Hello everyone, My husband and I helped my daughter in buying a 1998 V70 wagon for her family. She has an infant and when she received her tax money wanted a car that was more dependable then what she had. We thought with 80K miles it was a good deal for her. She has had this for a month and took to a dealer day before and was told she had an oil leak. My son said he would fix it so we picked the car up and I followed him home and the car caught fire on the highway. Fire department said it was electrical. Should the dealership have caught this or checked for recalls or could they have even caused this to have happened?

 

Hello, Sorry to hear your daughter's car caught fire-it sounds like no one was injured. Car fires are extremely dangerous. No one can answer any of the questions you asked because we don't know anything except the fire department's conclusion, which was probably made rather quickly since the fire was on a highway, and the fact that there was an oil leak. If no one was injured you can expect a certain amount of disconnect between emergency responders and a damaged 13 year old car. Was the oil leak severe? Where was it exactly? Was the fire near the leak, in the passenger compartment or behind the dashboard? Was the fire department correct? Could the fire department be mistaken? Did your son even see the leak and know what he was getting into? It sounds like the dealership did catch it. Recalls may not have been involved. Sabotaging a car to such a deadly degree seems very unlikely. Were you able to communicate with the dealer clearly? Was the car in good condition, serviceable condition or was it neglected? Kira

 

Just wanted to say sorry to hear of your misfortune and glad no one was hurt. When you think about a car you have a combination of petroleum products, electricity, and friction. Things like this can, unfortunately, happen.

 

Get the report from F.D. And go from there. Thank heavens that your family is safe.
Kira asked some great questions. Oil on hot engine parts DOES constitute a fire hazard...Strange that it happened on the way home from inspection. Even if a tech jostled something lose, caused a short, etc. , you'll be very hard pressed to prove it. I'd chalk it up as a loss....

 

I would go ask the dealer to pay you for the car or at least split it with you.

 

The problem I am having is that the cause of the fire is electrical due to oil the had leaked and shorted out something, at least that is the dealers explanation. Then why didn't the dealership explain to my daughter that this is a hazard! I do feel they should have some responsibility, thank god nobody was hurt or WORSE! Yes, I do feel they should pay for something if the knowingly put that car back on the road and it wasn't safe for my daughter and her infant son! I just don't know what to do about it.

 

Did you buy it from the Dealer that you took it to? Why did you take it to the Dealer, what were you having fixed or looked at? If they just looked at the car and said you have an oil leak then I would think they would not be responsible. If they sold you the car then were servicing it then it might be a different story.

 

Hello, "My son said he would fix it so we picked the car up...". Was the dealership supposed to have held you down? You took responsibility for the repair, which is an admirable thing to do. You got some bad luck before you got around to fixing the leak; your car caught fire. You also got some good luck; nobody was killed or injured. I'm not taking sides here. It's too bad your son hadn't given the car a looksee during the month it was driven. One of the unsung benefits of changing your own oil, for example, is that you get to look around your engine and under the car from angles not usually presented. Maybe a dealer with a brisk enough business can cannibalize enough out of the damaged vehicle to give you a fat discount toward a good used car. Like rspi said; "...ask the dealer to...at least split it with you". In that case 50% of the value of your 13 year old car would be a fat discount. There's not going to be a formula here. You need help. Asking nicely might get you somewhere. If the communication is already sour between you; it's over. How 'bout this?---->My friend's son rolled and totaled his car then replaced it with an identical car. He stripped the old one to the bone. Of course he has a place to keep the mountain of parts. Good luck getting back on the road. Kira

 

Yeah, I hate to say it, but all old cars leak oil, some worse than others...As I said, you'll be hard pressed to prove neglegence, unless you hire a P.I or something, which might be overkill. Again, count your blessings, the unspeakable could have happened. Thank goodness it didn't.

 

I have counted my blessings every day and I am very happy that things did turn out the way they did as far as my son and I picking up the car from her. The "what if's" have been driving us all crazy here. My daughter very well could have been driving the car with her baby and.... Well I believe it happened the way it did for a reason. Volvo did call me back and are going to inspect the car to find out the cause for the fire and take it from there.

 

This is why we buy insurance and why they buy insurance.
Then there's the matter of the deductible.
Ed

 

I didn't know if insurance covered fire. My wife said "once you drive away, it's on your". I do not agree. If I drive my car somewhere for repairs, and I don't make it to my next destination before something goes wrong, I think they had something to do with it. It should make the next start - drive - shut down process before I think it's unrelated.

 

As in, who would take their beloved car in for service, be told that the car was now a ticking time bomb, and say, "ok, well I'll have my 'X' do the repairs when I get arounf to it, and then drive off.
Every time you get into an automobile, it's like spinning the roulette wheel. Call the insurance company- why hasn't an adjusted already seen the case?

 

Because she only had liability insurance.