[Bottom Torque]

Nano catches fire in New Delhi this time!
A Tata Nano caught fire in front of the police headquarters on Sunday (25-09-2011) night. The fire control room received a call at 8.15pm following which two fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

Its two occupants, siblings Nishant and Suman, managed to vacate it quickly as huge flames enveloped the car and charred it. The reason of the fire, extinguished in about 15 minutes, is not known yet. This is the second Nano to have caught fire in Delhi In August 2010, the first Nano caught fire in the capital. The company had earlier been forced to conduct an inquiry whether there was a technical problem with their model after two other Nano cars had caught fire last year.
Source: TimesofIndia

[supremeBaleno]

Yesterday's TOI had a news about a Nano catching fire in Chennai - they mentioned short-circuit as cause. It was a July2011 car. Occupants jumped out safely.

[rangarx]

Friends,

One of my friends had a close shave in Nano yesterday.

I have very high respect for this car till last morning. But only when this noble soul (He's a social worker who is of a very rare breed) got escaped with Injuries and a dislocated leg joint, I realised the agonies the other suffered Nano owners would had undergone.

Please see the attachments.


Now, How to take this up?

My friend is suffered injuries and had a narrow escape. He was hospitalised for a day and discharged yesterday. Now he is in bed rest and could not move for atleast 3 weeks. Luckily I think a police complaint was filed.

Help me to help my friend to escalate this issue please.

[wilful]

Originally Posted by rangarx

Friends,

One of my friends had a close shave in Nano yesterday.

I have very high respect for this car till last morning. But only when this noble soul (He's a social worker who is of a very rare breed) got escaped with Injuries and a dislocated leg joint, I realised the agonies the other suffered Nano owners would had undergone.

Oh God! Not again! I do hope the person driving recovers.
But honestly - just when things started looking up for the Nano this happens. I think Tatas must investigate and rectify whatever needs to be rectified urgently.

[sandeepmohan]

Oh man. I love this car so much that I am lining up to buy one. Please tell me this Nano is from the first generation and one that did not go through the update to correct a potential fire hazard.

Wonder why he crashed it? It just made things a lot worse for the occupant. Could have just pulled over and got out.

[man_and_machine]

In any accident its always good to hear the human element of the accident is safe, it always feels sad that that the auto soul gets destroyed.

Wow as Technology in the Cars in India seemed to improve the safety seems to have gone down! As it the accident seems to have happened on the highway (open road), any idea on the cruising speed of the car? Overheating? Fire sure a bad thing, but the structure seems to hold on well for a head on crash. Tata is known for the metal in their cars, but cars turning into microwaves is a first.

Somehow in the recent past there seems to be a lot of fire incidents, is there something wrong with our certification test process by the agencies?

[#win]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Oh man. I love this car so much that I am lining up to buy one. Please tell me this Nano is from the first generation and one that did not go through the update to correct a potential fire hazard.

Wonder why he crashed it? It just made things a lot worse for the occupant. Could have just pulled over and got out.

This definetely looks like the first generation Nano as I can not find the Left ORVM and also the Wheel caps to me looks like the old design.

[rangarx]

Friends,

The speed was @ 60 - 70 kmph.

He crashed on to the tree after he found smoke and fire eminating from the rear portion (read engine compartment) of the car.

My friend got tensed since there were two more occupants in the car and crashed the vehicle eventually.

And Yes, it is a first gen Nano. Bought in April 2011.

[silverado]

Was car's dicky empty at the time of accident? It surely gets hot on long ride in case you only have one insulation sheet ( Only nano 2012 has 2 insulation sheets )

[rajchetan]

Originally Posted by rangarx

Friends,

The speed was @ 60 - 70 kmph.

He crashed on to the tree after he found smoke and fire eminating from the rear portion (read engine compartment) of the car.

My friend got tensed since there were two more occupants in the car and crashed the vehicle eventually.

And Yes, it is a first gen Nano. Bought in April 2011.

Not another NANO fire, good to hear he is safe along with the occupants.

But i wonder why would he crash to the right side of the road rather the left, that to crossing a huge gap between road and tree?
Is it a case of car catching fire due to going of the road?
Can any one ZOOM in on the actual photo, as don't see any tyre marks.

Ps. dont get me wrong, i just fail to understand why would someone take right and not brake.

Whatever said and done, the number of cars catching fire has gone up drastically in the last 2years, and mostly all new cars.

[sandeepmohan]

If Tata are not going to be serious about investigating the cause of this fire, they just lost one customer & probably a ton more. I am sure they don't care. I can understand if it were just a couple of Nano cars going up in flames. What is the count now? Over a dozen nano's?

[jalsa777]

Its sad to hear about the accident and hope that the driver/owner recovers quickly.

Now, Analyzing the situation from a 3rd person perspective:
It could have very well been that the car caught fire after it collided with the tree.
The smoke seen by the driver could not necessarily have been due to fire, it could be exhaust smoke due to some malfunction or it even could be heat haze.

We cannot jump to any conclusion based on these reports and the car needs to be examined carefully before anything can be said.

(I know I am sounding like a nay sayer and all, but objectively thinking, this is the only way to go forward)

[srishiva]

Guys, read the newspaper article first before presenting your own version. It says that he noticed fire and then later it says he noticed smoke and fire.

Contrary to what others have said I dont think TATAs will take this lightly. Hope they find the cause quickly.

[shortbread]

Originally Posted by rangarx

Friends,

The speed was @ 60 - 70 kmph.

He crashed on to the tree after he found smoke and fire eminating from the rear portion (read engine compartment) of the car.

My friend got tensed since there were two more occupants in the car and crashed the vehicle eventually.

And Yes, it is a first gen Nano. Bought in April 2011.

What happened to your friend is really unfortunate and I really hope he recovers from this incident soon.

Without offending anyone I do not think ramming into a tree is the best way to extinguish any fire, panic or no panic!! He would have been far more safer parking and exiting the car. I am going by the posts and the newspaper article on this thread.

Also if that's the only structural damage a Nano gets after hitting a tree at approximately 70km/hr then that is a very strong chassis. Pretty sure at those speeds many of the popular small cars would have been worser off!!

Rangarx, would you know if he got his Nano fixed in the recall by Tata. Whatever the case if the car did catch fire while running Tata does hold responsibility, whether its the first gen variant or not.

Like I mentioned before, hope the driver recovers from his injuries real soon.

[rangarx]

Friends,

Could you please pass on the correct e mail IDs to file the complaint?

We had sent a mail to customercare@tatamotors.com. There has been no response.

How to bring this accident on record of TML? Throw some light please