Brand new VW R32 catches on fire
As a fellow GTI owner, I really feel for this guy. A South Florida owner of a brand new 2008 Volkswagen R32 walked out of work and found that his car, which had been turned off and parked for six hours, had set itself on fire. The flames started in the driver's side dash, grew to the door and roof, and melted a hole in the windshield. According to the thread, this isn't the first R32 to do so either. Can you smell a recall coming, or is that just the smoke? Check the gallery for the photos, and visit the thread over at VW Vortex for updates on the car.
Thanks for the tip, Jason!
[Source: VW Vortex]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Rick 1:08PM (10/19/2007)
That's not going to help VW's perceived reputation as being unreliable.
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Rollolo 10:20AM (10/19/2007)
My golf works very good, I can not believe it set itself on fire.
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sk 9:46AM (10/19/2007)
Aw Snap, he forgot to take off McDonald's Monopoly stickers from his beverage in the cup holder. He could have won 1 million $.
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sidebeards 4:12PM (10/19/2007)
Heres where this story was originally posted.
http://www.driven2modify.com/showthread.php?t=10845
JGuan 9:47AM (10/19/2007)
The McDonald's drink did it.
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h8rain 9:52AM (10/19/2007)
I wonder if that would be considered a totaled vehicle?
I think he should be refunded like 99% of the purchase price, because that is just crazy......... (I also wonder if it would fall under lemon laws?)
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Pete 1:35PM (10/19/2007)
I sure as hell would sue their pants off if they didn't give me back 125% of my money. They're lucky he wasn't in the thing when this happened. Or worse he had his kids in the car!
Don 2:17PM (10/19/2007)
That's gotta be totaled out. Excellent V-dub quality!
oadamy 9:56AM (10/19/2007)
"According to the thread, this isn't the first R32 to do so either."
Please cite your source more specifically because i'm pretty sure this was the first. Be mindful of the car's reputation. This was *hopefully* a fluke.
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Tim 10:19AM (10/19/2007)
Most are aware of VDubbs less than stellar reliability
tcc3 11:55AM (10/19/2007)
Theres having a bad rep for reliability and theres *bursting into flames*
Spontaneous combustion is rare, even for VWs
Tim 12:23PM (10/19/2007)
They go hand and hand. See Ford Pinto. Oh yeah and the MK3 Golf had problems with fuel tanks as did the Passat
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/17/vw-passat-being-investigated-for-fires/
http://www.autospies.com/news/VW-Passat-Undergos-Investigation-After-Fires-15237/
Bozo 10:01AM (10/19/2007)
How can this be south Fla with German front plates on it?
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oadamy 10:17AM (10/19/2007)
current trend in the european tuning scene is to have euro plates, especially on the front, where your state plate isn't always required. not sure about florida, but the law is usually ignored anyway. i've found that you usually only get ticketed for the plate if you're caught doing something else illegal, like speeding, etc, and they want to nail you for anything they can.
Johnny Rotten 10:17AM (10/19/2007)
Do I really have to answer that? Have you never seen people with German cars put euro front tags on their cars here in America. Yes it is kind of tool-ish, but it is quite common. Also, look at the background. Does that look like Germany? And finally, his euro plate says BOW OMGTI. Somehow, I think that is something he had made to sport around the US to look cool.
Owain Ozymandias Buck 10:30AM (10/19/2007)
It's not a real plate. Look at it close...pretty cute.
Patrick 1:17AM (10/20/2007)
I have seen at least one car with legit front and back German plates.
It was being driven by a USMC member in uniform. He was driving this car on US roads in regular morning commute traffic and eventually drove into the local Marine base.
I assume he'd had the car shipped in from Germany and hadn't gotten the plates changed, or perhaps wasn't required to do so. There are odd laws about letting service members and students keep their non-local plates.
theSAWzall 10:19AM (10/19/2007)
I saw an Expedition fully engulfed once. It took the two cars beside it too since they were parked at a commuter train station. That would be a sucky thing to get off the train and see!
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BK 11:20AM (10/19/2007)
German Engineering puhahaha
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HSM 10:29AM (10/19/2007)
This was just the car acting in a selfless act of kindness towards its new owner. It must have liked him and wanted to spare him months and years of problems and fruitless service visits to an indifferent dealer.
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