A5 fire!!!!

[Blazin']

Our Audi A1, a mere 4 years old, spontaneously caught fire and burned out in January.  It started with choking, noxious fumes inside the car. Had stopping instantly not been an option (on a motorway?  Or heavy traffic?) these may have quickly overcome the driver.

Only a few minutes later, and properly ablaze, the car self-locked all its doors and then fired its airbags as the electrics melted – rendering a rescue almost impossible, as the doors wouldn’t unlock.  Had the driver still been inside (unconscious with fumes?) this could have caused injury or death, let alone making it more difficult to get out. 

The Audi dealer was most helpful.  He implied that Audi, as a brand, would be concerned about their product self-igniting, and self-locking.  He suggested that Audi would make every effort to ‘keep us in the brand’ and compensate for the trauma, cost and inconvenience of losing our car to fire.  And that Audi engineers would investigate to find the cause, in the interests of safety for all, as well as ‘closure’ for us.

Well, Audi, were these all empty words?  Your engineers “can’t find the cause”.  Are you implying that it could be our fault??  Or just in denial and trying to avoid responsibility?

[James]

Hi Don,

Sorry to hear about your A1 - I do hope this doesn't turn out to be a regular occurrence with the A1 as it appears to have been with the A5. Otherwise Audi could have a real issue on their hands... 

[AudiOddie]

Now I'm getting worried. Audi must be aware of this increasing problem. Anyone know if it is being addressed ?

[fdm]

sounds from the a1 incident that Audi are maintaining their historic attitude. Amazing really!

[Sand.and]

Hi Don

Sorry to hear of your Audi fire. The fact that Audi have reacted the way they have does not surprise me in the least. There attitude to these types of issues is appalling customer service. What are they waiting for - someone to die in a car fire!! We were sooooo lucky we woke up, or it could've been a completely different story, even then Audi would've said it wasn't there fault!

[Sand.and]

52 minutes ago, AudiOddie said:

Now I'm getting worried. Audi must be aware of this increasing problem. Anyone know if it is being addressed ?

Yes John, Audi are aware of this problem, they have just chosen to ignore it severity - usually by passing the blame elsewhere.

[Sand.and]

32 minutes ago, fdm said:

sounds from the a1 incident that Audi are maintaining their historic attitude. Amazing really!

Yep, and we know that soo well eh.!!

[Sand.and]

On 4/4/2016 at 11:57 AM, Blazin' said:

Our Audi A1, a mere 4 years old, spontaneously caught fire and burned out in January.  It started with choking, noxious fumes inside the car. Had stopping instantly not been an option (on a motorway?  Or heavy traffic?) these may have quickly overcome the driver.

 

Only a few minutes later, and properly ablaze, the car self-locked all its doors and then fired its airbags as the electrics melted – rendering a rescue almost impossible, as the doors wouldn’t unlock.  Had the driver still been inside (unconscious with fumes?) this could have caused injury or death, let alone making it more difficult to get out. 

 

The Audi dealer was most helpful.  He implied that Audi, as a brand, would be concerned about their product self-igniting, and self-locking.  He suggested that Audi would make every effort to ‘keep us in the brand’ and compensate for the trauma, cost and inconvenience of losing our car to fire.  And that Audi engineers would investigate to find the cause, in the interests of safety for all, as well as ‘closure’ for us.

 

Well, Audi, were these all empty words?  Your engineers “can’t find the cause”.  Are you implying that it could be our fault??  Or just in denial and trying to avoid responsibility?

 

Looking at your photo it's quite clear the fire has come from the drivers side dash - the fire officer that did a FULL investigation on our car also said the main source came from the drivers side dash. Sadly we had no photos of our car on fire, only the aftermath.  Peter Morrell from Audi tried to insinuate to me that when the ignition is off NO electrical items are live!! Until I reminded him that, the alarm, lights, radio, central locking, are just a few of the many items that remain live at all times in a car. I even had an electrical diagram of an Audi A5 showing all the live components. I think he thought as I'm a woman I wouldn't know what he was talking about :)

[Katepeters]

21 hours ago, Katepeters said:

My Audi burnt to the ground on my drive Monday causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to my house. After a full inspection from the fire investigators the fire had started through a electrical fault in dash .. I haven't contacted Audi yet just my car insurance and house insurance. I am still in shock about it. We have to make a stand and make Audi listen and do something about this. Kate xx 

 

[Katepeters]

[Katepeters]

[fdm]

Hi Kate,

Sorry to hear that ! What a nightmare.  Yet another 12 plate goes up in flames !  My advice - don't let your motor insurers destroy the vehicle until a fully qualified motor engineer with an expertise in vehicle fires has inspected the vehicle to ascertain the cause of the fire or likely cause. As has been shown earlier, Audi will rely on the (obvious) fact that the cause of the fire is impossible to ascertain due to the damage. They will also seek to infer that there could be other possible causes for the fire ie smoking, modifications, items on charge etc etc.  It's very important to preserve the evidence here.  Your rights of recovery against Audi are pursuant to the Consumer Protection Act as they (or Audi Germany) are the producers (important phrase) of the vehicle.

