[volkman10]

Originally Posted by amtak

Agreed. I know it's too early to say anything; However, the reason I stated the same is because all of a sudden a lot of Vento's are catching fire.

A lot of Vento's ? I know of this incident only, are there many more reported?

Cheers!

[amtak]

Originally Posted by volkman10

A lot of Vento's ? I know of this incident only, are there many more reported?

Cheers!

I think there are 2 or 3. Saw some posts (Mumbai and Pune region).

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by amtak

lot of Vento's are catching fire

A lot of Ventos? Since where and when?

Originally Posted by amtak

I'll be happy if I am proven wrong.

Me too buddy. I too drive a Vento and the last thing I want is my car to become my funeral pyre.

Originally Posted by amtak

At the end of the day, it's a person who has lost his life and the trauma that the family must be going through a tough time now. RIP friend.

Yes many condolences for the lost soul. May the family have the courage to get through this tragedy and also bring some sense of justice and closure by getting to know the truth about how they lost someone they loved.

[amtak]

Everyone, my bad. I guess it's just 1 vento. Looks like I got confused with multiple threads across various forums. Apologies.

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by amtak

I think there are 2 or 3. Saw some posts (Mumbai and Pune region).

I think this is the only incident, i do not remember reading any other Vento burning incident. Could you point us to the link of this news please where in more ventos have caught fire.

This is not to say all Ventos are fine, but neither should we paint a picture that all Ventos are potential burning coffins.

Either way i have publicized this thread on my FB page to increase awareness, hoping this news spreading like wildfire may force VW to come out with an explanation.

[TopSpeeder]

Originally Posted by srishiva

I tried releasing the belt when pulling hard and hardening the seat belt. There is no relation with the latch mechanism. The hardening happens on the B pillar as it should since it unwinds from there. Its a simple mechanical setup at the latch.

For any new driver or rescuer, initially it might be difficult to locate and press the seat belt release button because of center armrest.

Adding pic from GTO review post

[aniketi]

Its really sad to hear that owner has died in the incident. Really very very sad.

I heard that it has a small accident before it caught fire. Is it true? Because of it only he went to the road side. I may be wrong here.

One more info for you guys, one of my office Colleagues was there and he tried to save that person. He said it was trouble in getting him out of the car because seat belt was in place. Finally they removed him by lifting the seat belt. Car was not locked though. He also mentioned that car caught fire almost instantly. In 1-2 minutes it was all in the fire. The speed in which car caught the fire was too fast as per him. 2 men thrown water from the flower seller there on the owner to save him. My friend also tried with his towel to cover him. He is not in office for this week, i am sure he will be shocked to hear that owner has died.

[amtak]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

I think this is the only incident, i do not remember reading any other Vento burning incident. Could you point us to the link of this news please where in more ventos have caught fire.

Originally Posted by amtak

Everyone, my bad. I guess it's just 1 vento. Looks like I got confused with multiple threads across various forums. Apologies.

Yes, I stand corrected. My above post just mentions that!

[Miel]

Originally Posted by dingolphie

I'd say the jury is still out on whether its an inherent flaw and justice to the family and impact to other owners will come up only after that, but VW are doing a bad job with the communication by not addressing concerns/engaging with existing Vento owners.

You have put it very succinctly, dingolphie!
My heartfelt condolences to the family of Mr Kailash Suresh Gupta , the late owner of the VW Vento.
I did a google search using the terms "car caught fire india" and noticed a couple more recent incidents.

• A 52-year-old marble trader in Delhi, died when his WagonR caught fire. According to police, the fire activated the central-locking system in the car and the doors did not open.
  Marble trader killed as car catches fire, doors lock - Indian Express
• A Tata Indica caught fire while on the move. The owner spotted the smoke and got out before the flames erupted.
  Car catches fire, plaint lodged - Times Of India

So, car fires seem to be on the rise and maybe due to various reasons. However, it is too early to start labelling the Polo or Vento as fire prone.

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by aniketi

Its really sad to hear that owner has died in the incident. Really very very sad.

I heard that it has a small accident before it caught fire. Is it true? Because of it only he went to the road side. I may be wrong here.

No, thats not true. As is mentioned in the 1st post, the car was on fire BEFORE it hit the Ford Fusion. In fact he was in process of parking the car behind the said Fusion. And that too was only a small bump at barely 5kmph. My friend did give some more horrific details about the incident but since it involved how badly the person was burnt (really not for the faint of heart) and not related to the car, I refrained from posting it here.

[BuRnT RuBbEr]

let me be blunt is saying this: I don't think VW is going to explain. They've taken possession of the car and most probably, will try to get a gag settlement done with the affected family. They wouldn't have taken the car away like that if they had honest intentions. It was not their property anyway.

