The Bobcat Nation

On Saturday, my dad’s 2010 GMC Sierra K1500 caught fire as he was driving on the interstate. As smoke began to fill the cab and the "Check Engine" light came on, he attempted to brake so that he could escape, but the brakes were gone, and the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. Imagine his terror as he realized that at age 65, he might have to jump out of the truck or be consumed by a fire. He was able to down-shift to slow the truck enough to use the emergency brake to get the truck stopped just in time to escape from the truck and get far enough away to avoid being as the truck and his belongings burned completely.

We are all very thankful that no one was injured, but are gravely concerned that the truck, which was purchased three years ago this month, and had only 18,000 miles on it, clearly was a risk to our family’s lives and the lives of others.

My Dad has three adult children and seven grandchildren & often had one or more of them with him as he traveled in this vehicle. Had he needed to unbuckle the babies from their car seats and/or assist the toddlers in getting out, the outcome may have been very different, and it haunts us to know that this could have been the case.

My Dad has worked for the railroad for 46 years, and had taken the month of July as vacation. All three adult children and all seven grandchildren, ranging in age from 10 months to 12 years, had been visited during the past three weeks. All had ridden in this truck in the days preceding the fire. As my Dad headed home to Montana at the completion of his vacation and visit to children and grandkids, he descended "Lookout Pass" on I-90 between the Montana/Idaho border - a pass that is steep and very busy with summer vacation travel as well as consistent heavy semi-truck travel. The curves on Lookout are treacherous: the rate of accidents and semi-truck rollovers on the curves is high without an extraordinary event such as a burning vehicle. If his truck had caught fire even three or four miles earlier, the outcome is almost unthinkable.

My dad purchased this truck in July of 2010, knowing that in the spring of 2014 he would retire. The truck was still in 'NEW' condition, as he took exceptional care of it as it was to last through his retirement years.

My family has been loyal GM purchasers for decades. I can count 14 GM vehicles that we’ve had since I was a kid alone. Yet as of today my Dad hasn’t heard one word from GM other than being read a long disclaimer statement over the phone how they probably aren’t responsible. This truck is still under warranty, my Dad could have been seriously hurt and GM can’t even muster up a phone call or email with a simply sorry! His car insurance will cover the cost of a similar used truck and his homeowners might replace the thousands of dollars of his stuff that burned up, but it’s time for GM to step up to the plate and at MINIMUM call or email my Dad and have a conversation with him. The number of mysterious fires in 2010 GM vehicles is shockingly high. It’s time for these stories to be told. The taxpayers bailed GM out of bankruptcy yet they can’t even return a phone call from a customer?

I posted a bunch of pictures of the truck on Facebook and will probably share some here soon too.

Wow that is scary! Do you have any idea how the fire started or in which part of the truck it originated?

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91catAlum wrote:Wow that is scary! Do you have any idea how the fire started or in which part of the truck it originated?

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The first started in the engine compartment as the smoke came in to the cab through the vents. Looks like 2010 GM vans have had faulty alternators that have caused fires, but since the brakes were gone most in the know are assuming the main circuit board/computer in the engine compartment shorted and started the fire. USAA Insurance is investigating now so I'm sure my Dad will hear more soon from them.

If you look at the GMC Sierra page on Facebook you should be able to see pictures.

Has your dad talked to the dealer he bought the vehicle from? They might be able to help him get in contact with someone from GM, if it was bought new.

canyoncat wrote:Has your dad talked to the dealer he bought the vehicle from? They might be able to help him get in contact with someone from GM, if it was bought new.

I was under the impression that the US government still ran GM, at least partially. No wonder it went up in smoke.

Glad your dad's OK. Sounds like he didn't panic in what would be a situation in which to panic.

Toyota

Your fathers auto insurer, after paying the claim, will definitely analyze the loss. If there's ANY CHANCE the fire was due to a build defect they will definitely be knocking on GM's door. And they have a room full of subrogation attorneys skilled at getting their money back in the shortest possible time. Incidentally, if your father has a deductible, they will be looking to get that back for him too. It would be especially nice if they find the damage originated from a cause covered under the vehicle warranty. Finally, since fire is covered via the "comprehensive" coverage he shouldn't expect a rate increase as a result of the loss.

TIrwin24 wrote:Toyota

Well.....my Toyota caught fire in a parking lot while I was in Safeway, but the damage was contained under the hood. The vehicle was 19 months old with 8,200 miles on it. My insurance company paid my claim and I got my $100 deductible back after they "talked" to Toyota. That's why I'm so smart... See post above .
Small world.

rtb wrote:On Sunday, my dad’s 2010 GMC Sierra K1500 caught fire as he was driving on the interstate. As smoke began to fill the cab and the "Check Engine" light came on, he attempted to brake so that he could escape, but the brakes were gone, and the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. Imagine his terror as he realized that at age 65, he might have to jump out of the truck or be consumed by a fire. He was able to down-shift to slow the truck enough to use the emergency brake to get the truck stopped just in time to escape from the truck and get far enough away to avoid being as the truck and his belongings burned completely.

We are all very thankful that no one was injured, but are gravely concerned that the truck, which was purchased three years ago this month, and had only 18,000 miles on it, clearly was a risk to our family’s lives and the lives of others.

My Dad has three adult children and seven grandchildren & often had one or more of them with him as he traveled in this vehicle. Had he needed to unbuckle the babies from their car seats and/or assist the toddlers in getting out, the outcome may have been very different, and it haunts us to know that this could have been the case.

