My Audi A4 engine caught on fire 20 minutes after getting serviced.

**rkhim1** · 12-03-2014 04:56 AM

So I own a 2009 Audi A4 Quattro with 64k miles bought it at around June 2014 and been dealing with oil consumption until the dealership where I bought my car finally was able to get me a free of charge Stage 2 Oil Consumption done for my piston replacement. Note that I was out of warranty. So I left my car to the dealer for about 2 weeks and I received a call that I'm able to pick it up yesterday, so I picked it up and the service advisors said the car will run fine with no oil issues just come in for the next oil change. So i just drove off heading to the highway to go back to campus to study for my finals and guess what happens...20 minutes after driving off the lot, I had the heater on and smelled some burning odor but I thought it was normal from the heater until I see Parking Malfunction light came on and right before I headed towards the highway, I had a feeling I should park my car and see whats wrong with it. I parked it then as soon it was parked, my front end started smoking and a fire just combusted out of nowhere on my driver side. So i immediately turned off my car and ran out then the entire front of light section just exploded.

So now im just a lost for words how my car randomly caught on flames after picking up my car back from 2 weeks of not getting to drive it. I was even driving under 45 mph to let the new pistons kick in and I had to refuel, If i refueled during that incident, who knows what couldve happened.

So im assuming it was the last person who touched the car's fault i believe? Which is the Audi dealership that was doing engine work for Stage 2 for my car...any ideas to help a fellow Audi owner out on what should I do? I towed my car back to the dealership the same day to get it picked up while it was closed. So now ill be heading over there to file a claim and see what they got to offer me for my inconvenience.

Here are the pictures from last night.

**booost** · 12-03-2014 05:04 AM

Oh wow, that's scary stuff but luckily you pulled over to check it out instead of getting on the highway. Start with the dealer and see what they say....

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**elscotto80** · 12-03-2014 05:22 AM

In for this story. Sorry to hear about that.

**The Infiltrator** · 12-03-2014 05:25 AM

They better pay for that!!

**Elliott** · 12-03-2014 05:32 AM

I doubt it was anything with the motor itself, that area of the car isn't especially hot. The technician probably installed something incorrectly (headlight, wiring, etc) when putting it together and shorted a circuit. I wonder what insurance will have to say about it.

**Jerry1847** · 12-03-2014 05:50 AM

Do you run your fog lights? Kind of looks like the forgot to plug it in and it set the plastic on fire... This lights get super hot.

**daremo** · 12-03-2014 05:51 AM

Rough day!

PM me if you get the run around... my dad was a former district service manager with AoA and I can ask him what he thinks should happen.

**rkhim1** · 12-03-2014 06:04 AM

Originally Posted by Jerry1847

Do you run your fog lights? Kind of looks like the forgot to plug it in and it set the plastic on fire... This lights get super hot.

I actually did put on my dog lights because it was dark and raining that night I picked it up. The fire did come around near the lights. It could be the problem. I just hope audi will do something about it for putting my life in danger

**poweredbyaudi7** · 12-03-2014 06:23 AM

I would imagine your car will be taken care of, as long as you don't throw around statements like that. (Putting my life in danger) that is apparent, and could leave them to resort to their legal department to get advise invade of a possible suit. Doing everything with no questions asked could lead to prove negligence or as an admission of guilt. This should be a no brainer, but your life was by no means put into danger IMHO...

**SDF1** · 12-03-2014 07:09 AM

You are safe, that's all that really matters.
Insist with Audi for them to give you a free courtesy car while they resolve the situation. That's the least they can do as this is going to take some time to repair.

**rkhim1** · 12-03-2014 07:18 AM

Originally Posted by SDF1

You are safe, that's all that really matters.
Insist with Audi for them to give you a free courtesy car while they resolve the situation. That's the least they can do as this is going to take some time to repair.

I am currently waiting for the service advisors and managers to check out my car and will be receiving a call from them on what they will do to help my situation. I am pretty bummed because I was waiting weeks to get my car back to drive it and this had to happen, worse luck so far. I hope something will go well when they give me a call.

**zokissima** · 12-03-2014 07:20 AM

In for updates! Good luck man, I hope the dealership acts in a responsible manner to this incident!

**Elliott** · 12-03-2014 07:21 AM

Originally Posted by poweredbyaudi7

, but your life was by no means put into danger IMHO...

Generally, I agree. Cars don't explode violently, despite what Michael Bay may lead you to believe in the movies.

However, it can escalate quickly and the average consumer might think a car fire like this is indeed life threatening.

