[Jdelgado92]

Okay so a few months back, there was something going on with my car where I would drive it for a while, but when I went to start the car again within minutes, the car would hesitate to crank and when I finally got it to start, check engine light came on along with the service stabilitrak and it would ride really rough. I’d have to turn it off and on again and it would go back to normal. I’ve had my car hesitate upon start itafter driving a while Before but it would always start up fine after a few seconds and it didn’t happen often enough for me to trigger a concern. When the check engine lights came on and such that’s when I did get concerned and took it to the dealership. The dealership determined that There was a power draw and that it was my air suspension causing the power draw in which case they stopped looking any further, they didn’t tell me how the came to this conclusion . I took my car back and disconnected all my air bags things from the battery and I noticed the battery still fluctuating on my dash and hesitating to start up For a few weeks so that tells me it’s not the bags causing the power draw and the fact that it was hesitating a bit before the airbags, I believe I even started a post before on here about it.

Fast forward to Nov 9, we took a 2he trip to NYC. It was all fine, no issues even in stop and go traffic and finally we arrived at the parking garage. We took maybe 5-10 minutes to unload our bags and we walked away. Because of the power draw issues I stopped and told me Fiance to wait a sec that I wanted to see if my car acted up upon the attendant trying to start the car to move it. Sure enough the car hesitated like the battery was completely drained after driving 2 whole hours, so I went back and tried it myself. Couldn’t start it myself so opened the hood and told the guy to try one more time and suddenly black smoke shot up and I saw flames coming from under the passenger side exhaust manifold. Didn’t have a fire extinguisher so I had to dump some water into it and luckily it put it out, and I also saw that my coolant drained out completely. Had to spend the night in NY and get a tow the next day. The insurance came through and towed it back 103 miles for free. The tow was on a Sunday so I had to wait til Monday to get it towed to the dealership where I took it for the power draw. Waited a week and nothing so I started a case with gm and I found out that they did too because any thermal issues, gm has to take a look.

So for recap, the fire happened on Nov 9th, Nov 11 I took it to the dealership, nov 18th a case was started and I finally got a call rental on the 19th. From there I had to keep bothering them to even get an single update and finally on Dec 17th I had to call about the rental period and they finally told me they received all the info requested from the dealership and they could start the review now. Today I got a call from the gm case lady and she told me that based on the diagnostic for the power draw I had before nov 9, the codes and the pictures that showed no signs of a fire and also the fact that I have air suspension, that they could not cover it and that there was never a fire... I started questioning her and she tells me that all my questions can be answered or have to go through the dealership now. I asked to see these pictures they took to determine there was no fire and she said it’s confidential and maybe the dealership would show me but wasn’t sure. So no one from gm ever came out to look at the car, all they saw was pictures and info on the air suspension which has nothing to do with where the fire was, not even acknowledging the fact that the car smelled burnt.

If only the dealership looked into it further the first time, they would have found out that there was something else causing the problem and me and my fiancé’s life’s wouldn’t have been in danger of the car exploding, god forbid it would have happened while we were driving or stuck in traffic. Car is still under warranty, and it pisses me off that they shrug it off like nothing happened, like I didn’t see flames or smoke and like it doesn’t smell like a fire too.

Thank you for who ever read the whole thing,
Does anyone have any advice, opinions on what I should do to resolve all this? At this point I have to go fight with the dealership because gm was useless. I have to get them to show me the pictures they sent in and also the area they didn’t find any fire signs. I know for a fact you can’t see the coolant lines from the top or bottom so how were they able to take said pictures to see there was no fire in that area. I’m assuming the just took picture from above the engine and called it a day.
Merry Christmas to me I guess. But certainly Merry Christmas to everyone! Hope you enjoyed it!

Thank you in advance for any advice

[ctrlz]

There are a lot of points in your story I don't completely comprehend. But just based on the flavor of your experience I would suggest you get a lawyer to advocate on your behalf. I can't see the point in you personally fighting with the dealer because it sounds like you did modify the car ("air suspension?"... "disconnected all my air bags???"). I am not one to lawyer up, but based on what you have posted here it sounds like it might be the best route to success for you. Fire... dead battery after long trip... a lot just sounds like it was not done right. But a lawyer can probably dance around that because most people just don't understand technical things.

[LT4Greg]

After reading your post, I can understand why GM is refusing to help you since you did mod your Camaro with the airbag suspension. Talk to attorney though and see what your options are. Good luck!!

[Jdelgado92]

Originally Posted by ctrlz

There are a lot of points in your story I don't completely comprehend. But just based on the flavor of your experience I would suggest you get a lawyer to advocate on your behalf. I can't see the point in you personally fighting with the dealer because it sounds like you did modify the car ("air suspension?"... "disconnected all my air bags???"). I am not one to lawyer up, but based on what you have posted here it sounds like it might be the best route to success for you. Fire... dead battery after long trip... a lot just sounds like it was not done right. But a lawyer can probably dance around that because most people just don't understand technical things.

