House Fire

[96 Buff]

Last week my parents house caught fire and close to 70% was destroyed or very heavily damaged and both my parents' vehicles were completey destroyed. Everyone got out ok with no injuries or smoke inhalation, thank God.

The fire department, Insurance investigator, and a private forensics expert hired by my parents all identified my Mom's 2005 Lexus RX330 as the cause of the fire. Several people are suggesting to my parents a civil suit against Toyota. My parents really don't want to pursue this angle, but this fire is a major pain in the ***, to put it mildly, and will have a huge impact on their daily lives for years.

To the wonderful HornFanss community: those of you with any experience or recommendations on what they should do to find out if there have been other reports of this type of vehicle starting a fire? Which governmental and/or industry groups keep information on these sorts of things?

Thanks for any info you might have.

Also, I highly recommend to everyone that you take some time to review a fire evacuation plan with your family and also get yourself a fireproof safe for your necessary documents. And, make sure your smoke detectors work!

 

[accuratehorn]

I just looked on my factory information system (AllData) for safety related recalls and factory service bulletins for this model. The only safety related recall has to do with clearance of the accelerator pedal next to the console. There was nothing related to fuel leaks, wire harness rubbing and shorting out, or anything that could cause a fire.
There was such a recall on certain Ford pick-up trucks where some relay could short out with the car in the off position and cause a fire.
Something like this would be a serious matter, and the company would issue a recall if it was happening out in the field. Without any pattern to go on, as a small shop owner I would have no reason to think there was a design flaw in the vehicle, but anything is possible. Maybe something is just starting to crop up.
You could google this to see if there are any internet chat sites where car owners discuss problems-however, there are car owners who always feel the car is at fault in any accident or incident. You might find out there were others this happened to, though.
You could ask at a large independent repair shop if they have seen any problems on this model that could result in a fire.
It is far more likely that someone who worked on the car did something wrong than the factory these days. Was anything worked on recently-car alarm installed, stereo, phone, add on navigation system, fuel injector cleaning performed at quicky lube place, bad fuel injector repaired, anything like that?
Was the car parked over something combustible-the catlytic convertors get very hot and can start a fire when parked over tall grass, for example.

 

[96 Buff]

Thanks for the info on others to talk to for more information. My guess on this is that IF this is a design/engineering flaw, it's probably a new one, which is why it's a little hard to find much info right now.

It was parked in the garage over a clean concrete floor. It's tough to tell when the fire started, but it had not been driven for over 2 hours by the time the fire erupted anough to set off the smoke alarms. I do not know if it was a slow burn until it reached the fuel tank or not.

 

[TxStHorn]

Where are your folks located?

I know an extremely good attorney who practices out of San Angelo, TX who had a similar case (different model Lexus). No recalls on that one, either, but he was able to get the claim resolved quite favorably.

 

[96 Buff]

My folks and I are in the Denver area.

 

[TxStHorn]

The attorney I just spoke with about it suggested contacting a local Plaintiff's counsel/trial lawyer.

Even if there are no reported recalls, he said his own experience had been however that if the arson guy will say the car started the fire, Toyota would be prepared to at least consider paying the claim.

It isn't going to hurt to just talk to someone to find out what your options are.

And there is nothing wrong with seeking compensation that the law says you are entitled to when you are harmed through the negligence or wrongdoing of others.

 

[TxStHorn]

Oh - and one last thing-

Make sure your parents report this to the National Highway Safety Administration. The report can be done electronically. Regardless of how you proceed you should also report it in writing via certified mail to Toyota/Lexus.

 

[96 Buff]

Thank you very much!

 

[KaiserSoze]

For some reason this topic reminds me of Fight Club.

In reply to:

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[ERhine]

Go to a plaintiff's attorney.

 

[CleverNickname]

decent chance that the subrogation clause in their homeowners policy eliminates any incentive to sue toyota.

 

[NCAAFBALLROX]

Don't listen to Clever... he's The Man & he's always tryin' to keep a brotha down!