GM Truck Fires

Vehicle was parked in driveway. Had just been driven however the engine was off. 15-30 minutes later, heard loud bang and glass breaking. Front cabin of the vehicle was engulfed in flames. Opened doors and sprayed water on until fire department got there. If no one would have been outside to hear the glass break this would have been a very different story since the vehicle was parked in a very heavily wooded area with homes. Insurance company has requested that the vehicle remain at place of incident until adjuster can investigate. Fire Department best assumption at this point is that, this was an electrical fire that started somewhere in the dash between the console and the steering column.

We are the original owner. Bought the vehicle new. No aftermarket options. Other than tires and brakes, all original mftr equipment, all warranty work done at GMC dealership. We have extensive documentation with GMC for all warranty issues since it was purchased many of which have been electrical problems. Examples are steering column electronics, passenger A/C blowing hot air due to electrical, Radio / CD Player over heating replaced 2 times, DVD Player replaced numerous times. Sporadic incidents where DVD would just stop working requiring the vehicle to be turned completely off then back on for it to come back on. Fuel gauge showing empty when the tank was full. Car had to be turned off, key out, restart to correct. Electronic fuel pump issues - replaced. Load leveling electrical component replaced. Electronic shifting components on transmission, electronic window switch, etc.

We bought a new truck in 2003. We had to take it back to the dealer several times. The fuel gauge was weird; it would go from full to empty and everything in between in a matter of minutes. The passenger A/C unit only blew hot air. The CD player would constantly over heat, and stop playing CD's. After several years of this, we finally just gave up. Well, during Memorial Day this 2011, we went camping with our family. I was driving about 35 mph, and I looked in the rear view mirror to see flames. I slammed on my breaks; I told my 17-year old daughter to get out and get one of my 4-year old boys out, and I got the other out. In about 20 seconds, the entire truck was engulfed in flames.

The next day, I received a recall notice from GM stating that the A/C unit can overheat, and possibly cause a fire. Anyway, I sent them everything. I called tons of times, and I was ignored. They finally sent a note yesterday that said they are not responsible! How are they not responsible? They sent no explanation. Everyone told me from the beginning to get an attorney. I thought surely a company like GM would do the right thing. I guess I am a sucker to think that people will do the right thing--a lesson learned! GM was the recipient of a huge bail out. My taxes paid for that! So, where is my help?

Own a well maintained 99' 2500 Chevy Silverado. I was awakened at 4am to the sound of a blaring horn, looked out my front window and saw my truck engulfed in flames. A tree nearby also was on fire. I called Fire Department and rushed outside to put fire out. My wife and son had to leave the house since fire was so close. We live in a rural, fire hazard, area, so very lucky fire did not spread to surrounding areas.

FD says fire appears to have started somewhere near radio, lighter area. The truck had not been driven in the last 12 hours before fire started. The truck is a total loss. I have no vehicle to drive and am probably out the value of the truck, plus will need to purchase new vehicle. A well maintained vehicle, no matter the age should simply burst into flames in the middle of the night.

The complaint is if I bought a truck from GM, that could catch fire. They should pay for it and it's happening to other vehicles if they keep extra plugs on hand. I want my $175 .00 back and a safe vehicle with a heater and A/C blower. It's a scam. I will not buy another General Motors vehicle. They robbed taxpayers and incidents like this. In my 2007 GMC Sierra, my heater fan started acting up, only one speed and then nothing and under passenger side it started to smoke. Well, the plug was bad. That's $112.00 for the plug. Then, the resistor went bad. That was another $63.00. I talked to two of my friends and their trucks had done the same. I think GM should be responsible especially if the vehicle could catch fire and at dealer they said they keep a lot of these on stock for that reason.

On Wednesday, January 6, 2010, my GMC Sierra 2500 HD caught on fire. The fire came from behind the radio. The fire started for no apparent reason. The car had been sitting in a parking lot for about an hour. The fire started when I started the truck. I have been reading on the internet that others have had this same problem. All of the wiring is gone. The dash is melted, the window was broken and the console was melted.

2000 Dakota, Quad Cab, 67,000 miles. 11/14/09 approx. 1:30 am fire started in engine compartment. Reason: Not known. Still being investigated by insurance and fire dept. Total loss expected. Vehicle had not been started in 6 days. Will not be able to replace vehicle for insurance will pay. Possible cost to me about $20,000. Not good!

on september 3rd i was driving home from work, with both windows down in my 2006 GMC SIERRA 2500hd ext cab, and i noticed a smell of something wasnt sure what at that point, until i seen smoke coming from in between my dash and windshield on the passenger side, so i turned right on the next rd,and when i slowed down the inside of the my truck filled with smoke, so i pulled over shut the engine off i got out went to the passenger side to find the fuse panel, and did not see it, so i opened the glove compartment where the smoke was coming from and i seen wires burning underneath it, then within seconds the black plastic ductwork was melting on to my floor board,so i dialed 911 in the mean time, i got some of my stuff out of it, but did not get even close to what i needed out, the fire got so hot, so fast i had to get away. today is sept. 18 2009 GM said they would contact me in 7-10 bussiness days, and sept 22 2009 will b day 10 after looking on the internet at similar cases and seeing what GM is not doing, is very frustrating so if they dont do anything for there 2006 GMC 2500hd that caught on fire and is still under warranty then i think we should file a class action lawsuit against GM.

