vandegrift

I wonder what the factory will say about that, keep us posted please

mspennyrae

Hi peoples...sorry for the late reply but I've been waiting for my account to get approved.

Yeah, my husband stopped on his way home from work at a gas station to grab a pack of smokes. Not 75 feet out of the gas station he smelled smoke, and not 10 seconds after that he saw flames shooting out of the hood.

LUCKILY, that parking lot he was able to get into before it died is a vacant, foreclosed building. He pulled out the fire extinguisher thinking(initially) maybe it was a small electrical fire and he could easily put it out. Once he realized it wasn't going to happen, he ran like hell. I was not with him and at no time did he put himself in danger (mainly because he knows I'd kill him if the did that.)

I arrived a few minutes later and the firetrucks were just behind me. When the magnesium and water mixed, man it was spectactular. (BOOM!) It burned for an hour and a half and was also full of gas.

The jeep was bought in June and only had 3200 miles on it. We were just about to get the oil changed on it. (It wasn't driven much...it was our weekend car.) Luckily he hadn't accessorized it too much as it was so new.

Insurance is treating us OK and we've also contacted Chrysler, and they are sending someone to look at it. Our insurance company also hired a 3rd party investigator to investigate the cause and he confirmed we didn't do it on purpose. (DURRR). We're going back after Chrysler for our deductible etc..

Now the question is, do we take the chance with another Wrangler? We really, really liked that Jeep. What's concerning us is that this happened literally 3 minutes from our house. If it had happened as he had pulled in the garage, the house would have gone up with it. Then again, the chances of this happening twice to the same owner are probably pretty remote...

Jeep Wrangler Roasting on an Open Fire...
Transmission fluid dripping from its hose…
Yuletide blazes…with explosions all aglow…
And firemen, dressed up in their flame retardant clothes…
Everybody knows…a cooked Jeep and some water thrown…on magnesium makes the season bright…
Insurance Adjuster…with his eyes all aglow…will find it hard to write a check tonight….

cppower

There are far more Jeeps on the road that have not caught on fire, go for it!

mspennyrae

We're also pregnant with our first, due in March. Yeah...again, if it had been 3 minutes later, our entire house would have burned down with the Jeep. You can understand our reluctance.

cppower

Knowing the root cause of the fire should go a long way in easing your mind.

JeepaRoo

I would NOT even let the insurance cover it.. you will get BOOK value for it.. I would go for chrysler to just plain replace the jeep... that is what I did when my silverado burnt to the ground with 6000 miles on it.. i let the ins co know it happened but didnt open a claim.. I went after GM.. and they replaced the vehicle with a new one.. collateral exchange.. same loan.. no deductible.. no Gap in money...

I threatened lawsuit with GM when they tried to get me to go to my ins co.. stating that I or someone else couldve been killed.. they backed down and replaced my vehicle within a week after that...

you should do the same with chrysler.. they dont want that on their books.. if you want a new wrangler.. make them replace it with a 2011 (or another '10 if you dont like the 11's changes...)...

-Christopher

mspennyrae

Too late. Plus, the insurance gave us more than we actually paid for it. (I get a Chrysler employee discount - no I don't work for Chrysler.) Ins company is fighting to get their money back thru Chrysler and our deductible. It's a done deal - plus, to be honest, with a baby on the way, we're not going to wait for a settlement from Chrysler.

What year Silverado?? I have a brand new 2010...please tell me this isn't going to happen a second time. (I love my truck).

TeraFlex

Nice to hear that everyone is safe and you got your money back.

08RedRecon

Wow, that is absolutely crazy. Very lucky he hadnt gotten home and in the garage when it happened. Glad nobody was hurt.

IrvineJK

So Chevy Silverado's spontaneously combust too? This is sounding like an epidemic of US built cars poorly built and warranted. They should halt all production until they get to the bottom of this.