[hemanshughia]

So this happened with a friend of mine, who bought the New Verna in March 2018 from Modi Hyundai.

After picking up his wife from work, which is merely a distance of 6 km round trip, he parked his Verna in his society's open parking and in next 15 min the engine bay was in flames!

The building watchman alerted everyone and along with them brought the fire down.

Coincidentally Sreenath Hyundai service station is right across the road, and my friend alerted them and within no time the service manager along with few others reached the spot and advised to file FIR and that they will have the car towed immediately after.

My friend has logged claim with his insurer (New India) and also approached Police for an FIR (panchnama will be done as advised by the API).

The insurer has asked for a Fire Brigade report, however since the fire department was not called (no one thought of calling 101 due to panic), this report may not be procured.

No, there are no rodent issues in the parking area.
No modification done to the car; the car is stock and is petrol automatic version.

Now the questions:
1. Will the absence of Fire Brigade's report hamper the claim processing?
2. Should'nt the authorized seller's insurance company (or hyundai) bear the repair cost OR such cases are acceptable and be handled by consumer's insurance company?
3. Should my friend get in to any kind of discussion with Hyundai for the repair OR for car replacement (is the damage repairable and then reliable)?

CCTV clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu4p...ature=youtu.be

Pictures after the fire was put off:

[sweetvar26]

OMG. That is horrible and I can't imagine someone buying a brand new car, driving for few kilometers and having to go through something like this.

However, I'm glad no one is injured, that's the best news of it all. Hopefully they can come to a conclusion and get the issue resolved to your friend first and then find out the cause for the issue so that no one goes through something like this again.

[samaspire]

Another New Verna

What is happening? Too many issues with this car and major ones at that. Engine bay catching fire can only be an electrical fault and when there are no modifications done, then surely it's a manufacturing defect. Or a QC miss.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by samaspire

Engine bay catching fire can only be an electrical fault.

Electrical faults by themselves do not cause fire. Car fires are nearly always a problem with some sort of fuel leak. Next you need a spark or something very hot (e.g. exhaust or short circuit wires) for the fuel to ignite.

I would be looking for a problem with the fuel system.
Jeroen

[nerd1200]

This was a common problem with a batch of Chevy Captivas. There were atleast half a dozen reported cases of the same but Chevrolet India never issued a recall (although Detroit had issued a recall in the states)

The official cause identified was:

When the Captiva is operated in manual mode in first gear, the engine and power steering operate at a higher speed than is normal. This results in excess heat that is transferred to the power steering fluid. The power steering fluid can get so hot that it reaches the pump reservoir’s melting point. Also, after prolonged and repeated exposure to high fluid temperatures, the reservoir could leak flammable fluid, which may catch on fire when near an ignition source

(Source)

[jaaz]

We had 2 Verna cars, with engine failure on this forum, and now this is 3rd one with more dangerous outcome. The Car is about 10 months old, and is definitely covered under manufacturer's warranty.

There are lot of procedures to be followed to claim insurance, but you can give them in writing that since the fire was controlled without the danger of spreading, the need for calling fire department did not arise.

From the pictures, it seems the adjacent cars are not affected. So, the fire was spotted early and doused in time.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by samaspire

Another New Verna

This was my reaction reading the title.

But this is a 10 month old vehicle. Like Jeroen responded, I too suspect its a fuel leak somewhere looking at how the fire escalated so quickly in seconds.

The event is similar to the Jetta incident (My 1.5 year old Volkswagen Jetta caught fire! EDIT : Now RESOLVED!) a year ago, which also happened in a parked car. The manufacturer/dealer were involved in that event for the owner to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

[Doge]

Originally Posted by nerd1200

This was a common problem with a batch of Chevy Captivas. There were atleast half a dozen reported cases of the same but Chevrolet India never issued a recall (although Detroit had issued a recall in the states)

The official cause identified was:

(Source)

Unlikely that this is the problem, the Verna has an electric steering vs the hydraulic one in the Captiva.

[procrastinator]

The footage shows car in flames instantly. An edited version of clip(?)

No fire brigade called!

It doesn’t seem to be car’s fault entirely. It could be sabotage. Perhaps it’s too early to conclude with given details, this matter requires more and thorough investigation.

[Sherlocked]

Originally Posted by procrastinator

The footage shows car in flames instantly. An edited version of clip(?)
No fire brigade called!
It doesn’t seem to be car’s fault entirely. It could be sobotage. Perhaps it’s too early to conclude with given details, this matter requires more and thorough investigation.

Indeed. Approx 2 and a half minutes footage is missing. Also something can be seen on the floor just below the car's engine bay in flames. Is this any component from the car that had fallen off or what?

[GTO]

My Jeep once almost caught fire and the way that it spread through the wiring was INSTANT. Damn scary. Luckily, it was in a workshop itself and they diffused the situation quickly. Was nothing to do with fuel lines.

Am concerned with so many new Vernas having issues. However, I'll hold judgement on this particular incident until there is more clarity on what caused the fire. Looks doubtful though as such a severe fire usually destroys any chances of investigation. One major cause we overlook is wiring damage from rat bites. I think it's a possibility in many fire cases.

Whatever it was, just glad that no one was in the car at that time .

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by hemanshughia

CCTV clip:

Sad to see the car in flames.

The most crucial (actually the part that matters) piece of footage is missing. Any particular reason for this?

[ani_meher]

There is some yet unclear information. See the shadows on the scooter and grey car on the left hand side. Clearly some time has passed between no-fire and fire situations, when the car is suddenly shown burning. What happened in that time?

[2cents]

Agree it won't be correct to judge Hyundai so soon, or even to connect with other known cases of engine issues in Verna, especially with the crucial 2.30 minutes of the clip missing. From what's available, looks like the fire started at the front end, near the AC unit --- no smoke from the bonnet at the wiper side, even the paint on the bonnet is unburnt in that region. Could the AC unit be the culprit, if not sabotage?!

[sridhu]

Small question - is that how the horn(s) are mounted in a stock Verna? Sure looks like an after market level fitting.