I was in a small accident in May 2008. My truck caught fire and burnt to the ground. The accident was very minor, so truck had no reason to have caught fire. My insurance company nor GMC wanted anything to do with finding out why.I am just wondering if anyone else has had a problem with fires in these trucks.

rear of 2006 chevy silverdo got stuck and then ignited dry grass under truck on june 6 2009 now my truck is completely burned up. this was not a good experience.

on Nov.5th of 2007 my wife came home, got out of the car and came in the house. Five mins. later the car was ablaze in the engine compartment.

After an approximate 5 mile ride to our friends house across town, the 2007 GMC Sierra 1500 was parked in front of the house and turned off. No warning lights came on at all. OnStar also did not read any negative diagnostics on the truck.

Whithin 3 minutes of parking the truck it started to smoke that very quickly turned to fire. 911 was called and the local firedepartments came to extinquish the fire. The entire front of the truck was engulfed in flames, again within only minutes.

On April 4, 2009 my 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 burned in my driveway. There was no indication there was a problem and the truck cab completely burned out within 15 minutes after I had returned home from a 7 km trip. It seemed to have started to burn about 15 minutes after I exited the vehicle. I was parked close to my house and garage. I am waiting to see if Transport Canada will come and investigate. I am worried that the other Dodge trucks I own for my business may have a similar fate. This is an extreme safety issue.

Loss of vehicle.

My 2001 GMC Yukon XL burst into flames today while I was driving on the highway with no cause or signal. While driving we saw smoke and then flames shot out from under the car giving us 20 seconds to exscape death.

My car burned to the ground causing me to lose all of my belongings (we were on our way to vacation for spring break) including the car, etc.

My chevy truck interior caught fire and destroyed the interior of the car. It was due to wiring in the ceiling lamp where you would put your sunglasses. I called GM and advised what happened and they opened a claim. The truck sat for 60 days waiting as they told me I should not touch the truck. GM called finally and said there's nothing they can do since the car is older then 4yrs.

I had no car for 2 month and will cost me tons of money to fix, if I can salvage anything. Luckily the fire was contained in the truck and did not burst into flames in my driveway. It could burned my house down.

On the evening of 1/1/09 our 2007 Chevrolet Silverado (mileage 16,777)a fire occurred behind switches on left side of dash. This vehicle was parked and had not been in use for over 30 hrs. This resulted in heavy fire and soot damage to interior and dash, and also blew a hole in the windshield over steering wheel.

General Motors has not taken responsibility for this fire, so we have been without a vehicle all this time. They have not given us another vehicle to use during this time, so are not honoring our warranty. We believe they are stalling so we will settle with our insurance company and let them off the hook. We have to do something soon to get a replacement vehicle.

my wifes 2006 chevy silverado 1500 caught fire. 38 degree morning a went out to warm the truck for my wife turned key, raised the heat controls to high turned blower setting to 4. went back in wife went out. this happened in less then 3 minutes, she comes running in to say the truck is on fire!!

I ran out saw smoke coming from under hood at the passenger side where the wiper is, opened the passenger door through the smoke i could see the wireharness glowing red sending off flames to the near by plastic parts, electrical burning smell and plastic, this was a real fire I ran to get a fire ext. it took a great deal to put out the smoldering melting plastic.

took pictures of burnt areas, the wire harness is the point of origin of the fire. that is what is burned up and the nearby plastic is melted perfectly around it. I never heard of this happening to before. what if she got down the road and the fire took over while she was driving on the highway!

My 2005 Sierra 3500 Duramax caught fire in my driveway and was a total lost. The fire started in the engine compartment. The truck had not been used that whole day when the fire started around 1:00am Sunday morning Nov. 23 2008. I have been searching the internet and have found that there had been several incidents similar to mine. I did not receive a recall notice from GM about this problem what should my next course of action be?

electrical Fire under the hood

engine compartment burned

To whom it may concern, My name is Lorena. I dont know were to begin, So Im going to be short and brief. I have a 2004 chevy tahoe with about 60,000 miles and it recently got on fire while I was driving it. My vehicle was paid off, within a year and a half of the date of purchase and in great condition. When I purchased my car i also bought the GM Protection Plan Major Guard coverage that expired at 60 months or 75,000 miles.

