My Toyota Prius 2010 caught fire

If the fire started in the right front fender area, there's another thread here.

Hopefully, data and the errors can be pulled from the vehicle.

Fire in a prius | PriusChat

 

Such a pity ! I'm glad you got out safely.
I don't know what is covered on warranty in the UK but out of curiosity, how many miles were on the car ? Certainly, this is something that should at least be reported to Toyota Corporate. Cars that are that age just don't burst into flames out of the clear blue. Besides, if you have good maintenance records, this could be a big plus in your favor.

 

Glad you are OK. We seem to have about 3-4 reports on PriusChat of 2010's with electric problems starting fires.

There is not much we can do to help from USA. Normally in the USA the insurance covers the damages, and Toyota (and other manufacturers) do not respond helpfully. The accidents are reported to NTSB and if there is a pattern there could be a US gov't recall. Any recall would assume some known defect is the cause, versus maintenance errors, user mods, etc.

You should still report it to Toyota and competent authorities, but we are not aware of a known defect that could be fixed. Some say may be issue with certain head lamps.

 

perhaps grumpy or britprius can be of service. maybe change the title to uk insurance question.

 

The one in the thread from Dec. 5th is a 2011.

 

OMGoodness, that's terrible and freighting. So glad to hear you're safe. Keep us posted if you find out what happened and why.

 

Does GB have their own equivalent of NTSB for cars?

 

I'm really glad that Toyota has opened a case on your situation. It's in their best interest step up to the plate and nip this in the bud. There are other cases just like yours that have happened to indicate Toyota might have an inherent problem on their hands. This would be especially true if the defect was inadvertently engineered into the car.

 

these cars maybe ticking time bombs. i just bought a fire extinguisher.

 

Exactly !

 

Hello,
So sorry to hear about your fire. Glad you escaped ok. Our house burned down because of our prius at 2;30 a.m. We were fortunate that we all escaped with our lives. YES, we can say definitely, 100% that the fire started in the vicinity of the right front headlight. This appears to be a common problem with the 2010 models. There may have been an electrical arc with the battery (one theory). I got attacked by some idiot online who was trying to blame me for not having smoke detectors (actually, we did, but it's pointless to argue with morons). The dog just happened to wake us up first. Anyway, Toyota will not help you ONE BIT. In fact, they will try to discredit you (at least that is what happened to us). They sent their "head honcho" sleazeball, Robert Landis, who testified on behalf of Toyota in the acceleration case a few years back to come to OUR house and he lamely insisted after looking at it for 5 minutes that it "couldn't possibly" have been the Prius. We had 5 different inspectors who could see that the point of origin was near the right front headlight. Get an attorney, ASAP, and make documentation of everything they have taken from you. Please reply if you would like to speak privately. We have already found 5-6 others with extremely similar circumstances. Go to youtube and search for "prius fire" and you will see one of them in Washington State.

 

Sadly nothing.

There's a hard lesson learnt here. If you can't afford to be comprehensively insured, you can't afford not to be.

Were you running the car as a mini cab? Was there additional wiring?

 

I've never thought of a great place in my cabin to stow a fire extinguisher ... pretty tight in a Gen 1.

On the other hand, if I owned a 2010, I might consider buying a FLIR One and popping the hood to get some images, as detailed as I could, under the hood in the right headlight area, after the car's been operating for a while and with the lights on. Maybe right away as a set of baseline images, and once or twice a year thereafter. Also of the left headlight area, for comparison....

-Chap

 

otoh, there are probably less prius fires than any other vehicle.

 

Strange that Toyota is suddenly starting to develop fires that haven't been reported elsewhere, but are of a type that have been plaguing GM's UK brand Vauxhall.

Vauxhall Zafira upgraded to full safety recall status - ITV News

Vauxhall Zafira fires: 220,000 cars to be recalled in UK | Auto Express

 

yes, strange.