DO NOT BACK DOWN. It'll be a long road.

How many other vehicles have to go up or who has to die before Audi take the issue seriously.  Watchdog ?

Good luck. Keep me posted.

[Katepeters]

I will keep everyone posted.. I'm not letting this go. I will take it all the way... national press, watchdog. Audi have a lot to answer for. I'm just lost for words.

I'm not a smoker, and no modifications were made to the car which would surly be proved in the engineers report which is being done tomorrow ??

Devastated and broken 

Kate xx 

[Sand.and]

Hi Guys

I've found this link - its' a few years old - but it says Audi recalled cars due to electrical faults causing fires!

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a10250/audi-recalls-vehicles-for-wiring-problems/

And also, An Audi (although I don't know what model yet) caused the M5 to be closed on Sunday 3rd April as it burst into flames. Luckily no-one was hurt, the family managed to get out. Its on the BBC Hereford & Worcester's facebook page.

 

[Gemika]

Just reading through these messages to get some clarification on what happened to my car late Monday evening, I have the Audi A5 2.0TDI and can only suggest it was an electrical or engine fault as then whole front completely went up in a huge blaze. Luckily my friend woke up to hearing beeping outside to discover the whole front of my vehicle blazing with fire. It was parked on the drive right outside the front door, catching fire to all the bins and if spread to the door could have had devastating effects. I have my insurance company coming to inspect the vehicle tomorrow, and they are contacting Audi to come do the same. Absolutely gutted. 

[Trevor]

Hi Gemma

Sad to hear about your Audi, it would have to be one of two things, heat generated through a hot engine or components igniting combustible material or it would otherwise be an electrical fire with enough electrical current (e.g. large wiring, probably straight from a battery feed and not through a fused feed) to generate enough heat to lead to combustion. Either way it needs properly investigating!

Has any work been carried out on it in the last few days?  Keep us informed as to the outcome.

Cheers   Trevor

[Big Al]

Holy Cow, while driving to work on Christmas Eve my dash started going crazy! it smelled like something was on fire, I called my Audi Dealer and he told me to pop the hood- low and behold the wiring was on fire! flames shooting in the air- I has a fire extinguisher & was able to put the fire out- we took the car to Audi for repairs- cant wait to here what they are going to tell me, Im sure it will be totaled

[aviator]

My 2013 Audi TT interior caught fire this week, and I found this thread.  Worryingly I'd been complaining to Audi about a burning smell in the car, they had it in and changed a DPF bracket underneath, but when I explained I didn't think an exhaust issue was the problem as it was a plastic burning smell from INSIDE the car, they gave me the car back and advised me to continue and see how I got on with it.  That same evening driving it home from the dealer I could smell the burning again...I immediately telephoned the dealer but all service department had gone home as it was after 6pm.  I advised a chap whom answered my call that I would be returning the car first thing the next morning.  Next morning came, it was frosty so I had all the heaters on and windscreen defrosts etc. as one would expect, and 10-15 minutes into my drive smoke came out of the vents and nasty fumes filled the cabin, I pulled over when safe to do so (and as quickly as I could) and got out and proceeded to ring Audi Assist.  As I was giving my details I saw the car burst into flames from the right hand side dashboard area, the next thing I knew I'm awaiting the fire brigade who quickly arrived in minutes and put out and made the car safe.  the whole of the right side of the dash next to the steering wheel and light switches was melted away and lots of wires visibly burning red hot.  The fire brigade said it was in their opinion definitely an electrical fire.

My supplying Audi dealer have been very supportive (so far) but I'm yet to hear from anyone at Audi UK, even to apologise etc...  I was having nothing but trouble with the car prior to this with parts falling off it and annoying rattles to name but a few issues.

I hope judging by this thread I don't suffer the same fate, its not looking promising for me after reading here though  :(

[Brad-B5]

Hi Matthew

I'm sorry about what's happened, I hope its gets sorted, keep us updated.

