GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk5 => Topic started by: dejaye on 23 November 2009, 19:08
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:cry: Just thought I’d let you know of a nightmare incident that I’m currently in the middle of that has happened to me after buying a used Golf DSG GTi on a 55 plate, with 55k on the clock, FSH, and wandered if anyone had heard of the same thing happening or could offer me any advice.
I purchased the car through a recognised local dealership.
The car was a stunning example & fully loaded, and I happily paid a little extra for this fact, doing a part ex deal.
After doing the deal I arranged to pick up the car, a week later (co-incidentally on my birthday), on the condition that they resolved the issue with a non-functional factory fitted sat nav system. They agreed to do this and set it off to a nearby VW dealership to get the issue sorted. Upon picking the vehicle up I was shown the sat nav working, handed a 6 month warranty for the car and shown that the car had been given a new MOT and a full dealership inspection.
I paid the outstanding balance and drove away happy in my new GTi.
After leaving the dealership I then drove the car home, approx 20 miles.
Upon parking the GTi I got out only to see smoke coming from under the bonnet. As I went to pop the bonnet to have a look, flames then shot out from the bonnet sides, in front of the driver’s side. Without having time to take any action aaprt from call the fire services I simply had to stand back and watch my new pride and joy burn! It looks like the fire started front of the dashboard, electrical fault?
The fire services arrived within 5 minutes, but by this time the car’s engine was already well gone, and had basically melted. What a birthday!
Now waiting for insurer & dealership to sort things out, it hasn't put me off but wandered if anyone had heard of this happening to anyone else?
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Dude... thats harsh.
Commiserations.
Dunno about the dashboard but I believe a few GTI's have caught fire due to a failing coil pack. They go high resistance, get hot and can sometimes cause a fire. The coil packs sit on top of the spark plugs if you don't know.
I would have thought that if the garage disturbed the wiring while replacing the sat nav, causing a short say, that a fuse would have popped. What was the problem with the sat nav? If the original problem was that it kept popping fuses and say an unscrupulous garage put a higher rated fuse in it could well lead to a fire.
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sorry to hear that, gutting.
I hate to say it, but I think you will have a hard time proving the garage is at fault, unless your insurance assessor can prove where it started and match it to the area of the car they worked on, and match it to paperwork proving they have been working in that area.
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'apparently' the VW dealership who sorted out the sat nav said that they simply put a lead back in that had come loose. I think it was something like the coil pack, I heard that this has happened to a few R32s but never a GTi ?
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That is really bad luck mate. :sad:
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Coilpack failure=warranty=dealer pays!
Sorry, but I just don't buy the fact that you can have a GTI burn up like that from a coilpack. Faulty wiring yes! Coilpack - very, very rare and even then there wouldn't be enough combustible material to set the entire car on fire from the coilpack.
You need to explore further as it just seems too much of a coincidence that the dealer does warranty work on the Sat nav wiring and then an hour later your car is in flames!!
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Dude so harsh! Must be gutting! It's horrible that your taste of the mk5 is tainted.
How long have you had the car for? Any mods you did yourself? If the car was fine before you took it in and suddenly set on fire afterwards, esp after mot and inspection (though not sure what this would entail). Worse scenario is the garage will try to wiggle out of it.
Was it a vw garage you bought it from? Why did it go to another dealer to sort the satnav?
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Dude so harsh! Must be gutting! It's horrible that your taste of the mk5 is tainted.
How long have you had the car for? Any mods you did yourself? If the car was fine before you took it in and suddenly set on fire afterwards, esp after mot and inspection (though not sure what this would entail). Worse scenario is the garage will try to wiggle out of it.
Was it a vw garage you bought it from? Why did it go to another dealer to sort the satnav?
Stealthwolf, I think he said that he'd had the car one hour.
I'm very sorry to hear about this.
I'm also sorry to say that inspite of what Hurdy says it is going to be very difficult and possibly costly (unless the ins co. will pay for the investigation) to prove what caused the fire. There is a small chance that they will be willing to given the circumstances; however, they will offset this against the chances of them (a) proving that the dealership was at fault and (b) the liklihood of them getting any money out of the dealership if they could show faulty wiring was the cause.
A friend of mine who is a fireman told me that >90% of vehicle fires are caused by faulty wiring. I'm with Hurdy in the fact that a coil pack is not the most likely cause, although I could see it happening. I'm imferring from what you said that the car drove home in good order until you noticed the smoke..?
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A forum user that i bought my Edition30 from was a free replacement as his 05 GTi went up in flames.
Tis very Rare but Vw have honoured this sad news before.
HTH
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consumer law would protect you. Was the product fit for the purpose for which it was sold? No. I don't think you can prove that the fire was the fault of the dealership so you won't be able to sue for damage to your drive etc, but it is reasonable as a consumer to expect that a vehicle will not burst into flames straight away after taking delivery.
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Dealer refund, whether VW themselves would do it, because your not the origonal keeper.
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Sorry about the bad news. Heartbreaking :cry:
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http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=125811.0
This is a link that was put in one of the very recent threads below about misfiring / coils. I think the Original Post might have some relevance to you.
I tend to have the same thoughts as Hurdy though in that a garage was messing about with your wiring then suddenly it catches fire...
