deleted within one hour.

Now this is very sad on behalf of VW. If they are clean then why the company is so afraid of poor marketing. They should reply to the link responsibly. A life is lost because of fire in a new car. I agree VW may not be 100% responsible but still they are as a manufacturer. If aftermarket installments cause fire then 5 out of 10 cars will burn every day and the owner will be held responsible because of aftermarket fitment. Never seen a modded Honda burning into flames.

Saddest thing is that there is no official statement from VW on this issue.

No company would allow adverse publicity especially on something that's not proven - do you seriously expect any corporation to sit tight and be flamed on stuff thats not proven ? I have seen some of the comments on FB , they were premature to say the least ( like many of the comments on this thread)

On your specific point about not seeing any Honda burning into flames, you can refer to the following news item Honda City catches fire, occupant charred - Hindustan Times I doubt there is any car where there has not been any incident of fire however expensive / luxury it is !

[Mustang.101]

Originally Posted by souravc

On your specific point about not seeing any Honda burning into flames, you can refer to the following news item Honda City catches fire, occupant charred - Hindustan Times I doubt there is any car where there has not been any incident of fire however expensive / luxury it is !

This article does not justify your proof. The article says that the fire was caused due to a CNG kit that was poorly fitted on the honda city or was of sub standard quality. Hence, you can not blame Honda for this.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by Mustang.101

This article does not justify your proof. The article says that the fire was caused due to a CNG kit that was poorly fitted on the honda city or was of sub standard quality. Hence, you can not blame Honda for this.

"Never seen a modded Honda burning into flames" was the specific comment .

A CNG kit is a mod , isn't it ? Who is trying to blame Honda here ?
It just goes to prove that any car can catch fire and no one can jump to conclusions without getting into the specifics .

[Mustang.101]

Originally Posted by souravc

"Never seen a modded Honda burning into flames" was the specific comment .

A CNG kit is a mod , isn't it ? Who is trying to blame Honda here ?
It just goes to prove that any car can catch fire and no one can jump to conclusions without getting into the specifics .

A CNG kit is more prone to shoddy work or substandard parts than a regular electrical accessory and subsequently is much more prone to catching a fire (due to presence of a highly flammable fuel) than a regular stereo fitting or a speaker installation. Lets just wait for the official VW statement.

Does anyone know what variant of the TDi Vento it was?

[Abhinav.Daos]

Originally Posted by Mustang.101

A CNG kit is more prone to shoddy work or substandard parts than a regular electrical accessory and subsequently is much more prone to catching a fire (due to presence of a highly flammable fuel) than a regular stereo fitting or a speaker installation. Lets just wait for the official VW statement.

Does anyone know what variant of the TDi Vento it was?

Seems like a Highline



Notice the fog lamps

[ritzy]

Originally Posted by souravc

No company would allow adverse publicity especially on something that's not proven - do you seriously expect any corporation to sit tight and be flamed on stuff thats not proven ? I have seen some of the comments on FB , they were premature to say the least ( like many of the comments on this thread)

Thanks Sourav for that comment. Exactly my thoughts.
To give an example - I don't remember the root cause published by Tata motors for Nano burning incidents ( was there any?). All I still think, in the back of my mind, is that Nano is having this burning problem (we know this is not true). And that's the point. The media trials and doctored statements before actual investigation are unfortunate and go a long way in framing the image of the particular car in public mind.
So I do think that 'the art of managing media' is an important aspect of a PR department especially in this type of cases where investigations are not finished yet and culprit is not found.

We as a bunch of learned auto enthusiast should bring rationality to this discussion. I especially liked the posts by GTO, Ninjatalli, Nandu sir et. al.

Originally Posted by Mustang.101

Does anyone know what variant of the TDi Vento it was?

Do we know for sure that this was a TDi? Please point it out to me. what I got to know is that this was a Petrol.

[rambo1o1]

Originally Posted by wickedchauhan

This is pretty nifty and could come in handy at times. Do you have the same one? Can we get it in India or more specifically Bangalore?

Will this life hammer be able to break through tinted glass?? Normally windows with sun-film are quite difficult to break! Just need some opinions.

Sad to hear a life is lost.May his family have the strength to cope with their loss. Hope the root cause is found out soon.

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by rambo1o1

Will this life hammer be able to break through tinted glass?? Normally windows with sun-film are quite difficult to break! Just need some opinions.

Can break the windshield in such cases.

RIP Kailesh :(

[bluevolt]

Guys I am not against VW or favoring Honda. My point is that the company could have at least offered condolence to the family by issuing a public notice and assured speedy inquiry.

And I didn't posted any childish comment on their FB page. I just posted this thread's link i.e. team-bhp on their wall and they simply removed.

