# 2004 BUICK PARK AVENUE — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
> NHTSA complaint `1083495` · 2014-07-07 · General Motors, LLC
## Severity
- **Deaths:** 0
- **Injured:** 1
- **Fire:** Yes
- **Crash:** No
- **Police report:** No
- **Medical attention:** No
- **Vehicle towed:** No
## Vehicle
- **Make:** BUICK
- **Model:** PARK AVENUE
- **Year:** 2004
- **Manufacturer:** General Motors, LLC
- **Component:** ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
- **Miles at failure:** 219,000
- **Speed:** 68 mph
## Narrative
THE AFTERNOON OF FEBRUARY 14 MY WIFE AND I WERE DRIVING FROM INDIANA ON I-70 EAST TOWARDS DAYTON, OHIO. AS WE WERE DRIVING WE NOTICED HOW THE SNOW STORM WE THOUGHT WE WERE LEAVING BEHIND IN INDIANA SEEMED TO BE EVER WITH US. ABOUT 3 P.M. IN THE AFTERNOON I, THE DRIVER, SMELLED A FAINT ELECTRICAL ODOR. HAVING HAD THAT EXPERIENCE BEFORE WITH NO CONSEQUENCE I THOUGHT I MIGHT JUST BE MISTAKEN OR SMELLED THE ODOR FROM ANOTHER CAR. ABOUT THE SAME TIME, I CAN'T REMEMBER WHETHER IT WAS JUST BEFORE OR JUST AFTER THIS, THE SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT ILLUMINATED WHICH IT HAS DONE INTERMITTENTLY IN THE RECENT PAST WITH NO CONSEQUENCE. JUST A FEW MINUTES LATER, HOWEVER, THE RADIO CEASED TO OPERATE. SINCE OUR AM CAPABILITY HAD VANISHED ALMOST A YEAR AGO, WE BOTH TOOK NOTE OF THIS OBVIOUS INTERRUPTION. FOR THE NEXT FEW MOMENTS WE WERE DISTRACTED BY NOT HAVING RADIO, BUT FIDDLED WITH THE DIAL, AND SOON HAD A SIGNAL RETURN FOR JUST A BRIEF MOMENT THEN IT WENT SILENT AGAIN. AT ABOUT THAT SAME MOMENT I AGAIN DETECTED A WHIFF OF ELECTRICAL ODOR.  EARLIER, SINCE THE REAR WINDOW WAS FREE OF SNOW, I HAD TURNED OFF THE DEFROSTER. BUT, SCANNING THE MIRRORS, I WAS SURPRISED TO DISCOVER A TINY FLAME IN THE REAR WINDOW. ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE OF THE CAR, AND IN THE UPPER CORNER OF THE REAR WINDOW, THERE WAS A CIGARETTE LIGHTER SIZE FLAME. OBVIOUSLY AMAZED AND SURPRISED, I  TOLD MY WIFE WHAT I SAW AND QUICKLY BEGAN TO DECELERATE SO I COULD PULL OVER. AFTER STOPPING AND OPENING THE PASSENGER DOOR ON THE DRIV
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*Source: [NHTSA ODI](https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads/) · AI Analytics · CC0 1.0*