NHTSA complaint: 2002 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:FRONT UNDERHOOD
AT APPROXIMATELY 9 PM ON 8/31/02, A FIRE STARTING BENEATH THE HOOD DESTROYED THE VEHICLE AS IT SAT IN THE DRIVEWAY OF OUR HOME. THE CAR HAD BEEN OPERATING NORMALLY, WITH NO SIGN OF OVERHEATING, SMOKE, ETC., AND HAD BEEN PARKED IN DRIVEWAY 5-10 MINUTES BEFORE FLAMES WERE SEEN BLAZING FROM UNDER HOOD. ONLY PRIOR SERVICE ON CAR WAS OIL CHANGE, BY VW, 8 DAYS EARLIER. IN FACT, WE HAD NOT HAD ANY ENGINE TROUBLE OF ANY KIND SINCE PURCHASING THE CAR. WE HAD BEEN USING THE CAR VIRTUALLY DAILY SINCE THE BIRTH OF OUR SON IN MAY. I DOUBT OVERHEATING WAS TO BLAME, SINCE IN FACT THAT DAY WAS THE COOLEST IN MONTHS, AND WE HAD BEEN DRIVING THE CAR IN TEMPERATURES IN THE 90S AND EVEN ABOVE 100, INCLUDING A LONG-DISTANCE TRIP TO/FROM VERMONT, WITHOUT INCIDENT.*AK
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — Office of Defects Investigation