[LDJ]

Just came across this thread and read all the posts in one go! I shudder to think the trauma the owner would have had to undergo inside his car when it caught fire!

My opinions:
1. On Morality: There is a life which has been cruelly taken away. The very least VW can do is assure they're on top of it and also offer condolence to the bereaved family.
2. On FB issue: I came across many posts claiming that their posts have been deleted pronto by VW India. I went through their FB page yes there were no posts about the incident anywhere! Yet what was glaring is they were offering tips on safe driving. If they are serious about their customers safety, they should create a post about this incident and assure their petrified VW owners that they are looking into this incident seriously - this would certainly gain a lot of trust from the VW owners and people alike.
3. On legal issue: Agreed the owner of the car was able to come out on his feet but one look would have been enough to know he was critically injured (as the reports say his back and legs were deeply scathed by the fire). Noe need of any medical reports to tell you whether its a 50% or 60 % or 70% burn. Also the man was rushed to the hospital immediately. So the police is legally bound to take the car in their custody. So howcome the car ended up with VW custody? Who called them there in the first place? Many of us would have been in accidents and we know that the service center guys don't just come on their own and take the car away. Its only after we call them do they respond. So it needs to be ascertained if someone in their family requested for the same. If that's the case then VW has done the right thing. However, if it was not the case then VW taking the car in their custody is paramount to destroying 'evidence'. It's like DMK saying "oh has Raja committed the 3G crime? Ok give us all the related files etc and we'll ascertain whether there has been any misappropriation of funds!"
4. On Loyalty: I see certain posts from some defending VW whenever anyone posts anything against VW. Everyone is entitled to their opinion os there's really no need to put someone down just because he/she airs a negative view. Everyone wants his brand to be the best and certainly there's a sense of ownership and 'we belong' mindset to the brands we own, but it should not get overboard to the point of blindly supporting them, especially in view of the 3 points I've highlighted above!

P.S: I have just posted my own personal opinion and if you do not agree to it, its fine, and there's really no need to justify the same or bring me down with your views. As I said, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Lets all give our fellow members some respect by not terming their posts as 'stupid' or 'ridiculous'.
P.P.S: My intention in the above post is NOT to flame VW, because we own one in the family too, but just point out the facts!

[k2max6]

I have read here that a lot of bhpians also consider shoddy ice installation as a reason for fire.I am not sure but in case of faulty installation should the fuse not blow up in the first case and stop the power in the concerned wires.
eg.Recently during the ICEing of my friends ANHC the installer messed up with some cables and a result 4 fuses blew up and the engine check light came up.The fuses were replaced and the engine check light was rectified after visiting HASS.
Even in our homes if we short circuit the current & neutral the mcb trips in milliseconds disconnecting the power.
So how can the ICE installation if at all in this vento be responsible ?

[Mustang.101]

Originally Posted by ritzy

Do we know for sure that this was a TDi? Please point it out to me. what I got to know is that this was a Petrol.

Yea its sure. It was a TDi. The person who unfortunately died was a relative of one of the team-bhp members. He has confirmed that the vento was a TDi.

And since someone just pointed out that this car looks like a highline due to the presence of the fog lamps then we can safely assume one thing that the owner must have at least NOT fiddled with the audio system because people in India usually do not install aftermarket audio accessories if they get a good system already factory fitted by the company.

[prateekswarup]

My deepest condolences to the family! A very horrific and tragic way to go.

As mentioned by many on this thread, issues with cars catching fire have plagued many a good brand. As a driver, I think we need to be looking at how best to react and protect ourselves in such situations.

After going through the thread have decided:

1. Keep a fire extinguisher in the car and know how to use it
2. Keep a Swiss Knife or some other cutting tool in the glove compartment.

Better safe than sorry I guess.

Any updates from VW?

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by Mustang.101

This article does not justify your proof. The article says that the fire was caused due to a CNG kit that was poorly fitted on the honda city or was of sub standard quality. Hence, you can not blame Honda for this.

I don't know what discussion was going on here, but this incident went on to become extremely famous.

BTW, as per this article, which was published <1 week after the September 2009 incident, the cause of fire was already found. So if a Honda catches fire, they themselves make a big deal of it when it comes to investigations.

[Mustang.101]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

I don't know what discussion was going on here, but this incident went on to become extremely famous.

BTW, as per this article, which was published <1 week after the September 2009 incident, the cause of fire was already found. So if a Honda catches fire, they themselves make a big deal of it when it comes to investigations.

Yes honda and toyota have been having issues regarding power window mechanisms and fire safety for quite some time in foreign countries especially america but i don't think they have had one in India. Anyways lets not go off topic. I also think its best to wait for The VW statement.