NHTSA complaint: 2024 CHEVROLET TRAX — UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On [XXX] our nearly brand new ICE Chevy Trax spontaneously caught on fire and was destroyed. The check engine light had come on on May 30 and we had, as the manual said we should, set an appointment with our dealer to check it out. It was not flashing and the car was running fine. My wife took two of our grandkids out on [XXX] and drove a few miles doing kid things. Then I took the car for an 8-mile round trip and came home, parking in our driveway. The only unusual thing I noticed was that when I set the parking brake I did not hear the usual sound that function makes. About 15 minutes later my wife screamed that her car was smoking. I ran out and tried to get the garden hose to water the engine compartment, which the smoke was coming from, and growing quickly. Water didn't go down below the hood well and the paint started smoking then blistering. I tried to get water into the engine compartment from under the car but could not, and nothing was burning under the car that I could see at that point. (I could not discern the under-hood source of the original fire.) Then flames appeared and I had to back off. We had called 911 at once, of course, and the Saline fire department arrived and put the fire out with their big hose. By that time the entire engine compartment was destroyed, the windshield smashed, and both front tires had exploded. Note that there was a 15-20 mph wind blowing from the rear to the front of the car. Otherwise a nice day. INFORMATION REDACTED PURS
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — Office of Defects Investigation