[Killswitch]

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[V.Narayan]

I wonder why modern cars bursting into flames spontaneously has become so common? When I worked with Tata Motors, in the field, in the 1980s I dealt with hundreds upon hundreds of truckers and truck companies and not once did I ever hear of a truck bursting into flames while standing or running. Mind you as a sales manager any meeting with a trucker was only about complaints, future discounts and how expensive tyres had become - but never ever that a truck was burnt to ashes while running or parked. I wonder if too much of modern-ness and electronics is behind this.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

...I wonder if too much of modern-ness and electronics is behind this.

Complexity of system is obviously one part (more stuff means more that can 'theoretically' go wrong), but at least a part of it has to be corners cut on engineering standards in favor of cost competitiveness.

Are parts being made to high enough tolerances to be safe/reliable in extreme situations (which Indian conditions throw up often)? Looking around at all the stuff we use, not just cars, it doesn't appear to be the case.

[Sandeep500]

I have seen a previous gen. Volvo XC90 belonging to a person known to me also being burnt completely while being driven on a highway. It caught fire while being driven on a very normal mild speed on a short drive.

[GRV]

Originally Posted by AnInternetUser

To be on the safer side you can always check if your car is covered under recall directly via their website. My City had an airbag recall but I hadn't received any communication from the company or dealer for the same, only found out when I looked up my VIN out of curiosity.

Volvo's website gives you an option to do this (couldn't find an India-specific link so I'm assuming this works globally) - https://www.volvocars.com/en-ca/own/...ll-information

Hope this helps.

Thanks for this link. I tried using my VIN but getting a message - VIN not valid. But this does give me an idea to find out proper link to check my VIN for any recall in future

[rangakishen]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

I wonder why modern cars bursting into flames spontaneously has become so common? When I worked with Tata Motors, in the field, in the 1980s I dealt with hundreds upon hundreds of truckers and truck companies and not once did I ever hear of a truck bursting into flames while standing or running. Mind you as a sales manager any meeting with a trucker was only about complaints, future discounts and how expensive tyres had become - but never ever that a truck was burnt to ashes while running or parked. I wonder if too much of modern-ness and electronics is behind this.

I think it has more to do with pushing engineering limits than electronics. With ever increasing specific power engines, we are processing quite large amount of energy. And to cope with emissions and efficiency requirements, the engine and all the subsystems run at certain particular operating points. This was not the case in the days that you mention.

As Chetan has put it, the more complex a system, the more problems it can face.

/Ranga

[Guna]

Are there cars which are equipped with fire extinguishing mechanisms which are built in, which can be triggered if there is fire? These are common in buildings and why can't high end cars which boast all kind of 'safety' measures incorporate such ideas?

@mods this post should probably moved to a thread discussing vehicles catching fire in general

[GeneralJazz]

Originally Posted by Guna

Are there cars which are equipped with fire extinguishing mechanisms which are built in, which can be triggered if there is fire? These are common in buildings and why can't high end cars which boast all kind of 'safety' measures incorporate such ideas?

@mods this post should probably moved to a thread discussing vehicles catching fire in general

I think something like that already exists. Do check this link.

[sameer sultan]

The more things are getting advanced the more dangerous they are getting for its users.

As an example Boeing 737Max planes crashes were reported because of advanced features. Samsung S8 mobiles catching fire(the good old Nokia 1100 will never burn not even your pocket!!). Macbook Pro laptops catching fire. Recently MG hector caught fire now this XC90. All advanced gadgets!

After reading about this incident I feel terming Volvo as manufacturer of one of the safest cars in the world is an oxymoron.

Thanks to God the family was not hurt.

[laluks]

Its been a while since this incident was reported. Is there any acknowledgment from Volvo India / Parent yet?

[Stribog]

Might be off tangent, but I believe it is an important point I would want to make.