:undecided:
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dealer is liable and therefore should provide a full refund
absolutely gutted for you :sad:
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consumer law would protect you. Was the product fit for the purpose for which it was sold? No. I don't think you can prove that the fire was the fault of the dealership so you won't be able to sue for damage to your drive etc, but it is reasonable as a consumer to expect that a vehicle will not burst into flames straight away after taking delivery.
Totally agree!
Only issue would be the argument as to whether it was the original dealership that sold the car to him or the dealership nearer to him that did the warranty work.
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Possibly, but your contract is with the dealership you bought the car from if the work was done as part of the purchase of the car. It is not your issue if they have to battle with the other dealership.
Have you spoken to the supplying dealer? What was their response if you have? You will need to inform your insurance company just in case you need to claim. Do you have any legal expenses cover with your motor or home insurance - IME their advice can be very helpful in progressing these types of issues. Also, the insurance company may be happy to assist...
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Did you take out gap insurance?.Should help to get the purchase price back. :sad:
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I'm gutted for you. Just thinking about it turns my stomach and the hassle of dealing with the insuracne companies and dealesr doesn't help.
Good luck and I hope you get it resolved soon.
Just as a side thought - as it put you off VW's?
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Are the police involved?
My oldsmobile caught fire on the motorway and the police thought it was me setting fire to it as I drove along, silly helmets.
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not gti's but a guy who lives close to me has had 2 tdi's that burned them selfs out and had them both replaced by vw. the first one was new at the time 05 reg it got sent back to germany for testing turns out that it started behind the dash. it got replaced, long story short the next one had extreme turbo failure and the one after that screwed up too :shocked:. so the fourth one he got was doing ok till it decided to set its self on fire the same as the first one but this time it was right out side the house and it nearly took it with it. anyway he was told that if the inspection didnt turn up anything he would have to go through his insurance,well turns out that the car was at fault so vw give him a new one and fixed the damage to the house
so he had 5 tdis on the same deal as the first one, a whole load of problems but it never but him off he now has a mk6 tdi
ps our jetta got recalled for a dodgey earth wire behind the dash that could have set it on fire.
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^^^WOW he must either be VERY unlucky or doing something thats upsetting the wiring!
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Thanks for all the advice guys, I've had an independent inpsection carried out and am awaiting results. Once I have this I'll look to share with you.
Awaiting settlement from insurer and dealership have agreed to pay any costs, excess etc :smiley:
Has this put me off have another GTi? Nah, for the hour I drove it I was completely smitten, just debating now whether to upgrade to R32 !!?? :grin:
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Thanks for all the advice guys, I've had an independent inpsection carried out and am awaiting results. Once I have this I'll look to share with you.
Awaiting settlement from insurer and dealership have agreed to pay any costs, excess etc :smiley:
Has this put me off have another GTi? Nah, for the hour I drove it I was completely smitten, just debating now whether to upgrade to R32 !!?? :grin:
If you can afford to then why not !?
260bhp, 4WD and a V6 that can give a man wood is never a bad thing in my book ;)
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and £400 a year tax!
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Thanks for all the advice guys, I've had an independent inpsection carried out and am awaiting results. Once I have this I'll look to share with you.
Awaiting settlement from insurer and dealership have agreed to pay any costs, excess etc :smiley:
Has this put me off have another GTi? Nah, for the hour I drove it I was completely smitten, just debating now whether to upgrade to R32 !!?? :grin:
Try the Ed30 or Pirelli :wink:
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Not a good situation at all mate, hope you get sorted out ASAP. Certainly will be interesting to hear the outcome!
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All sorted now, still awaiting report although insurer states that it waswnon conclusive. I think it was the coil still but it maybe just one of those things I'll never know for sure......
Anyhow keeping my eye out for a replacement, looking for a.....
5 door GTi DSG in silver or white
Sat Nav
Leather
under 60k miles
FSH
Budget circa £13k.
Get in touch if you know someone, still wanna be part of the GTi club...
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Result. :smiley:
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bloody hell...thats some going to destroy that many mk5's.
In terms of your result, glad you've sorted it one way or another...consumer law isnt always helpful and can be long and costly so a quick settlement is def a result.
Good hunting and for that money keep your eyes peeled for a ED30...unless you are dealershiping again :wink:
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Just bought a replacement for my previous loss.....another Silver GTi DSG, with all the top spec - wonder if I can keep this one for more than an hour!
Finally a proud member of a GTi :grin:
Pics to follow.
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Congrats.... :smiley: Look forward to seeing the pictures.
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Congrats, let's be seeing the pics asap
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Great result, looking foward to the pics.
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As promised pic of GTi that I had for an hour before it caught alight, the aftermath! :sick:
(http://i754.photobucket.com/albums/xx181/dejaye/P1010487.jpg)
Pic of New GTi just bought to replace. Reflex Silver; DSG; Leather; Sat Nav; 49k on the clock; FVWSH - luvin it. :smiley:
(http://i754.photobucket.com/albums/xx181/dejaye/P1010622.jpg)
(http://i754.photobucket.com/albums/xx181/dejaye/P1010627.jpg)
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the damage to the first car is a bit brutal :shocked: :shocked:
New one looks a good clean base to modify from :wink: :cool:
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Glad you managed to get it all sorted :cool:
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Silver and 17"... choice of champions! :cool:
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Glad you got it sorted, replacment looks lush.
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Glad you got it sorted mate :cool:
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Nice action.
Silver 5 door FTW!