I was on a fire fighting course a few months back and the instuctor told us the last thing you wanted to do was attempt to fight a car fire, because of the various plastics and fluids present under the bonnet the cocktail of gasses released was extremely toxic. Not to mention the risk of explosion.
I have to say that I think if the worst happened I would just put as much distance between me and the car as possible and collect on the insurance. I watched an episode of the garage where they were repairing a fire damaged beemer - even though it was a minor fire it meant a new ecu, loom, inlet manifold and a heap of other parts. I don't think I would be happy to get back behind the wheel of a car that had decided spontaneous combustion was the way forward - just wouldn't trust it after that!