I have AAA Insurance and they recently claimed my vehicle to be a total loss. And could not determine the cause of fire. I now have no means of transportation and to top it off the GM Protection Plan Major Guard coverage I purchased does not cover fires. What do I do?

This has been a very stressful thing to happen. My 8 year old daughter is terrifyed. By the grace of God our house didn't have any damage.. I am trying to get a new car at this time, and things are not going as smoothly as they should. General motors and Groth contuine to down play the seriousness of this. I can not drive that car anymore or park it in my gargae---My family saftey is a risk.

my incedent was exactly like Robert of Fernandina FL (03/14/07). my 2002 gmc pickup fire started down low coming up behind cab and eventually burned everything to a crisp. total destruction.

Garage fire that destroyed our entire home and belongings. One-two month old 2007 Yukon XY Denali just parked in garage within 45 minutes of fire raging in garage.

This was a 1999 gmc 1/2 ton pickup 4wd Sierra purchased 10/2000. Parked truck in back yard, after filling gas tank and driving 22miles back home from work. After approx. 1.5 hours it started on fire and totally burned down ......terrifying...... wife went beserk...as I did. Fire dept. Police, 1st. responders, etc. etc. no one was hurt.

On August 17, 2007, our 02 Yukon had smoke coming out the front drivers side vents and the gap between the windshield and the hood of the car. Within seconds the car went up in flames. I looked under the hood there were no flames. I tried to put the fire out but was unsuccessful. Called fire department, fire marshall put the fire out. The car had been sitting idle all night. Car was only running for 5 minutes. GM is sending an inspector to the dealership to inspect.

2004 pickup 6000vortex engin,electronic auto transmission Transmission has gone out and had to be repalaced once at 15,000 miles and again at 47,000 first was on GM warrenty the second on extended warrenty.All work preformed by GM dealers. This was not a abuse situation. Draw your own conclusions.Poor product?

I was driving down the road at a rate of 50 mph with two passangers in my 2001 gmc pick up.I notice a smell of plastic or something like it.The truck started to slow so I pulled over to the shoulder and as i did the passenger in the back seat said the truck was on fire.

The fire appeared between the bed and the cab underneath and we tried to put it out,but it just got worse.The person that was driving behind us stoped and siad he noticed sparks comeing from underneath the truck as we were driving down the road.

This truck was in geat condition,dealer mantained and never a problem,bought new in oct of 2001.Thought you might like to know about this.This truck had 76,000 miles on it.

GM- Chevy Tahoe/Suburban/Silverados post 2000 have an electrical system design flaw- headlight wiring in lower left dash can easily overheat.

On some of these vehicles, you can actually burn yourself from the overheated plastic in the area by the headlight switch on the dash. It also leads to (or is caused by) overheating or shorts in the daytime running lights- these often burn out.

On July 24, 2006 I woke up to the sound of a horn blaring. When it would not stop, I started to walk to a window to see what was going on. I realized that the sound was coming from my garage. I opened the door to the garage and saw the interior of my 2004 Yukon XL engulfed in flames and smoke coming out from the gap between the windshield and the hood of the car. I have two young boys (ages 4 and 2) who were sleeping in bedrooms above the garage.

We were fortunate. I was able to get the kids and our family dog out of the garage and help arrived before the fire spread to the rest of the home.

We called GMC that same day thinking that they would want to see the car asap. Instead, they told us they would get back to us in 48 hours. I insisted that many of our friends and family members drove this exact car and that they should look at it right away before something more tragic happened to someone else. Their response was indifferent. We were on the phone with many different departments, at one point speaking to Jackie Vanburg direct assistant to Rick Wagner. 48 hours later, Jose Rodriguez called and told us that if we felt GMC was at fault we could have the car towed AT OUR EXPENSE to them and they would take a look at it. We let our insurance do the work for us.

They hired a fire inspector named Steve Mackaig. He determined that the cause of the fire was a wiring component flaw that probably occurred during the assembly process. I have his report (which is more in depth) and his phone number if you require it. Our car had only 26,00 miles on it, was never altered or modified and was still under warranty.

When we think of all of the ways this could have played out, we know we are lucky. The bottom line is that we had our car paid off, and it had everything we wanted. This car was supposed to be here for the duration. We feel that GMC should take responsibility and make up for what we lost. We cannot get what we had with what our insurance is giving us for our car. Obviously the car was total loss. My youngest son still asks me every night when he goes to bed if the garage is on fire. We have all been shaken by what has happened.

My son and I decided we would have a sandwhich at a deli across from his school. Fifteen minutes later, my 6 year old boy and I walk to our car and it is filled with fire. Complete loss. fire marshall said it was one of the fastest spreading fires he had seen. Thank God my children weren't in the car. Car was parked and not on when fire began.

GM has not admitted fault. We are still waiting to hear from the insurance company.