I apologize for the confusion, my reasoning is that the air suspension/air bags have nothing to the engine bay where the fire came from. There was a power draw and the dealership said it was from the bags so they stopped looking into further, they didn’t show me any type of proof it was from the bags. The bags have nothing to do with the fire hence why I want to fight them because they’re going to try to use that against me. The power draw come from somewhere else, I’m assuming the starter was the issue from the beginning which is right around the area where the fire started. I know the power draw came from somewhere else because the wiring that gives power to the compressors was disconnected from the battery which means the whole bag system wasn’t functioning and the battery was still getting drained. Also, when the compressors are connected to the battery, they only turn on once maybe twice a week which mean theyre not pulling power the rest of the time so why would my battery drain immediately after driving for a while. The battery should be fully charged after driving a while. I understand that modding the car can void the warranty but it has to be that modification that causes the problem for the warranty to be voided is my understanding.

Thank you for the advice

[BlackbeastSS2]

If your car caught on fire doesn’t your insurance cover that and they would determine if they would cover the damage or not. I would have just notified my insurance company and put a claim in. A GM dealership would work with the insurance company to get it fixed thru the insurance adjuster/estimator. Lawyer only needed if not covered. It’s a can of worms and could go either way.

[Memphis SS]

Originally Posted by LT4Greg

After reading your post, I can understand why GM is refusing to help you since you did mod your Camaro with the airbag suspension. Talk to attorney though and see what your options are. Good luck!!

I agree that is the downside to modding warranty cars. People and manufacturers of catch cans and other products can make claims of it doesn't void the warranty all they want but in the end, this is the problem that stops me from modding my car while under warranty.

OP: you might win with an attorney (if you can prove the air ride wasn't the electrical issue) but now your talking time spent, your own rental now GM states it's not their issue and court fees.

[Jdelgado92]

Originally Posted by LT4Greg

After reading your post, I can understand why GM is refusing to help you since you did mod your Camaro with the airbag suspension. Talk to attorney though and see what your options are. Good luck!!

The thing is they’re not even saying it’s from the airbags, what they’re telling me is that “ There was no fire” pretty much saying I’m a liar and I didn’t see what I saw. Which begs the question, why did my coolant drain and why does it smell burnt, what was all the smoke I saw and the flames if it wasn’t a fire. They’re just looking at pictures and from said pictures, they don’t see any signs of there being a fire.

Thank you for the advice!

[Memphis SS]

Originally Posted by BlackbeastSS2

If your car caught on fire doesn’t your insurance cover that and they would determine if they would cover the damage or not. I would have just notified my insurance company and put a claim in. A GM dealership would work with the insurance company to get it fixed thru the insurance adjuster/estimator. Lawyer only needed if not covered. It’s a can of worms and could go either way.

good points

[Jdelgado92]

Originally Posted by BlackbeastSS2

If your car caught on fire doesn’t your insurance cover that and they would determine if they would cover the damage or not. I would have just notified my insurance company and put a claim in. A GM dealership would work with the insurance company to get it fixed thru the insurance adjuster/estimator. Lawyer only needed if not covered. It’s a can of worms and could go either way.

When you say lawyer needed if not covered, would that mean a lawyer against the dealership if gm doesn’t cover it or against the insurance if they don’t cover it?

[MackSteelPrivateEye]

Sound like a tuff call because cars today have so much electronics built it. I'm sure your air suspension and Airbag disconnect effect the elsectronics of the whole sys. GM would have to trace back to see exactly what you did in your mod. I can see their point. Electronic troubleshooting is expensive. I would not have mentioned your mods to them and just let them figure it out themselves in the troubleshooting process. Do you have magnaride? What Airshock kit did you buy? Why were you airbags disconnected?

[BlackbeastSS2]

Originally Posted by Jdelgado92

When you say lawyer needed if not covered, would that mean a lawyer against the dealership if gm doesn’t cover it or against the insurance if they don’t cover it?

Against the insurance company in regards to a lawyer.

You can always go talk to another GM Dealership and talk to the service manager and explain your situation and he may help you.

[ctrlz]

Originally Posted by BlackbeastSS2

You can always go talk to another GM Dealership and talk to the service manager and explain your situation and he may help you.

You can try this.
When I say lawyer I am thinking find a lawyer who specializes in things like lemon law and car-related claims. Tell him/her your story and let that person decide where to take the fight.
To a lawyer, screaming "FIRE!" in a crowded theater is "using the wrong word taken out of context and misheard by persons who have not recently had their hearing evaluated."
Don't interject any of your "car guy" stuff. Probably doesn't matter.

[VinnAY]

I get it from the stand point of a dealer, I don't know WTF else you did to the car. Whether you think it's related, or not, is irrelevant. You don't monkey around with cars under warranty if you want that warranty left intact and you did in fact monkey with it, extensively. So I don't get the expectation that it's still their problem.

[ctrlz]

Originally Posted by VinnAY

I get it from the stand point of a dealer, I don't know WTF else you did to the car.

Agree. I find it super easy to see the dealer's point of view.