I just wrote a thread last night about how my 8 died on me so I called Mazda Roadside Assistance to have it towed to Middletown Mazda in New York. Well they called me Thursday morning to tell me that they were going to diagnosis my car and get back to me in the afternoon. The dealership called me Thursday evening with the news "Get a hold of your insurance agency because there was an incident, one of our technicians went out to try and start your car and it caught on fire, burning everything under the hood. There is no exterior damage, but the technician had to use a fire extinguisher for the fire." And to top this all off they are blaming this on my Mazdaspeed CAI, saying that the two small bolts holding the MAF sensor were missing which caused the fire to occur. So now my car is shot and I have no idea what to do, please give me your insight on this accident.

Thank You So MUch,

Chris

 

Your Mazdaspeed part shouldn't have done anything to cause this. Regardless of that the fire started on their property while in their control. It shouldn't be your insurance but theirs that should pay.

 

i HIGHLY doubt your maf sensor will start a fire

 

That is what I think should happen, tomorrow I have to meet my insurance agent at the dealer. I still have not seen the car and I have no idea what to expect, all I wanted was my car back, and now that its destroyed I want a new one. I don't think that is too much to ask for.

Thank You and I Appreciate Everyone's Support,


Chris

 

When my car died, I thought that the car was not receiving fuel, and from what I gather the technician messed with a fuel line or something along those lines and that is when the fire occurred.


Thanks,

Chris

 

if you have a lawyer i would contact him/her tomorrow morning

 

I concur. From the sound of things they want to hand off responsibility to you and wash their hands of it. Personally I wouldn't want to drive a car that has had the engine bay burned to a crisp.

 

Thanks Everybody, I am going to contact a lawyer tomorrow and give them my case as well as the report from my insurance agent tomorrow. I will get back to everyone on the forum tomorrow, I appreciate everyone's help and will let everyone know my situation as the events unfold.

THank You,

Chris

 

how retarded did the service rep. have too be too claim that two "BOLTS" started a fire...

It doesn't matter what the hell the bolts are, unless there exists bolts too bolt in the fuel line. You can't start a fire from two metal objects. Maybe I'm an genius for acknowledging that... Apparently in America I am...

 

I think their argument is that the missing bolts caused a short which started an electrical fire.

 

Man, I bet this is one of he ugliest feelings aside theft. Sorry to hear about this.

-Cody

 

Thats awful, but not surprising that a dealer would pull those kinds of shinanigans. An aquaintance of my had her car nearly totaled by the lot boy crashing it on a joy ride. She caught them pulling the car into the body shop. They were going to fix it and never tell her.

As mentioned above, get a lawyer as they are liable.

 

Let your insurance company deal with it. They will make the dealers insurance pay if the think that they can.....they have deep pockets and lawyers on retainer...save your money.

..let them"Lawyer Up"!

 

Damn that dealership. Yep, this is what they gonna say next

The Sky is falling ! Thats why your car was on fire !

 

photos?????

beers

 

Pics would be nice and swoope do you ever sleep?

 

yep,

have you read my profile.. it will make sense. duh

beers

 

If it was a powder type fire extinguisher, there are even bigger problems. The powder is corrosive when mixed with water. The engine will have to be cleaned with a dry brush. If the engine was running, during the fire extinguishers use, kiss that engine good by. The powder would have been sucked up through the intake and is now all over inside.

 

I agree let them deal with it. That's their job.

mprlife624,

By any chance did you have the dealer install the CAI if so when? I may be wrong but I believe they are responsible for the work done for up to a year. Regardless those two bolts did not cause a fire, have them explain how that is possible. Its a sensor? Take them for all their worth.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I'm sure it was the powder type PKP agent versus plain ol CO2 while in a mechanic's shop. With the possibilities of oil fires.... PKP is a must. I guess I would have to see how bad it was.... but if EVERYTHING under the hood is toast and there is powder everywhere..... I'd total out the car. Sorry, but I'm dead serious. Get a lawyer... NOW!

 

First of all I would like to thank everyone for their support. I have not been able to go on the forum because of not only the forum being down but I've had a busy weekend. Well, first thing Friday morning I went to the Mazda dealership to look at my car expecting a toasted engine bay...I was surprised to find that the damage is not bad at all which got me both mad and happy because I thought that the dealership should not have told me that my car had a serious fire and I should inform my insurance agency.
The only actual damage that I could see was that the air filter from the Mazdaspeed CAI was completely burned up which dripped onto the undertray which left some damage on that as well. But considering what I was expecting, I was thrilled. There was however much powder from the fire extinguisher underneath the hood and all over the bumper. I also noticed that when I popped the hood, the MAF sensor looked as if someone pulled it out and the bolts were missing as they described.
Middletown Mazda's Service Manager tried to blame the fire on the loose MAF sensor but the mechanic who worked on the car said in front of the two of us that there is no way to prove that. The manager did not like that and would not allow me to speak directly to the mechanic. So after that the dealership said that they would work on the car and get back to me.
So until today I've been getting the complete runaround, I would call and they would tell me either to call back or someone would get back to me very shortly. This happened at least ten times until around 4:30 today when another manager told me that they got my car running but it was running like **** and they are going to replace the spark plugs and get back to me first thing Tuesday morning. I will update everyone as soon as I find anything out.

Thank You,

Chris

 

Good luck man. Don't settle for "good enough". If that thing is not purring when they return it to you..... LAWYER. Dead serious.

 

Kudos to the mechanic at least.

 

Make sure that they state on your invoice that the car caught fire in their possession and they put it out with a fire extinguisher (type of extinguisher as well) this is just in case you have issues down the road. Have them write a detailed account of what happened, and what was replaced. Good Luck

 

my rendition:

tech: (inner dialogue) shiaut, I don't want to push another low compression 8 into my bay, where's the starter fluid....

tech pulls maf sprays, cranks only to back fire, residue from aerosol starter fluid ignites...tech runs sprays fire out with extinguisher, hides can of starter fluid and plays dumb to service manager...

"I don't know what happened man, I finished smoking my doobie and all of the sudden dude's 8 was blazing...did I say I was smoking a doobie...I was just kiddin' about that...but I put out the fire...I think it was his CAI cuz the MAF was just like hanging there, man..."

Service manager nods, ignoring his inner dialogue "I hired this schmuck, man he is so full of crap, there is no way MNA is going to pay this warranty claim..."

You got a call saying....