Moi

So an update on this for you. 1st - The insurance company have paid up which means I now have another car. Needless to say I did not get a replacement C8 (we went for the Seat Alhambra). 2nd - Citroen did send out their UK technical team to inspect the burnt out vehicle. They spent a good few hours on it, but have not shared their findings with me. I was there however, and their working assumption matched the best guess of the Trading Standards experts. The thinking was that the problem was caused by the Particulate Filter. The particulate filter gets clogged with carbon, and in order to clear it the car automatically does a 'burn' cycle. This is controlled by the engine management system and can happen at any time. The normal exhuast temp gets to about 200-250 degrees. The burn cycle raises it to around 450 degrees. To help it along, they also inject a chemical. The theory is that for some reason the heating cycle went wrong and got out of control. Never heard back from Citroen, and never got a penny in compensation and never even got a soft apology. Crazy of them really - stories like this travel really fast, and the customer relations manager at Citroen UK did a really bad job of handling it. (Even to the extent that she hung the phone up on me when the conversation wasn;t going the right way for her) - and yes she was the boss of all and on the UK management team. Quite worrying really - not sure that they intend to fix the problem and stop it happen to anyone else. Anyway - net result - lose the C8 first chance you get, better than losing something more precious.

So, not sure if you lot are interested in this any more, but I'll post this last one for now and see how we go. Today I had a look at the underside of my car that burnt out to try and match the witness statements that something like wires were hanging down and alight from the area specified in the post above. What I found was that on my 'ex'-car, there are indeed wires hanging down from this location, which the logical conclusion is that this is where the fire started from. What I do not yet know (but will find out) is what these wires are for. Note that when I inpected the car, the wiring is basically metal and therefore remain mostly intact after the extensive fire. The wires hanging down in the pictures below clearly should not be hanging down unless there was a problem, as all the rest of the wiring on the car is almost exactly where it was before the fire started. Any ideas anyone - or comments?? http://adrianharvey.me.uk/c8fire/Photos1a.jpg

An Update: So, we have put a new C8 on the ramp and taken a close look at thge underside to see what components are in the rough location where the fire started.. This first picture is a view from the front of the car looking back. The area highlighted is where 2 witnesses who looked under the car saw flames from when it first started. http://adrianharvey.me.uk/c8fire/C8_1a.jpg This second picture is a close up, with another focus area to highlight the area where flames started. http://adrianharvey.me.uk/c8fire/C8_2a.jpg Note: Although this is a C8 underside, it is a different engine than my car and the configuration/layout is slightly different. Anybody got any ideas what these components are or why/how they could decide to catch fire? My best guess at the moment is an electrical short circuit as the car has been standing still for some time and there is unlikely to be any heat build up that could have transfered to anything. Also, as this was a diesel, it is unlikely to be fuel related. The black box in the picture is a heater. I guess that if something short-circuited in there for whatever reason it might have caused it. One other factor that is probably relevant. Where I live there are quite a few 'fords' (the drive through type, not the car types), and therefore the underside of the car can get quite wet in the winter months. Not that this should be a problem in normal situations, but might be a factor. Any thoughts/comments from anyone?? Citroen UK are not being very kind by the way. Although the significant probability is that this is a fault with the car, they are unwilling to help or assist me or my family in any way. (Although I must point out that the dealer in Worcester has been excellent, and very helpful indeed.)

Did you figure this out at all? - Probably unrelated, but that is basically how the fire in my new C8 started - white smoke from the passenger front wheel arch.

That's quite interesting. Which part of the country were you in, and which day was it? My dealer is in Worcester - is this the same (ie were they talking about my car) or another perhaps? Anyway: Here is a diagram (lacking real photos at the moment) of the C8 and the location of the fire. http://adrianharvey.me.uk/c8fire/c8firelocation.gif Interestingly, the fire was under the engine compartment at this location ... Anybody know what components are around this area that could have caused a fire to start?? And if it is of any help, the fire was a white-ish colour as it started, which first appeared from under the front passenger wheel arch.

The car had done a short journey (about 10 minutes) 90 minutes prior and had been stationary, locked, and all by itself for all that time. The chances of it being malicious are almost zero - we live in the middle of nowhere.. Hmm - Interesting though about it not being electrical. What/how would you thnk that a fire could have started by heat transfer combustion? Are you thinking that this is specific unique to my C8 for some reason, or could it be a build/design fault? I'll post a photo of another C8 and point to where the witness saw it start - maybe someone knows what component around that area. Thanks.

Too early to say just yet, but strangely the fire started underneath the engine compartment, and not in it. To attempt to disconnect the battery we lifted the bonnet (yes I know you are not supposed to do that), but there was no smoke or fire there, only underneath. I guess that narrows it down a little, but I don't know enough about what is located there that could be a risk and lead to this. (If anyone has any photos of the underside of a C8, taken from the front looking under and towards the front axis that would be very helpful). Yes insurance are covering the repair of the drive :-)...

Hi Blackdown, Yesterday my C8 caught fire by itself and burnt to the ground. Only 5 months old and it was a nice red colour (see picture below) and fortunately my 4 kids were not in the car at the time, but the child seats will obviously all need replacing. All factors lead to an electrical fault but as per your situation the fire damage is so bad they will probably not be able to determine the cause. On the insurance: My insurance company told me the same as they told you first off, that it was electrical fault and therefore my policy didn't cover it. However, with a little research, it turns out that the policy doesn't cover the actual component that malfunctioned, but any fire damage to anything else is is covered. Net result - as the car is a wright-off the component that failed is irrelevant. Worth going back to them to check if you haven't done so already. I would be interested in how you got on with Citroen since this post. http://www.bournefarm.com/fire/3.JPG