[TusharK]

Videos of a Mahindra XUV700 on fire had gone viral on social media recently. Mahindra took note of the incident and launched an investigation. The company's findings have now been published in an official statement.



According to the owner of the vehicle, the XUV700 was purchased 6 months ago and was completely stock. However, Mahindra's investigation found that the owner had fitted aftermarket illuminated scuff plates and ambient lighting. The additional wiring used for these parts is said to have caused a short circuit resulting in the fire.

Mahindra's official statement regarding the matter:

Our investigation of the XUV700 thermal incident on the Jaipur National Highway concluded last evening.

Investigators have recorded evidence of the user having fitted after-market illuminated scuff plates and four ambient lighting modules by tampering with the original wiring circuit of the vehicle. The additional wiring connections which are not originally engineered have been connected to existing electrical points causing the thermal incident. The owner has been informed of our findings via email.

At Mahindra, we design and manufacture our products with the highest standards of safety. We urge users not modify the original wiring circuits of vehicles as it may compromise safety over a period. We would like to assure our customers that their safety remains our utmost priority.

Link to Team-BHP News

[sagsaw]

Why do people insist of fancy fittings aftermarket and then claim otherwise in case of any incident?

Showrooms can do the same using official accessories. And they would know exactly from where to draw power.

[Deathmaster]

This very incident raises the valid concerns we have on after market fitments on cars which do little other than improve aesthetics / interface.
Additionally, this also raises concerns on which party to believe given the findings of Mahindra contradict with what the buyer has stated.
In case, Mahindra is right in its findings, it raises moral and ethical questions on the buyer's who resort to blaming the company for events that have been their own doings.

Nonetheless, the report mentions no one got hurt which is the key takeaway from it. Hope that such incidents do not happen in future leading to loss of life and reputation of corporates

[autobahnjpr]

Interesting. In such cases, will the owner be able to claim insurance due to such loss? Or the insurance company will deny the claim saying that such unsafe practices are not covered and are similar to setting your car on fire yourself.

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by Deathmaster

this also raises concerns on which party to believe given the findings of Mahindra contradict with what the buyer has stated.

Seems like the scuff area has no/ minimal effect due to fire.

The glue for installing aftermarket illuminated scuff plates is quite strong, even if the owner removed the scuff plates after the fire incident, the dried glue marks will remain. As for ambient lighting, many trims would have been removed/ re-assembled for installing them. There, again, would be tell-tale signs of such modification.

Mahindra wouldn't have made such precise statements without proof in their hands. Else they would be staring at not just bad PR, but also a legal case.

For the owner, stating that the vehicle was stock, he might not have realized that such small add-ons can cause fire engulfing the whole engine bay. By 'stock' he might have meant that engine was not tampered. Just giving benefit of doubt to him.

[GTO]

Just because the car had an aftermarket part or two sure doesn't mean that the fire was caused due to it. But it does give the manufacturer an open opportunity to wash their hands off the fire incident shouting "electrical modifications".

Frankly, it's just best to get such accessories installed from the authorised dealer itself. A close contact recently got an XUV700 home & we got the scuff plates from Mahindra's official accessory list & fitment from the dealer. In my Thar, I have about 20 modifications, but not for a single one have we even touched the electrical circuitry.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by GTO

Frankly, it's just best to get such accessories installed from the authorised dealer itself. A close contact recently got an XUV700 home & we got the scuff plates from Mahindra's official accessory list & fitment from the dealer. In my Thar, I have about 20 modifications, but not for a single one have we even touched the electrical circuitry.

In case of an incident, wouldn't the company find presence of accessories and deny a warranty/insurance claim? After all, the incident can be caused due to a malfunction in the accessory even if the circuit remains stock.

[r24x7]

M&M may be right in their investigation, but they can very well use their Draw-4 Card at the moment.

It is like that unfortunate accident where you were drunk and driving, but someone else hit you from side due their negligence; and everyone else walk away without getting penalized; no insurance also applicable just because you were the one drunk.

Very gladly, the manufacturer and insurance provider shall now deny any and all possible claims on all grounds.

On the other side, there has been a case where we got fog lamps installed from dealer and months later headlamp switch to which fogs were connected went kaput ; the service center blames the dealer installation and denies warranty.

Official accessory or not, the installation has to be extremely precise to avoid such incidents.