I don't understand like someone else has said that Audi seem to oversee the fires.

Regards

Bradley

[Trevor]

Hi all...

I have moved this post to the Recalls section of the Forum as it now seems to affect other models in the range, not just the A5.

A copy of the thread will be left in the A5 section for 1 month

[Sand.and]

Hi Trevor

Can you please also leave a copy in the A5 section, as it mainly seems to be the A5. As you can see I started this thread quite some time ago, and it's there for anyone else who has an A5 to see what has happened. People are still having issues and reporting on it.

It's not relating to recalls as Audi are NOT recalling them, and it's misleading to other Audi owners who might think that Audi are recalling - or even give a damn about their vehicles going up in flames.

I would like to think anyone in the future would see this knowing they are not alone - as we did some 2 years ago.

Also - if Audi to ever bother to look it this they would see all the posts together too.

Please leave it alone where it is.

Thanks

[Toonsoldier91]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2017/02/05/audi-recall-fire-airbag-volkswagen/%3Fsource%3Ddam?client=safari

[Trevor]

Thanks for the link Toonsoldier91  it was definitely overdue for Audi to recall these vehicles for modifications

[aviator]

On ‎17‎/‎02‎/‎2017 at 9:13 AM, aviator said:

My 2013 Audi TT interior caught fire this week, and I found this thread.  Worryingly I'd been complaining to Audi about a burning smell in the car, they had it in and changed a DPF bracket underneath, but when I explained I didn't think an exhaust issue was the problem as it was a plastic burning smell from INSIDE the car, they gave me the car back and advised me to continue and see how I got on with it.  That same evening driving it home from the dealer I could smell the burning again...I immediately telephoned the dealer but all service department had gone home as it was after 6pm.  I advised a chap whom answered my call that I would be returning the car first thing the next morning.  Next morning came, it was frosty so I had all the heaters on and windscreen defrosts etc. as one would expect, and 10-15 minutes into my drive smoke came out of the vents and nasty fumes filled the cabin, I pulled over when safe to do so (and as quickly as I could) and got out and proceeded to ring Audi Assist.  As I was giving my details I saw the car burst into flames from the right hand side dashboard area, the next thing I knew I'm awaiting the fire brigade who quickly arrived in minutes and put out and made the car safe.  the whole of the right side of the dash next to the steering wheel and light switches was melted away and lots of wires visibly burning red hot.  The fire brigade said it was in their opinion definitely an electrical fire.

My supplying Audi dealer have been very supportive (so far) but I'm yet to hear from anyone at Audi UK, even to apologise etc...  I was having nothing but trouble with the car prior to this with parts falling off it and annoying rattles to name but a few issues.

I hope judging by this thread I don't suffer the same fate, its not looking promising for me after reading here though  :(

To keep people in the loop, My insurers engineer has been today and has surmised it is a wiring fault which has been the cause.  Audi UK have been taking interest in this after Audi Sytner had informed/involved them, and Audi themselves have also sent an engineer today to try and ascertain the cause.

I must admit I kind of feel uneasy about the whole situation if I have to be perfectly honest, Audi UK were trying to take steps before my insurer and I've had to rein them in a bit as at the end of the day it is still MY vehicle until someone tells me otherwise!  Firstly Audi blocked my insurers attempts to recover the vehicle to their salvage centre, and then I had to stop them from ripping the car to bits and sending parts off to Germany prior to my insurer taking a look and I feel what while the car has been in an Audi dealers possession (and even at the admission of my insurance claims handler), there's no telling what they might be trying to cover up if at all?  One can't help but feel sceptical considering they have a vested interest in the vehicle but still have yet to agree any terms to settle or admit liability of a fault, or even set out a plan and communicate it with me...I feel as though they can pretty much do what they want when they want!!!  I sometimes wished I had had the vehicle recovered to a totally independent place for clarity and transparency etc and a guarantee that no one can meddle with it throughout the due course of the procedures.

Tense times and more sleepless nights for me ahead I fear...what should have been a dream purchase has fast become a nightmare :(

I guess there are lessons to be learned here.  If its happening to you, take note!

 

[Toonsoldier91]

7 hours ago, Trevor said:

Thanks for the link Toonsoldier91  it was definitely overdue for Audi to recall these vehicles for modifications

It amazes me how in this day and age any car fire is over looked by any car maker weather it be 1 or 100. Hopefully the people effected not just on here but world wide get what they deserve