Serious engine fire after service

[Quickquestion]

New to this forum - hope it's ok to post this. We just had our 11 reg xc90 serviced at a Volvo dealership and they advised us to have swirl arm motor removed and replaced as swirl flap arm was broken. We told them to go ahead, and also had 4 new tyres fitted. They advised that cam belt would need doing soon (mileage 113,000) but we decided to wait until next month due to costs. Work was done, picked up the car and paid the £1000 bill. On the way home, less than an hour after picking car up, noticed smoke, then flames coming from engine. Immediately pulled over, fire was really going by now. Luckily everyone got out ok - Fire brigade arrived 6 minutes later but by then, car was completely engulfed. They put fire out but it's totally burnt out wreck. Car was recovered by insurance and they will now assess and see if they can find cause - I think it's unlikely they'll be able to tell as engine is completely melted.
So - our insurance company will deal with the car, assess how much to offer and we either accept or challenge for higher amount.
My main question is about the £1000 bill for the service and swirl arm replacement. Garage currently stating it's nothing to do with their work - however it seems a massive coincidence that fire started immediately after the work they've done. I know nothing about the swirl arm - anyone able to advise on whether this type of work COULD cause this type of fire? Does it involve fuel lines? We really need to prove a link between the work done by garage and the cause of the fire as otherwise, we don't have a chance of getting back the £1000. We can't afford this - insurance won't cover the garage bill. Really looking for advice about how to approach this issue.

[XC90Mk1]

Originally Posted by Quickquestion

New to this forum - hope it's ok to post this. We just had our 11 reg xc90 serviced at a Volvo dealership and they advised us to have swirl arm motor removed and replaced as swirl flap arm was broken. We told them to go ahead, and also had 4 new tyres fitted. They advised that cam belt would need doing soon (mileage 113,000) but we decided to wait until next month due to costs. Work was done, picked up the car and paid the £1000 bill. On the way home, less than an hour after picking car up, noticed smoke, then flames coming from engine. Immediately pulled over, fire was really going by now. Luckily everyone got out ok - Fire brigade arrived 6 minutes later but by then, car was completely engulfed. They put fire out but it's totally burnt out wreck. Car was recovered by insurance and they will now assess and see if they can find cause - I think it's unlikely they'll be able to tell as engine is completely melted.
So - our insurance company will deal with the car, assess how much to offer and we either accept or challenge for higher amount.
My main question is about the £1000 bill for the service and swirl arm replacement. Garage currently stating it's nothing to do with their work - however it seems a massive coincidence that fire started immediately after the work they've done. I know nothing about the swirl arm - anyone able to advise on whether this type of work COULD cause this type of fire? Does it involve fuel lines? We really need to prove a link between the work done by garage and the cause of the fire as otherwise, we don't have a chance of getting back the £1000. We can't afford this - insurance won't cover the garage bill. Really looking for advice about how to approach this issue.

I would have thought the best thing would be to put in writing to the dealership and Volvo that following a £1,000 service the car was left in such a position that a major fire was possible within 1 hour.

Why is this and how do they prove it was not reasonable to ‘notice’ such a defect.

Did u pay on a credit or debit card?

[Tannaton]

Your experience is most unusual, really pleased to hear you are all okay if somewhat shaken up I expect.

The insurance investigators are quite clever these days and familiar with many models and their common faults, so you may get some news from them.

Personally I would bypass the dealer and go straight to Volvo UK customer services - I would expect at the very least they will send someone to look at the car also. I would start off being very polite and collaborative with them - but have a plan to ramp up the pressure if you think they are not doing enough - e.g. suggest you will involve the press, Daily Mail are interested in running a story....

An old friend of mine has a 13-plate S-Class Mercedes which had a minor engine fire (some pump in the middle of the Vee). The car had 113k and had been out of MB History for a year but they still recovered it to their UK HQ for inspection and came to an amicable arrangement with him for the repair (not sure what).

[Zebster]

Whether the repair work they did caused the fire may be debateable, however during the service they obviously failed to pick up on whatever it was that caused the fire!

[Quickquestion]

Thanks all. We have emailed dealer (v polite to begin with!) Just outlining the facts. They've responded cautiously (understandable) saying they can't see how the work they did could have caused the fire. But not addressing the fact that if it wasn't directly their work, then they missed a serious defect/fault that did cause it.

We'll wait to see what insurer's investigator says...do you think there's any point in trying to get an independent assessor to look at it? I don't even know if there are such people that you can commission...

I had definitely considered the social media/Daily mail option - we have to have such a large car as my daughter is disabled so it might make an interesting consumer rights story. Thought we'd see what comes out of insurers assessment to see if it attributes cause. If inconclusive, I can't see garage being willing to pay out so we may have to escalate.

Hadn't thought of going direct to UK Volvo customer services rather than the individual garage...think that's next step.

Thanks again all.

[SwissXC90]

Let the professionals do their job: let them gather evidence and provide a report as to the cause of the fire

Let the insurance company do their job and provide you a replacement vehicle

The car is toast anyway, regardless of who is to blame, so just look forward to a new car

[Tannaton]

I would still contact Volvo UK customer services.

Regardless of whether the dealer caused it, or missed a fault that caused it, or wasn't responsible at all - Volvo will still want to know why one of their safest models went up in flames.

One potential cause is the alternator overheating - the deal could not have been expected to pick that up, but the insurance assessor will if he is worth his salt.

[volvoid]

3 cheers for the fire brigade ! We'd be stuck without them.

You may need to use a specialist automotive engineer to asses the causes of the fire. Start by talking to your insurers, they too would like to have someone to pass the bill to.

Never mind the service cost, it is possible that the garage is entirely at fault and owes you a complete car, plus costs and damages. No wonder they are denying it.

DO NOT have any further communications with volvo until youve spoken to your insurers at length and taken proper legal advice. Hopefully your insurer will handle this for you in order to recover their losses, they can be just as agressive as the car dealer. dont be fobbed of by bullsh1t about insurance clauses by anyone, thats the insureds problem, not yours.

did you pay the bill by credit card >? Inform the card provider that a major clain may be on its way. At this stage dont accept a refund from the dealer without legal advice.

Good luck

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by volvoid

3 cheers for the fire brigade ! We'd be stuck without them.

You may need to use a specialist automotive engineer to asses the causes of the fire. Start by talking to your insurers, they too would like to have someone to pass the bill to.

Never mind the service cost, it is possible that the garage is entirely at fault and owes you a complete car, plus costs and damages. No wonder they are denying it.

DO NOT have any further communications with volvo until youve spoken to your insurers at length and taken proper legal advice. Hopefully your insurer will handle this for you in order to recover their losses, they can be just as agressive as the car dealer. dont be fobbed of by bullsh1t about insurance clauses by anyone, thats the insureds problem, not yours.

did you pay the bill by credit card >? Inform the card provider that a major clain may be on its way. At this stage dont accept a refund from the dealer without legal advice.

Good luck

Don't agree with this advice - I think the OP should approach Volvo UK directly - remember they are an entirely separate legal entity to the dealer so if the dealer was proven to be at fault - that should not affect any dialogue with Volvo, quite the opposite Volvo UK may exert pressure on the dealer to settle. They can't do anything if they don't know about it and don't have the opportunity to investigate themselves.

Whilst the insurance company can add value if a court case needs to be entered into to claim from the dealer - that will take 12-24 months the best thing would be to reach an amicable settlement sooner.

[mjg1966]

As others have said contact Volvo UK Customer Services.