[sagaranjos]

The location of the fire (on the right) makes it look like a battery issue.

Does your car (the Honda City) have a dashcam or any other accessory which is always on?
Is it powered directly from the battery?

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by vigsom

It definitely cannot be a short circuit as most people happily report.

My knowledge of electricals is quite weak. Can you help me understand why this is not a case of short-circuit?

[Gansan]

^^ Remote/central locking will always be powered from the battery. But if they come factory fitted, there won't be any issue. I remember reading the car did not have any aftermarket fittings.

[banana]

First of all: sorry for the experience you had to go through

I've read somewhere that cars to log/record some data points which can be read at a later point if need be. Honda also mentioned it somewhere in some user manuals that I've gone through. You'll get to know if any of the vitals of the car were off the normal value of past few days, that should help you identify internal causes.

CCTV footage as advised by everyone else will help in identifying external causes.

Don't let them get away with minimal fix and/or minimal compensation.

Please do share what the end results are. We'll be glad to read them

[careind]

A very traumatic experience for the owner for their new car going up in flames. My heart goes for them as I went through engine overheating issue in my 1 week old Rapid back on 2015.
Having said that, I am leaning on arson/bad luck given the timelines. The car was fine between Oct 24 and November 5th. On November 5th there was a fair amount of travel involved and some hill climb as well. On November 6th the car was Parked till 16:30 to 22:30. No major jarring reported on 6th.
It seems to indicate either arson or an unlucky rodent accident that snapped wires in such a way that it not only short circuited, but happened in a strategic place with enough accelerant to fuel a fire.

[ruzbehxyz]

For any fire to take place there are three elements to come in contact as per the fire triangle. Air/oxygen, fuel and a heat source. Air and fuel is present but where did the heat source come from ? If the car was stopped long back, it has obviously cooled down.

Some questions which need to be investigated.

Is there a defective part, which was still running after the car was stopped ?

Battery fault leading to spark generation ?

Where there any accessories fitted, which can cause a short circuit ? Since the car was off this is unlikely.

Was there any kind of liquid/ oil leakage from the car or some flammable liquid kept near the car ?

Where there any rats /rodents around the car ?

Was anyone smoking near the car ?

Sabotage ? Argument with hotel staff leading to it ?

[Neil Roy]

Wonder if the resort asked the car owner for damage to property. With the present timeline of events, I think it's unfair to hold Honda responsible till a proper forensic report is available to indicate otherwise. Faulty overheated battery could also be a reason. I may be wrong but the fuel tank is in the rear and if the damage is only in the engine bay of a car which is not even running indicates the fire was not fueled by petrol but by something else.

[SenPai_GTi]

My bet is that the rodents had a hand in this fire incident. Why ?

• Brand new car, meaning the smell of all the components is fresh.
  
• This means the insulation has a strong odour, attracting unnecessary rodents.
  
• Jungle resort, indicating presence of too many rodents nearby.
  
• Eating of wires causes a short circuit, leading to a fire. (Reference news link: rats-make-your-car-a-potential-death)

This doesn't mean that this incident is an accident. Honda should have take into account the accessibility of rodents into the engine bay and made it secure. Its either this or while servicing they might have accidentally spilled some chemical or paste in the engine bay and could not remove it. This might have attracted the rodents as well. Only a vehicle forensic report will bring out the real culprit.

[Aravind_M92]

Saw this post on Facebook last night and was wondering about it. Quite sad to see a new car, that which was recently serviced to get into such situation. Relieved to note that the fire happened when the car was parked and all of you were away. I also remember reading that you had to spend out of your pocket to move the car from the site! I do believe Honda gives RSA and for a car that new, it would've been in your package.

I do believe that this could be a battery issue as a car parked for more than 6 hours catching fire couldn't be a Hot engine issue. Also I do believe Chikmagalur climate is relatively on the colder side.
I highly doubt loose battery contacts after service. Hopefully your issue is resolved at the earliest.

[Kosfactor]

I was not aware of Honda & Fire connection as such, I was however aware of Toyota & Hyundai fire recall in US.

Now that google has opened up a Pandora`s box, Last year Honda recalled a lot of vehicles abroad for reasons including fire risk.

This 2019 incident from has some interesting details.



Link

[fearless_IN]

Unfortunate to know about this incident.
A couple of weeks ago, I read about the Reliability Ranking Report and Honda is the major loser in the rank '
Honda, which was placed 19th last year, has dropped down to 28th in 2021

Not sure, will this be related to the end of trust on the reliability of Honda in the Indian market?

[mAndArk]

Originally Posted by sagaranjos

The location of the fire (on the right) makes it look like a battery issue.

Does your car (the Honda City) have a dashcam or any other accessory which is always on?
Is it powered directly from the battery?

Having read this, I'm super worried now!

I have the 5th Gen City, bought 2 weeks back and less than 1000km run, and have hardwired a dashcam (at the dealership during delivery) that runs on battery as parking monitor. Should I get it removed at the earliest?

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by mAndArk

have hardwired a dashcam (at the dealership during delivery) that runs on battery as parking monitor. Should I get it removed at the earliest?

Don't feel paranoid. We don't know the circumstances fully that led to this incident.

Hardwiring the dashcam (if done properly) should have no bad effect to your electrical systems. Thousands of cars ply on our roads with these fitments.

I'm assuming you have done the fusetap method instead of wiring it in any other way. And since you got it done at the dealership they would have taken care of polarity, fuse ratings etc.

[sagaranjos]

Originally Posted by mAndArk

I have the 5th Gen City, bought 2 weeks back and less than 1000km run, and have hardwired a dashcam (at the dealership during delivery) that runs on battery as parking monitor. Should I get it removed at the earliest?

I am not saying all hardwired dashcams will end up in a fire.
However, any after market accessory hardwired to the battery would void your warranty claims, even if it was not the cause of the damage.

Plus there is a probability that you will drain your battery as well.

Which is why I decided not to hardwire my dashcam for parking
mode function.

[sgmuser]

Sounds like an electric induced spark. As the car was idle for more than few hours, heat or fuel could not be. Rat might have chewed and caused an short circuit? But which line was live after the car is switched off? Any direct connection to the battery? After market installations? I am not really sure whether I would really blame Honda yet (quality issues) but this is more like an freak accident which the insurance only will be able to help to sort out. But I feel the driver and co-driver are so lucky that this happened while they are not around. Take things positively, I may humbly, suggest, go through the process and come out peacefully.