[true_sedan]

Strongly agree with GTO. Couldn’t possibly fathom a couple of simple mods causing a massive fire like this. Mahindra probably hastened the investigation to appease potential buyers from cancelling their bookings.
My understanding is for there to be a fire, either the battery or the fuel needs to be involved. Battery at the end of the day is a chemical cocktail that is constantly charged and discharged by the electrical systems that use them. A bad lead-acid battery could cause hydrogen buildup which then spreads to the engine bay and all the cavities(wherever the wiring runs) in the car. And this flammable gas could have been ignited by sparks from faulty wiring either from factory or by the dealer who did the mods.

[Contrapunto]

** I dont have full facts about this case** but cheap, after-market wires and cables are the root cause of a lot of fire/ electrical accidents in vehicles as well as factories, offices etc.

My advice to family and friends have always been- (1) keep it stock. If not (2) get company / dealer parts and (3) dont do any mod that you dont personally understand very well.

[Azalactone]

I personally prefer the car to look like factory condition. The way vehicle looked on the first day of ownership, it should look the same on the last day of ownership.

Absolutely no after market electrical/non-electrical accessories. Till date I have never visited third party car accessories shop and do not intend to do also as no matter how much they claim, they aren't professionals.

Even if accessories are needed to be fitted, always do it from the dealership. Atleast they will have some accountability compared to a cheap Karol Bagh store.

During our last car purchase a decade back the SA was insisting on many accessories like Stereo, RP Sensors, Seat Covers, Door Visors etc. We agreed for the stereo, RP sensor and politely declined the rest.

Nowadays thanks to YouTube, buyers are going to car accessories stores in places like Karol Bagh etc and putting these cheap quality Chinese accessories after seeing videos of these Youtubers (classic example - Musafir aka Joshi).

People should seriously avoid trying "Coupler to Coupler fitting".

Condolences to the owner of the XUV700 for loosing such a wonderful product. Hope they have learnt a lesson.

[diwakarmuthu]

I personally prefer the car to be in stock condition always. Even if I need to make mods, I prefer not to touch the stock wiring / setup. A decade back if you are buying the base variant, you did not even get basic ICE. Luckily most OEMs leave he wiring harness available through the doors to connect with the after market ICE and related accessories.

I have a basic doubt. While one incident shouldn't trigger a fire, I do have a doubt on car fresheners. I have read multiple reports that they are flammable and when mixed with AC air that is circulating inside the car it could be a deadly combination. Surprised OEMs talk only about after market accessories, but have not published any studies or issue bulletin about avoiding flammable gases or liquids inside the car. OEMs sell these as well

There is no one fool proof answer, but some education about how it can / should be avoided needs to be shared with the larger community.

[NiInJa]

While I can't comment on this episode, I can tell for sure that short wiring can be extremely dangerous in cars, hence I refrain from doing any kind of electrical mods outside of dealership. I have experienced this myself in my dad's second-hand Maruti 800. Simple reason: the current provided by car batteries is too high and can cause sparks easily.

Back in the day, those cars would have some weird accessories fitted, the one we had was a perfume box that had a small fan inside which would blow air on the perfume tablet. As expected that thing stopped working, and the curious 8th standard kid that I was then, tried to fix it by fiddling with the wires inside it. For a few seconds both wires got short, the current was high enough to heat and melt the thin wire's insulation covering. A few more seconds and it would have melted the dashboard as well. Lesson learnt: No cutting and fiddling with the wiring without right knowledge and right people, unless you plan to burn the car

Plus, the advantage of dealer fitment is they provide after service on accessories as well. My dad's dealer fitted Chinese rear camera on S-Presso stopped working, they repaired it outside of whatever warranty it had after 2 years, no questions asked whatsoever.

[WorkingGuru]

Mahindra's excuse might convince the courts that this is due to an after market fitment, but as a potential customer I doubt minor things like ambient lighting modules & scuff plates can cause such major fires unless the wiring was extremely shoddy.

Anyway, too little info to conclude anything. I hope Mahindra offers a few clear ways that people can safely add atleast dash-cam, reverse-camera and maybe a cigarette lighter socket for very basic needs. All this, apart from making accessories a little more affordable at dealerships, instead of 4x the price of after market stores.

[aim120]

No matter how small the electrical accessory is, it can cause a short which is hot enough to melt steel.
All it takes is one poorly tapped wire to touch the body ground or the poor quality accessories which has a poor choice of pcb design or poor choice of wires.

Remember the wires used in cars have a different type of insulation, for the same cross section of wire diameter, the ones rated for cars have higher amp rating because their insulation can handle higher temperature.

Accessory dealers may skip using copper wires or use regular house hold wires. Even the product may have a poor wires.

A 120watt house bulb consumes 0.5amp of current but a automotive bulb will consume 10amps of current since it runs on 12v. If one used the same household wire it will burn out before you blink.