I am quite frankly both surprised and not surprised by how the forum which in the 2 cases of the Hector catching fire very quickly introduced xenophobia (Chinese company, expected it to happen. Chinese product, substandard etc etc and repeated ad nauseum) as the running theme though MG responded within hours, including their India CEO, and a replacement offered within a few days, juxtaposed with the number of vehicles sold 50,000 it translated to 0.0004% of the vehicles catching fire.

Now compare this to this incident - NOT A SINGLE comment on how "Swedes make bad vehicles" or literally no Xenophobia, but the discussion has veered off into technical aspects. Statistically with the few 100's of the XC90 having been sold, even 1 represents a far larger number.

The point here is simple, every case should be treated on its own merits / demerits and not linked to entire nations. Yes, if any one particular company has a history of making cars that catch on fire, are mechanically unsound etc....feel free, grab your pitchfork and jab at them, but otherwise, I feel this thread is an example of how it should be discussed - wait for info, discuss on how it happened etc...

On topic, am just surprised Volvo India have not even responded, heck they have not even acknowledged this issue it seems so far.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by Stribog

Might be off tangent, but I believe it is an important point I would want to make.

I could see few major differences between the fire incidents in MG Hector and Volvo XC90. These differences require the incidents to be analysed in separate ways.

1. XC90 was a ~4 year/52k km run car while the Hector was an almost new car. They can't be compared as it is difficult to track the history of a 4 year old car - quality of service done till date, aftermarket parts, etc. There were also more than one case of Hector catching fire which makes the car suspicious.

2. Volvo had acknowledged potential fire issues and recalled vehicles globally and even in India. It has to be checked how/why this particular XC90 was not recalled (maybe the dealer or owner never got the replacement done?). There's no such recall by MG yet.

3. Volvo India hasn't responded to this incident yet(which is very unfair). MG was secretive about the whole incident and gave vague reasons for the incident.

Apart from the above, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't question the Swedes origin(Chinese owned) Volvo as much as we did the British origin MG(again Chinese owned!).

Just my 2 cents.

[AirbusCapt]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

I wonder why modern cars bursting into flames spontaneously has become so common? When I worked with Tata Motors, in the field, in the 1980s I dealt with hundreds upon hundreds of truckers and truck companies and not once did I ever hear of a truck bursting into flames while standing or running. Mind you as a sales manager any meeting with a trucker was only about complaints, future discounts and how expensive tyres had become - but never ever that a truck was burnt to ashes while running or parked. I wonder if too much of modern-ness and electronics is behind this.

A couple of reasons. Primary being weight reduction. Removing heavy metallic pipes, wiring looms, connectors and replacing them with lighter plastic and ancillary materials. Something which was fire proof earlier would now only be fire retardant. Second being higher temperature and pressures. Modern turbo petrol and diesels operate at a far higher temperature and pressure level than older less stressed engines. Coupling the above together may well be the recipe for engine fires.
Although in this particular case I suspect something like rat cut wires to be the reason, simply because the car ran perfectly for so many years, so hard to find a manufacturing defect.

[vennarbank]

Originally Posted by Stribog

Might be off tangent, but I believe it is an important point I would want to make.

I am quite frankly both surprised and not surprised by how the forum which in the 2 cases of the Hector catching fire very quickly introduced xenophobia (Chinese company, expected it to happen. Chinese product, substandard etc etc and repeated ad nauseum) as the running theme though MG responded within hours, including their India CEO, and a replacement offered within a few days, juxtaposed with the number of vehicles sold 50,000 it translated to 0.0004% of the vehicles catching fire.

Now compare this to this incident - NOT A SINGLE comment on how "Swedes make bad vehicles" or literally no Xenophobia, but the discussion has veered off into technical aspects. Statistically with the few 100's of the XC90 having been sold, even 1 represents a far larger number.

Absolutely right. Not sure Volvos are made in Sweden anymore

[V.Narayan]

Their silence is deafening. I have sent an email to all their IDs that I have. Let's see if they respond. As an early customer of Volvo who has written owner reviews I find this non- responsiveness in the public domain quite unacceptable.