**vdubtx** · 12-03-2014 07:24 AM

Good that you stopped vs. fanning the flames at highway speeds.

Best of luck with the dealer. Sure looks like a technician forgot to plug something back in while putting you car back together.

**r6_11b8** · 12-03-2014 07:35 AM

thats crazy...hope you get a new car out of this or a nice check

**Alex777** · 12-03-2014 07:47 AM

/popcorn

I have a hard time imagining a scenario where you aren't completely taken care of, 110%. Their tech was pretty clearly at fault, so the service manager and other senior staff will probably fall over themselves to set things right.

I agree that mentioning things like "putting my life in danger" is inadvisable, since that may well lead to getting lawyers involved, and no one wants that. You can still play that card later if you aren't satisfied, but I don't think it'll come to that. They will just want this fiasco to go away.

The needed repairs look quite extensive. At the very least, it'll need a new bumper, hood, fender, and headlight assembly. Very likely, some internal components will have to be replaced as well. I agree that an electrical short is the most likely culprit, it would look very different if the engine itself was on fire.

**rkhim1** · 12-03-2014 08:14 AM

Originally Posted by Alex777

/popcorn

I have a hard time imagining a scenario where you aren't completely taken care of, 110%. Their tech was pretty clearly at fault, so the service manager and other senior staff will probably fall over themselves to set things right.

I agree that mentioning things like "putting my life in danger" is inadvisable, since that may well lead to getting lawyers involved, and no one wants that. You can still play that card later if you aren't satisfied, but I don't think it'll come to that. They will just want this fiasco to go away.

The needed repairs look quite extensive. At the very least, it'll need a new bumper, hood, fender, and headlight assembly. Very likely, some internal components will have to be replaced as well. I agree that an electrical short is the most likely culprit, it would look very different if the engine itself was on fire.

Yeah I agree with you and I wouldnt put a lawsuit on the spot if they dont offer me something to either repair my car or give me a new car or a check or something. I sure hope they can fix it instead because I love this car, it will def need a new front end and probably a new engine if necessary because I was exciting to get the oil consumption out of the way. Since the car is done, the invested money for my Borla exhaust and CAI just went to waste.

**booost** · 12-03-2014 08:15 AM

Curious to know what the cause is - you would think a fuse would blow before that much heat could be generated..

**rkhim1** · 12-03-2014 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by booost

Curious to know what the cause is - you would think a fuse would blow before that much heat could be generated..

I will def let you guys know what could have cause the fire once the service managers and tech determine the problem once they give me a call.

**ojmcneill** · 12-03-2014 08:20 AM

I really don't see them giving you a new car bro. Just saying.

**auditd0rk** · 12-03-2014 08:23 AM

Prepare yourself for the "well, it wasn't on fire when we had it" excuse.

Seriously, though, glad you're ok and I hope they make things right.

**SDF1** · 12-03-2014 08:35 AM

Originally Posted by rkhim1

I am currently waiting for the service advisors and managers to check out my car and will be receiving a call from them on what they will do to help my situation. I am pretty bummed because I was waiting weeks to get my car back to drive it and this had to happen, worse luck so far. I hope something will go well when they give me a call.

Make sure you have all the documents.
Anything you signed, when you picked up the car keys try to get a copy of it. Phone log, tow truck etc etc. You need to make sure you have yourself covered. You need 100% proof that when you took the car to where you were, you could not have possibly altered the car.

keep us posted!

**rkhim1** · 12-03-2014 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by SDF1

Make sure you have all the documents.
Anything you signed, when you picked up the car keys try to get a copy of it. Phone log, tow truck etc etc. You need to make sure you have yourself covered. You need 100% proof that when you took the car to where you were, you could not have possibly altered the car.

keep us posted!

Yeah i got the paperwork once I received the car and I parked at this lot near TGI Fridays so im sure they have cameras around the lot to witness what happened since it caught on fire right when I parked my car and the managers at TGI Fridays helped hose it down when it was on fire so they could be my witness too.

**wabbit23** · 12-03-2014 08:50 AM

Take the car to another local dealer if you have that option. Have them do what they can to diagnose what happened. Something must have been left unplugged or incorrectly plugged in causing a short. When they did the stage 2 oil consumption on my car they left the fog light unplugged and a big bolt in the oil pan.

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**b6onboost** · 12-03-2014 09:23 AM

No, but they should give him fair market value and a great deal on another car (new or used).

Originally Posted by ojmcneill

I really don't see them giving you a new car bro. Just saying.

