Team-BHP - Ford Fusion Caught fire:Will company cover warranty

Hi Friends,
An unfortunate thing happened this weekend with my friend who owns Ford Fusion Diesel purchased from Cauvery Ford 6 months ago. There was a short-circuit inside the bonnet near the battery (the cause is still unknown) and that caused fire to break in. My friend was driving it and suddenly saw smoke coming out of the bonnet. He immediately stopped the vehicle and tried fetching some water. In the mean time flames started emerging out of the bonnet. Finally he could manage to get help and stopped the fire but by that time, there was a lot of damage especially to all the plastic/fibre parts in and around the engine. The Cauvery 24/7 emergency service guys came and took the car to the service center. The cauvery people have taken photos and video of the car and sent to Ford Motors. They say that the car had a stereo which was fitted externally (not by the company) which could cause a short-circuit if wired carelessly. But Ford is yet to get back with their comments.

I just hope that Ford accept their responsibility and do up the car at their own cost. Fitting a stereo, that too a basic Pioneer from an Authorized dealer (Auto Planet, Koramangala) just cannot be the culprit. That too the stereo and the area near the dashboard is completely intact with no signs of any fire. What do you guys feel, what should be done in this case ? Does anyone know of any such incidents in past ? Please suggest.

I cant say either for sure, but I can point out to a highlight of my ford experience, Them stressing on,"If you get even a single wire cut there the warranty will be void" stressing so much that they repeated that every time i asked about getting a new pair of horns. They even forced me get blaupunkt audio coz the wiring doesn't clip onto the sony player so the warranty gets void, right at the show room. When i said i'd get the system later he said any electrical stuff added outside the showroom render's the warranty void.
Needless to say, if you've got any after market electrical products or electric wiring altered they are going to repeat that and deny warranty.
They repeated that a hundred times, but before that sold a 3 year extended warranty, in their jargon any extra electrical equipment fixed has to be "clip on" some thing that can be hooked on w/o cutting any wire in the harness.
I haven't been able to fix Trumpet horns on it, I hate the single female tone horn on it, they also say that fixing a 4 Amp horn screws the wiring and stresses the circuit, My kine has been handling those horns it for the last 6 years with a cut out, i just don't understand why ford cant.

Slightly off topic, but I had a bonnet light fitted in my 800, and once while fiddling with its switch, the insulation of the wires caught fire. I just managed to yank the wire off from the other end (battery end) and hold it away from everything else. I had a rag in my hand, which helped.

The light had been fitted by the dealer at the time of delivery of the car. Still, I immediately removed it completely.

I hope things fall into place for your friend, Pani.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pani (Post 778286)

Thats very unfortunate. Since you have meddled with the factory electical wiring they obviously have a reason for not covering the damage cost under warranty but try talking to the manager of the Service station . He may help you out. I dont think ford is going to accept the resposiblitly for the mishap .

Quote:

Originally Posted by students (Post 778455)

Hey friend.

I had similar experience with my Fiesta 1 year back. All the wiring got burnt.

100% it wont come under warranty.

I even wrote to ford US and India but only one answer was extra fittings voilate warranty terms.

I had to sell of my car and later bought a new one.

So basically you are saying that you can only install a ford accessory via a ford AD. Anyways, in case the fire is not due to an external electrical fitting, how will you prove that?

BTW, eliminated all ford cars from my buying list for ever.

If the stereo installation is indeed the culprit, one can't expect Ford to bear the cost of the damage caused. Now coming to the question as how a basic thing as a stereo can affect a car, the answer is it does. Even on my friends swift the dealer just warned, not fitting a non-conforming stereo from outside, as the ECU is wired to monitor the electrical circuits, he said.

This is vastly different from the archaic cars we drove in the past where even a lead could be built up from within the battery itself to only tap a part of the total voltage to play almost anything that runs on battery within a car, without things going wrong.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vikram_d (Post 778485)

I have to mention something here. I recently tried to burn a Scosche 4 gauge cable that I had lying around with me. It did not catch fire. It melted but it did not ignite. If I were in your place I would blame the wire and not Ford.

All I am trying to say is that good quality wires dont burn.

Just what I had thought when my bonnet light wire insulation caught fire. In fact I reacted fast enough more out of surprise than any presence of mind.

Guys, first of all we didnt cut/modify any wiring to fit in the Stereo. It was just plugged into the sockets provided at the dashboard panel. Also there was absolutely no trace of fire/spark/smoke at the origin of the stereo end (i.e rear end of the stereo).

Ford has nowhere specified which brand of stereo is non-conforming to be fitted in a Fusion or what brand is THE brand to be used inside a Ford car (since Ford themselves dont manufacture Stereo systems).
Moreover the Stereo is still safe and running. The stereo can be fitted on any car and checked if its drawing more power than recommended or does it have some shortcomings that can cause a short-circuit.

Does it make sense to move to consumer forum in case Ford doesnt consider warranty ??