My Dad has worked for the railroad for 46 years, and had taken the month of July as vacation. All three adult children and all seven grandchildren, ranging in age from 10 months to 12 years, had been visited during the past three weeks. All had ridden in this truck in the days preceding the fire. As my Dad headed home to Montana at the completion of his vacation and visit to children and grandkids, he descended "Lookout Pass" on I-90 between the Montana/Idaho border - a pass that is steep and very busy with summer vacation travel as well as consistent heavy semi-truck travel. The curves on Lookout are treacherous: the rate of accidents and semi-truck rollovers on the curves is high without an extraordinary event such as a burning vehicle. If his truck had caught fire even three or four miles earlier, the outcome is almost unthinkable.

My dad purchased this truck in July of 2010, knowing that in the spring of 2014 he would retire. The truck was still in 'NEW' condition, as he took exceptional care of it as it was to last through his retirement years.

My family has been loyal GM purchasers for decades. I can count 14 GM vehicles that we’ve had since I was a kid alone. Yet as of today my Dad hasn’t heard one word from GM other than being read a long disclaimer statement over the phone how they probably aren’t responsible. This truck is still under warranty, my Dad could have been seriously hurt and GM can’t even muster up a phone call or email with a simply sorry! His car insurance will cover the cost of a similar used truck and his homeowners might replace the thousands of dollars of his stuff that burned up, but it’s time for GM to step up to the plate and at MINIMUM call or email my Dad and have a conversation with him. The number of mysterious fires in 2010 GM vehicles is shockingly high. It’s time for these stories to be told. The taxpayers bailed GM out of bankruptcy yet they can’t even return a phone call from a customer?

I posted a bunch of pictures of the truck on Facebook and will probably share some here soon too.

I read this on your Facebook page on my way back from camping at Priest Lake right after you had posted it. I have a 2010 GMC Sierra and we were on our way over Lookout Pass so your photos were fresh in my brain. We made it in one piece. Hope things work out for your dad.

FINALLY! After multiple Facebook posts, Twitter messages, this posting, and many phone calls someone from GM's Customer Service has at least responded to me on Twitter and have committed to me that my Dad will get a phone call from them today. They aren't off the hook yet as nothing has been said or done to help, but at least GM has crawled out of the woodwork to respond to my family.

I promise you will hear the good or bad from me as this continues!

Way to keep the pressure on them.

I want to call you a cyber stalker, but I cant do it.................................yet

Unfortunately all of the major manufacturers have had fire issues, Fiat (Dodge) Ford etc...

Quality control in the auto industry is so outdated. They have no idea what quality means. I have been in the medical device business for 24 years. We do full FMEA and Fault Grade analysis in detail, we verify/qualify at the component level, the sub-system level and the full system level. We do accelerated life tests and real time life tests. We subject every component, sub system and system to extreme conditions (heat, cold, vibration, shock (physical and electrical) and electric fields). We have achieved 99.9999% reliability on pacemakers and defibrillators. It's not a perfect system but it gets the job done 99% of the time. The auto makers would sure their customer base well if they just moved a little bit in this direction. It's a choice!

gtapp wrote:Quality control in the auto industry is so outdated. They have no idea what quality means. I have been in the medical device business for 24 years. We do full FMEA and Fault Grade analysis in detail, we verify/qualify at the component level, the sub-system level and the full system level. We do accelerated life tests and real time life tests. We subject every component, sub system and system to extreme conditions (heat, cold, vibration, shock (physical and electrical) and electric fields). We have achieved 99.9999% reliability on pacemakers and defibrillators. It's not a perfect system but it gets the job done 99% of the time. The auto makers would sure their customer base well if they just moved a little bit in this direction. It's a choice!

Even with all of that testing you hear about faulty medical devices. Pacemakers, Knee and hip replacement among those that I have heard of. The bigger it is the harder it is to maintain quality, it costs a lot of money.

Well, just thought I'd wrap this topic up and let you guys know how it "ended". I posted this to GMC's Facebook page today and shared it via Twitter. I don't expect I will hear anything back from them, but I will do my best to spread the word on their level of "concern".

After a month and a half it has become clear to me that General Motors is unwilling to stand behind their products even though my family has been extremely loyal to them for the last 30 to 40 years.

My dad's truck spontaneously caught on fire while he was driving down a mountain pass. Luckily he is safe and alive, but after providing all the information to General Motors do you know how they responded? With a canned form email that stated "We are sorry you have experienced concerns with your vehicle. Customer satisfaction is a top priority for us."

Concerns with your vehicle? The truck caught on fire driving down the road!! So what did they offer to do about his truck that was nearly new(18,000 miles and still under warranty) they offered a discount to him of $3,500 if he will come buy another new GM vehicle. That is LESS THAN 10% off of a bare bones crew cab Sierra not even comparably equipped to what he had. Can you imagine ANY other consumer product company giving you a 10% off coupon if you almost died using their product? I've had other product issues in the past and almost every company in the world figures out a way to make it right, yet GM who was bailed out by the american taxpayer can't even help make someone close to whole? My family wasn't asking for a free truck, they were asking for GMC to sell them a new truck at the price of his insurance reimbursement amount. It wasn't a big ask, yet GMC can't even muster the effort to make it right.

From the time I was a little kid, my dream has been to buy a brand new GM truck someday. Today, that dream is gone. I WILL NOT buy a new vehicle from GM. I am now starting to look at the F150 and excited for the day I buy one. Please spread the word and let everyone know that GM will not stand behind what they sell.

I went to look at their page and share your post so that all of my friends that only buy GMC can see what they're pulling but I couldn't find it anywhere.

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gocats wrote:I went to look at their page and share your post so that all of my friends that only buy GMC can see what they're pulling but I couldn't find it anywhere.

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It's on the GMC Sierra page.

Yea, I found it and shared it.

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Wow terrifying. Glad your dad is ok