**rkhim1** · 12-03-2014 09:23 AM

That could be the leading cause of the fire because I had my fog lights on . I'm assuming audi didn't turn on the fog lights when they road tested it

**codydemmel4** · 12-03-2014 09:24 AM

Good luck, I am curious to see what happens too.

**Liquid Smoke** · 12-03-2014 09:52 AM

damn that sucks, makes me scared of stuff like that randomly happening, but glad no one was hurt though.

and yea it definitely looks like it started around that driver side fog light, because the rest of the car seems fine and if it was a full engine fire it would be much worse. hopefully they take care of all that for you, good luck.

**Mina08** · 12-03-2014 10:17 AM

Holy crap how bizarre, i hope you come away with another car at least, i would not take that back repaired.

**blackfunk** · 12-03-2014 12:16 PM

AoA might be nice and pony up a discount for a replacement but this is most likely going to your insurance company. It'll be hard to 'prove' they did anything wrong. Logically I agree but not sure the dealers insurance company is gonna roll over on this one. Best of luck though.

**DoctorB8** · 12-03-2014 12:25 PM

better hope you didnt have "aftermarket" fog light bulbs.

**amz** · 12-03-2014 12:41 PM

I wonder if the tech didn't plug the fog light in properly. It bounces loose from the fog light surrouend and then inside the area until it finally lands against the fender liner. It wouldn't take long for the heat of the bulb to set that on fire. Fog lights are hot but the plastic used in that area is really tough stuff, it has to survive all kinds of abuse. I think a stock fog light might be able to melt through the plastic, but not set that plastic on fire.

**Fburg A4** · 12-03-2014 12:52 PM

Dang, that must have been a wtf moment you went through. Good to see you personally made it ok. And you still don't know if the bad gas mileage was fixed by the stage 2 repair.

I still think it is ironic that "service advisors said the car will run fine with no oil issues", but they left out the impending fire that isn't oil related.

**rkhim1** · 12-03-2014 01:12 PM

Originally Posted by Fburg A4

Dang, that must have been a wtf moment you went through. Good to see you personally made it ok. And you still don't know if the bad gas mileage was fixed by the stage 2 repair.

I still think it is ironic that "service advisors said the car will run fine with no oil issues", but they left out the impending fire that isn't oil related.

Yeah i wanted to test out how the car runs after stage 2. Well I got a call back and the service advisors said "the car runs good, no issues other than the fog lights are the cause of the fire and that it overheated and you will need you take it to the insurancd auto body shop to get it repaired because the engine wasn't damaged and still runs fine." so now I'm confused if I should be happy or mad that my insurance company has to take care of it getting the body repaired. I was hoping something to fix my troubles of dealing with so many issues of the car when it wasn't my fault. Another note, ive used the fog lights countless times but once I got the car back from audi service, it randomly caught flames. I'm not sure how that works or what they did.

**booost** · 12-03-2014 01:27 PM

So they called you back and told you to get it fixed at a body shop under your insurance? I would push them harder to resolve it for you as they caused the issue..

**Project Quattro** · 12-03-2014 01:33 PM

Wow. I would imagine that some combination of Audi and insurance will make it right, and at the very least nobody was hurt. Best of luck and keep us posted.

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**cory_can** · 12-03-2014 01:41 PM

Unfortunately, if your dealer isn't willing to repair out of good will (which is bloody unlikely) it will have to be covered under your comprehensive insurance policy. Talk to them and see if they will be willing to go after the dealer for your deductible (at the very least). You left the dealer 20min before, obviously not coincidence.

**A4 Centaur** · 12-03-2014 02:07 PM

Well, if its a comprehensive claim then his insurance will go after the dealerships insurance.

I went through this crap back in May after Big O tires in Arvada got my car smashed by another employee. The rocker panel was determined to fall under that same kind of claim.

I would press the GM or owner for some better treatment. Make an appointment and dress nice. If not, get a lawyer and see what they can do based on your state laws.

It would seem they are on the hook as long as you can convince them. If you wander around and take "no" for an answer, then they will be much happier, and you are out your comprehensive deductible IMO.

EDIT: Forgot to wish you the best of luck!

**houshmanzilli** · 12-03-2014 02:23 PM

Terrible luck man... I would pound AoA with emails and phone calls. They will take care of you if you persist enough... especially since it is only body work and they definitely have the means to fix it. They would rather fix your problems than have you post negative reviews all over your social media and audi forums to your friends and family about how you will not recommend anyone buying an audi ever again...

Best of luck to you my friend!