We, indian car buyers/users are mostly on our own. so lets take steps to make ourselves more aware of our cars and steps to take in emergency situations. we are not going to be safer on the street by bashing/protecting x/y/z car manufacturer.

the thing to do when i reach home today:
1. make someone sit in the car and lock it from inside.
2. pop up the bonnet and disconnect the battery.
3. ask the person inside to try and unlock.

[srishiva]

Even if we deduce that the person was not able to get out sooner, consider if this happens in a car when moving at a high speed. The time taken to slow down the car and get out can also be more.
Are we trying to panic too much here on this thread?

[ninjatalli]

On the outright, my condolences to the family of the Vento owner.

Some of the posts on this thread are really going to extremities, thought I'll put down my thoughts.

- @poloman I do hope you were joking when you mentioned that 90% of Vento & Polo users have faced Power windows issues - although I would agree with you that it might be a possible defect, however except a few, most Vento owners haven't faced any issue on this aspect. I believe even for Polo, the figures would be far lesser. Still I believe its completely OT in this matter and lets not take this up further out here.

- There have been only two car fire incidents for Vento, haven't noticed any for Polos; not a large number as mentioned by @amtak. Having said that, by absolute numbers, the ratio is still higher than quite a few manufacturers.

- Before one starts assuming things and starts questioning the quality of the product, one needs clarity on what was the reason of the fire. To my knowledge most fires are caused by wiring issues. I would put a 50-50 percent breakup between VW and any modifications (ICE/etc) done by the owner. @nawalsingh - is it possible to find out details on this aspect (modifications done in the car)?

- As I said earlier in one of the initial posts, the news article (that spoke of door being locked and seat belts getting stuck-up) couldn't be trusted entirely. @antz.bin has clearly clarified that there was no issue in the door locking mechanism.

- As for the seat belt, I would like to suggest this - in Vento, the location of the driver's seat buckle is at a very unreachable position (for someone else who tries to reach it while a person is sitting), as compared to most Maruti and Hyundai cars where the buckle is slightly elevated. Now if the fire had already reached the interiors (when he was being rescued), I would assume that the buckle could not be released in that situation, rather than assuming that it got stuck.

- Regarding the car being picked up by VW, could someone clarify what is the actual procedure than just speculating about VW and its actions? I would also want to know if the family has been approached by VW, after all the car belongs to them - VW should have asked their permission. If not, then definitely there is an issue and needs to be looked into. VW Vidhyut/Bhandari are the only two workshops - I wouldn't mind volunteering to do a checkup at the BuB workshop (which is quite close to where I work), however I doubt if they would provide any details unless a relative or family member is present. But till then I'll have to assume that VW is doing the right thing. I am not supporting VW just because I own one. But then again I wouldn't keep quiet and wait for them to respond.

- Going ahead, instead of discussing what went wrong or right, I would prefer if this thread went forward towards a more clear route on what @nawalsingh and the family of the owner could do to get the right facts about the car and the actual issue that caused the fire from VW.

[poloman]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

On the outright, my condolences to the family of the Vento owner.

Some of the posts on this thread are really going to extremities, thought I'll put down my thoughts.

- @poloman I do hope you were joking when you mentioned that 90% of Vento & Polo users have faced Power windows issues - although I would agree with you that it might be a possible defect, however except a few, most Vento owners haven't faced any issue on this aspect. I believe even for Polo, the figures would be far lesser. Still I believe its completely OT in this matter and lets not take this up further out here.

-.

I love my Polo and I am not getting manic about safety after this incident. You can go through my thread and I am always in praise about the car.The problem is reported by most of the Polo owners i know.

Let us be very clear, this is not the first car catching fire in India nor it is going to be the last. People are worried more about the way VW and its sister brands conduct themselves in India.Leave Skoda horror stories aside. VW has positioned themselves as the pinnacle of affordable German engineering for masses.But If you question them why charge 500Rs for a simple wash or why service bills need to be high, they tell with a smirkness on their face. This is still a German car.. sir, not Hyundai or Maruti..!! Still they operate from dealerships no better than shanties in a big city like Bangalore. Why blame external ICE installations for fire? I have seen how the dealer is installing the ICE merrily cutting wires and giving damn care for their tall claims. No way a harried customer get access to the top management unless you shout, make scene or vent your ire in forums like TBHP. So they will be always viewed with suspicions in the wake of events like these.

[nanduchitnis]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

A VENTO while in motion caught fire on FC Road in Pune. The car was completely charred to ashes in few minutes. Luckily the owner escaped and is admitted to a near by hospital. The owner could not remove the seat belts in time and had to be pulled out by breaking the window glass.


Attachment 880300

Looking at the way the fire is burning, high intensity flames, looks as if flamable liquids caused the fire. Can petrol or diesel enter the cabin?

Just an odd possibility, though outlandish.