This is on behalf of my work colleague.
01-Oct-2016- The day when me and my family where all set to bring this beauty home. This was our first family car.
As the saying goes, you spend a lot of time in your car so it’s as good as your second home.
So it took me sometime to arrive at a decision of which car am I going to pick for my dad. And after carefully analyzing, the one which made through the list of 5 was
Volkswagen Ameo 1.2 (P) Highline.
Reason this topped the list was just the German build quality and its safety features though, many competitors where offering much better feature in the same price range.
31-March-2019- The day when things just turned upside down for my family.
By now it was
2.5 years old and had just clocked 15K kms with all the regular services carried out at authorized showroom only with no modification done at all.
Today I stand with total disappointment.
On this day, the parked car (in designated parking area) which has not been started for over a week
lit up into flames on it’s own.
The complete engine compartment was on fire. My mother had to see to horror from the window and my ageing father had to rush to douse the fire.
All of this was caught on home security CCTV.
Once things were under control my dad immediately informed the local VW showroom (in Belgaum) and the insurance company about the incident and also logged an FIR as well.
And from this day the struggle begins! 01-April-2019
The insurance surveyor came down to our place and investigated the complete incident, as it was informed by the VW and Insurance team not to move the vehicle it was still in my parking area. The cops had also come to investigate for FIR procedures.
02-April-2019
The vehicle was towed down to the VW showroom in Belgaum.
03- 05 April-19
I had to report this issue to the VW management hence wrote an email stating the entire incident with pictures to the higher management.
Meanwhile, the insurance team visited and did all the investigations as per there procedures and had also asked the VW team to give a repair estimate.
We provided the timed CCTV visuals to VW team of the entire incident of upto 8 hours; which clearly shows no external tampering.
09-April-19
VW reverted back with an estimate of 9.5L-10L, whereas a brand new would cost less than that.
10-14 April-19
Lots of communication between me, VW and Insurance team.
I was demanding for an investigation from VW team asking to know what caused the fire, whereas the insurance team was not allowing them to dismantling the car. Here, again no great support from VW requesting the insurance for permission, as the reason they gave me was the insurance company is not their tied or preferred one.
16-Apr-19
The VW technical team visit was delayed multiple times due to various reasons between the Volkswagen and the insurance company. Finally, the insurance company agreed to permit the VW team for investigation. I was now somewhere relived as I was assured that now things are under control. But, later was proved to be wrong.
17-24 April-19
No further updates at all, as few general holidays and elections where near.
25-27 April-19
The VW technical team came down from Pune to carry out the investigation.
27 April to 22 May-19 (Almost a month)
No updates at all from VW between this period even after continues follow ups
After waiting for nearly a month from date of investigation I received a two page report without even VW header on it stating
this is not a mechanical issue. Not sure how to react but was totally disappointed, the trust and faith I had on this brand was shattered. It was a clear indication that they aren’t taking ownership of the incident nor are they giving a clear cause of the fire.
22 May - 03 June 19
I have been writing to multiple people in Volkswagen management like the sales and the service head on the incident, but I get standard scripted answers from their
customer relations only. The case is currently going back and forth with the local ASC verbally, with the route cause or a solution not seeing light.
I am yet to get any conclusive answers. Volkswagen is not owning up to the danger they put me and family into. It was our luck that we were not driving the vehicle nor anybody was inside it. It was a lucky escape.
My parents are still under shock as to what would have happened if they were inside it. The brand supposedly known for its build quality, is the reason I picked up this car. Is this the quality provided? I believe that we were just plain lucky to have not been in the car; unlike the few incidents were Volkswagen cars just light up resulting in passenger fatality.
How can VW just say, no manufacturing defect ?
I’m sure many of you’ll must have either gone through or seen similar incidents.
I am totally helpless today and looking for collective support to make VW accountable, if any of the Team-BHP members are aware of a solution to tackle global corporate giants like VW, please help me out.