Consumer Complaint Detail

VOLVO / 850 / 1995

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
Yes Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 005050036 Incident Date: Nov, 05 2005
Consumer's City: LOS ALTOS Consumer's State: CA
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Volvo Car USA, LLC
Model Name: 850 Model Year: 1995
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Seats:front assembly:seat heater/cooler
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: Yes Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: YV1LW5534S2 Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Dec, 16 2005 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: Yes Purchase Date: May, 06 1996
Was Original Owner: No Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 6 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: My wife & daughter smelled smoke while driving on a neighborhood street. it seemed to be coming from under the driver's seat. they stopped the car right away and got out. as my wife opened the door to the back seat to get her purse, she saw flames coming from under the driver's seat. they ran to the nearest house to call 911. while on the phone with 911, less than a minute after getting out of the car, my wife saw the entire inside of the car become engulfed in flames. the fire department was on the scene within 3 minutes, but it was too late. the entire inside of the car was burned beyond recognition. what had been leather seats were now metal frames, the dashboard had evaporated, and the car was totaled. although our insurance company covered the loss of the car, we have had to spend several thousand dollars to replace burnt possessions (like a cell phone and a pda) and pay for car rental. the fire department indicated that the seat heater was the likely cause of the fire, but volvo has not admitted any product failure. when we bought a volvo because of its reputation for safety ("volvo for life"), we certainly didn't expect it to burn up! *nm