My 2005 Silverado caught on fire 4/15/05. GM hasn't come forward with any information or assistance, in fact, stated that it would be best if my insurance handle all even though all fire investigator, adjustors have determined the cause of the fire was due to a faulty GM wire harness in the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was unattended at the time, parked in my work parking lot. If this fire had started 1 hour prior, my house and my family would have parrished. Yet, GM has NOT contacted me whatsoever. Had my insurance company not taken the lead, I'd still be in limbo.

My wife left our house to take our kids to Chuck E' Cheese. When she openned the driver side door to our 1999 GMC Suburban, a plum of white smoke came out from inside the car. She then noticed that the driver side door panel and the dash board on the driver side had been melted by what she assumed to be a fire. My wife called the fire department and they came out along with a fire investigator. The fire department made sure that there was no further danger and disconnected the cars battery as the fire investigators first determination was that the cause was electrical.

On February 12, 2005 we contacted GMC Product Allegations and were instructed by a mister James Ricci to have the car towed to the collision center at Mt. View Cheverolet in Upland, CA where we had purchased the vehicle and he started a case file and told us that an agent would later contact us. Anya Jenkins from GMC Product Allegations Dept. contacted us several days later and said she was handling our claim and that GMC was sending an investigator out to Mt. View to inspect the vehicle. From this point, over two months had past before GMC came to a decision on our claim. We were told that the investigator had forgotten to include pictures of the damage to our vehicle with his first report and that that was the reason for the delay.

GMC said that their investigation proved inconclusive on the actual cause of the fire in our vehicle but that they showed some sign of damage around the wiring to the automatic window controls in the driver side door panel. We were then told by GMC that the cost to repair the vehicle would exceed the blue book value of our car so GMC would offer a buy back of the vehicle. We were told that GMC was going to buy back the car as a show of good faith. GMC offered a buy back of $11,000 for the vehicle and $1,280 for rental car reimbursment for a total of $12,280. Because we still owe over $18,000 on the car and would be left not only without a car but a balance on the vehicle, we asked if they could zero out the entire loan. We were denied and told that the original amount offered was the best that GMC could do.

When I asked them why, GMC told us that because the investigation proved inconclusive and that we were the second owners of the car that the warrenty no longer applied. I told GMC that we had received the fire investigators report that stated that the cause of the ignition was due to an electrical malfunction in the vehicles door panel and that even though we our the second owners of the car, we purchased the car from a certified Cheverolet/GMC dealership. GMC said that their offer still stands.

On 12-27-00, we were driving down the freeway when I noticed flames coming from the reading light/dome light behind the front seat. My husband pulled over to the side of the freeway. I blew out the flames, then my husband pushed the light fixture up and blew out the flames still burning inside. We put the flames out, but not before they damaged the light fixture, the headliner, and my 7-month-old son's carseat (which he was in at the time). On 12-29-00, my husband took the Yukon to Tri-Valley GMC. He spoke with the service director, Patrick Madrazo, and showed him the damages. Mr. Madrazo said he had to speak with his area service manager and would get back to us. On 1-8-01, Mr. Madrazo called to say that his area service manager, Wendell Weigel, determined that the fire was caused by the light being left on too long.

My husband had told Mr. Madrazo on 12-29-00 and again on 1-8-01 that the light was not on, but he insisted it was and that GMC was not responsible for the damages. We are sure that light was not on because that light was not even working. On 2-2-98, we took the Yukon to Herrera GMC (same dealership, just different name and location) because the reading light would stop woking when moved in the socket. They looked at it and found the white wire feeding power to the reading light was not making contact at all times. So they removed the light contact and stripped the wire back and reinstalled. The light worked for about a year, then stopped working altogether. We did not take it back for repair because the Yukon was out of warranty by then. We have gone without that reading light for about 2 years now.

On 1-8-01, my husband contacted GM. He explained the situation. They said they would get back to us. On 1-11-01, Maja Pruden called. I explained the entire situation. She asked if the light was on, and I told her it was not. She wanted me to take the Yukon to another dealership to be looked at. I asked if all the dealerships in the area would have the same area service manager, because if so that would not help. She said she would get back to me.

On 1-16-01, Ms. Pruden called to say that since there was no one else who could look at the Yukon, that GM would have to go with Mr. Weigel's determination. She sent a letter stating that their investigation revealed no evidence to support the product allegation. She did not tell me of any investigation except that she talked to her technical advisor and they had no one else to look at it. I have since taken the Yukon to another dealership who's service manager does not agree with Mr. Weigel's determination. Besides, if it were possible, then if I were to leave the light on while parked in my garage, then my car, my house, and my life could be destroyed. And I'm sure mine wouldn't have been the first case in 4 years, especially considering how easy it is to leave those lights on. In fact I've left those lights on before and my battery has died. Also, the fuse should burn out before a fire starts.