Site News - 7/9: Amazon Prime Deal: $100 Uber/Lyft Card for $85/$80! | 5/10: Members: Log In to See Fewer Ads!

[General | Members | C900 | 9000 | NG900 & OG93 | 93 | 95 | NG95 | 99 | Sonett | Vintage Models | Clubs | Other Cars | FAQs | Gifts | Member Photo Galleries | Member Directory | Classifieds | Manuals | *Buddy Registry | *Mileage Registry | Polls | What's New | Raffle | Photo of the Month | Sponsors]

93 Bulletin Board
2003-2011 [Subscribe to Daily Digest]
(Search Author's Posts: e.g. Keyword:username)*Members Only


[Main 93 Bulletin Board | BBFAQ | Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ] Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Fire! Help - Advise? (LONG)
Like This Post: - Subscribe to Daily Digest for this Bulletin Board
Posted by Nick L. (more from Nick L.) on Fri, 12 Aug 2005 20:56:23 Share Post by Email
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup

2003 9-3SS with 22,450 miles. Pulled into get my haircut just around the corner from my house, parked and went in for a cut. About ten minutes later, while just getting the sides trimmed, my 10 year old nephew shouted that my car was smoking. I immediately went over and saw white smoking coming from the cracks of the hood.

At first I thought it was over-heating, but it didn't smell like coolent, rather a burnt plastic smell. I went close to pop the hood and saw flames coming out and the paint bubbling from the heat. The owner of the store came out with an extingwicher and I balsted it both underneath and on top, but to no avail. He then called 911 and the fire dept. came. By this time smoke was coming into the cockpit and the dash stated melting. Holes on the hood by the washer nozzles appeared and flames came out from those. The firemen pulled me back as the now yellow smoke was thick and they told me it was very bad to breath. They used gas masks and pried the hood open shooting water in to put it out. The fir, though, was still burning in the dash, so the went in through the glove box and panels and blasted the wiring. They disconnected the fuse box and battery as they said the electrical was causing the flames.

After all this, I called Saab roadside assistance - at 22K miles it still supposed to be warrantied and have the roadside, I thought - they said they would tow it to my local dealer. I then called my insurance and they gave me a claim number and approval for a rental car if needed.

Tow truck came and told me he was taking it to abody shop as per the Saab dealer. I called the dealer and the service rep., who I know, said that since the car was burned there was nothing they could do and that the shop is where they send wrecked Saabs. When I asked about the warranty and a loaner car he said the warranty doesn't cover fire and that they had no loaner cars... basically go through your insurance.

So, it's at the body shop. The guys there say it looks bad enough to be declared wrecked as the whole engine capartment is burned, the dash and wiring therein burned and smoke damage throughout.

As this has never happened to me in 20+ years of driving (yes, I'm 37), what the hell do I do? My insurance says I have to pay the $500 deductable and they're going to send an adjuster to see the damage and then let me know where I stand.

Meanwhile I called the Fire Dept. and got the incident report which states fire caused by electrical system...

After 3 Saabs and 4 other cars, none have caught on fire before. My 1980 900T overheated many times due to the water pump, but no fire...!

Q: Doesn't it seem abnormal for a 2 year old low milage Saab to catch on firelike this?

Q: Is Saab clean from fault here?
-I can understand if it were my fault it caught on fire due to neglegence or natural disaster, but that's not the case here. I drove it about 4 blocks, shut it of and the fire from internal. When your at fault in an accident, you pay the deductable, but when it's another party's fault, they pay it. Can Sabb really wash it's hands on this one?

Q: The car is half way through it's 4 year lease. haw does that factor? What and how do I do with the insurance company (Mercury - full coverage).

Any advise, past/similar experiences, or tips would really help me.

Thank God I wan't driving with my nephew when this happened and no one was hurt. Just gonna miss my Merlot baby...

-Nick



Q:

posted by 70.34.46...

Saab Car Fire


Posts in this Thread:
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
Post a Followup

No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.

Name: Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
E-Mail: (Optional)
Re-Enter E-Mail: (Confidential & Secure - Not revealed to other users!)
Note: Please check your spam folder for BB responses.

Subject:

Posting rules are simple - No for sale/wanted ads may be posted here - use the site classifieds.
You may not cross-post your message to multiple BBs.
Not permitted: political/religious topics and being disrespectful (personal attacks, insults, etc...).
Site Members do not see any red text, inline ad links, bottom of page anchor ads, box ads, or anti-spam check.

Message: (please no for sale/wanted classifieds - post those in the Saabnet.com Classifieds)
Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).


Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post above, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).

Optional Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/)
Link Title: (Optional)
Optional Photo/Image Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/img.jpg)
Photo/Image to Upload: (Please be patient while file uploads)





StateOfNine.com
SaabClub.com
Jak Stoll Performance
M Car Covers
Ad Available

The content on this site may not be republished without permission. Copyright © 1988-2025 - The Saab Network - saabnet.com.
For usage guidelines, see the Mission & Privacy Notice.
[Contact | Site Map | Saabnet.com on Facebook | Saabnet.com on Twitter | Shop Amazon via TSN | Site Donations]

Random Saabnet.com Member Gallery Photos (Click Image)

This is a moderated bulletin board - Posting is a privilege, not a right. Unsolicited commercial postings are not allowed (no spam). Please, no For Sale or Wanted postings, SERIOUSLY. Classifieds are to be listed in The Saab Network Classifieds pages. This is a problem solving forum for over 250,000 Saab owners, so expect to see problems discussed here even though our cars are generally very reliable. This is not an anything goes type of forum. Saabnet.com has been a moderated forum since 1988. For usage guidelines, see the Saabnet.com Mission and Purpose Page. Please remember that you are not anonymous. Site Contact | Site Donations | Other Sites by SP - Poverty2Prosperity.org | Run Club Menlo Park | ScreenBot



Site Members do not see red text instructions, bottom of the page anchor ads, or box ads.
Click here to see all the Site Membership Benefits!