Opel Zafira started the car park fire in Cork

Toyotafanboi · 02-09-2019 08:59PM

Dia_Anseo wrote: »

It's not a PR stunt it's a successful local business with a heart and kindness! They won't get back what they put into it!

If it was such a PR stunt why isn't Lehanes Toyota or other garages jumping onboard.

Don't be so negative all the time!

I'm not being negative, but theres clearly a bit of PR or whatever involved. What an opportunity, 60+ people right next door to the dealer have all been subject to the 3rd party insurable loss of their cars. "Here, have a sit in ours, use it for a few weeks, get comfortable in it, no obligation to buy, but remember how lovely we were when that insurance cheque arrives".

Sure they could have contacted the cars owners privately or discreetly through the shopping centres point of contact for all of this and make the offer that way, they'd have a 100% chance of making contact with them all. Instead they've setup a website link Kearys.ie/Douglas-fire and put it up on Facebook. All those people (ourselves included) talking about the kind gesture.

Look, it is what it is, it's obviously a very very kind gesture and a very useful one for everybody who has lost their car, but I'm sure at the back of it all, they'd be hoping one or two of the loaners dont come back, is that not fair to say?

colm_mcm · 02-09-2019 09:10PM

Who will get the cars from Kearys, people who’s cars have been totaled or those that are stuck?

SEPT 23 1989 · 02-09-2019 09:15PM

If you are having a claim made against you

Do it in style

Toyotafanboi · 02-09-2019 09:17PM

Lost their car, https://www.kearys.ie/about-us/douglas-fire/

screamer · 02-09-2019 09:18PM

Zafirea ..... flaming great cars

Dia_Anseo · 02-09-2019 09:19PM

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

I'm not being negative, but theres clearly a bit of PR or whatever involved. What an opportunity, 60+ people right next door to the dealer have all been subject to the 3rd party insurable loss of their cars. "Here, have a sit in ours, use it for a few weeks, get comfortable in it, no obligation to buy, but remember how lovely we were when that insurance cheque arrives".

Sure they could have contacted the cars owners privately or discreetly through the shopping centres point of contact for all of this and make the offer that way, they'd have a 100% chance of making contact with them all. Instead they've setup a website link Kearys.ie/Douglas-fire and put it up on Facebook. All those people (ourselves included) talking about the kind gesture.

Look, it is what it is, it's obviously a very very kind gesture and a very useful one for everybody who has lost their car, but I'm sure at the back of it all, they'd be hoping one or two of the loaners dont come back, is that not fair to say?

Ah Christ people like you always want to piss on the goodwill of others, want to think everyone is out for themselves!

You are forgetting that people might have been driving cars worth 2k euro and won't be able to afford a car at Kearys even on finance.
Plus people may use Kearys goodwill, for instance get a free loan car until they get their insurance then go off and buy their Mazda CX5, Ford Focus Volkswagen all cars that Kearys don't sell.

If people were driving VW they won't change to Renault just because Kearys were kind to them!
Sure they might get sales out of it but they were probably going to buy a Kearys car whether or not Kearys gave them a free courtesy car or not.

loki7777 · 02-09-2019 09:19PM

How many recalls Opel issued - I had one when Opel dealer was still in Sligo. Then few months after that another recall but dealer was gone from Sligo and closes one is an hour from Sligo now and I assume you have to leave car for a good few hours(or even a day?)?

AMKC · 02-09-2019 09:25PM

My brother was driving his MK11 Renault Megane a few years back when he noticed smoke from the front of the car got out to check under the bonnet and as soon as he opened the bonnet the whole thing just went up in fire. Locally it was out away from any buildings on a country road so it was just the car and what was in it that was gone. Oh by the way does saying sure the insurance will pay up. You are not guaranteed the full price of the car you had so what you get could be less than what the car you had was worth. Depends on your insurance really and what they think.

Toyotafanboi · 02-09-2019 09:31PM

Dia_Anseo wrote: »

Ah Christ people like you always want to piss on the goodwill of others, want to think everyone is out for themselves!

You are forgetting that people might have been driving cars worth 2k euro and won't be able to afford a car at Kearys even on finance.
Plus people may use Kearys goodwill, for instance get a free loan car until they get their insurance then go off and buy their Mazda CX5, Ford Focus Volkswagen all cars that Kearys don't sell.

If people were driving VW they won't change to Renault just because Kearys were kind to them!
Sure they might get sales out of it but they were probably going to buy a Kearys car whether or not Kearys gave them a free courtesy car or not.

People with cheap €2k cars can be swayed into using the money as a deposit for HP or PCP or whatever, Kearys have multi franchise Carstore on site selling all their older and non franchise models. They even ask you which franchise you want to borrow from ffs.

60 cars totalled, sure if 20-25 people borrow cars and Kearys sell 5 or 6 at the end of it, it'll be a well worthwhile exercise.

I think some of you, personally are being too naive. Just because the business stands to gain something doesn't take away from the helping hand that it is to those who need it.

Anyway, it's no business of mine so I'll leave it at that, I've no issue with it one way or the other, just an interesting move to see a car company make, heaven forbid we discuss it in the motors forum.

colm_mcm · 02-09-2019 09:34PM

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Lost their car, https://www.kearys.ie/about-us/douglas-fire/

Would your insurance not be giving you a car anyway or is it more complicated than that, will they have to be removed from the building to be assessed? Is this likely to drag on for owners of burnt cars? Who claims off who? Do they all claim off the shopping centre or do they claim off the company representing the car that went on fire first, or is it a chain?

Toyotafanboi · 02-09-2019 09:56PM

colm_mcm wrote: »

Would your insurance not be giving you a car anyway or is it more complicated than that, will they have to be removed from the building to be assessed? Is this likely to drag on for owners of burnt cars? Who claims off who? Do they all claim off the shopping centre or do they claim off the company representing the car that went on fire first, or is it a chain?

The reality is nobody is getting anything until liability is established with whoevers insurance company. I would assume the shopping centre had "cars parked at owners risk" type signs, for what they're worth.

I'd expect everything will go back through the insurance company of the car that started the fire, which will be a saucey one for them and will ruin insurance for Zafira owners everywhere, provided the Zafira either wasnt due or has had the recall work done. If it has the recall outstanding then all bets are off.

One thing is for sure though, this will take months for the car owners, who will have nothing in the mean time. You're talking 2-3 weeks on average to agree liability and costs on your run of the mill bumper scuff then another 4-8 weeks to get paid.

Dia_Anseo · 02-09-2019 10:02PM

colm_mcm wrote: »

Would your insurance not be giving you a car anyway or is it more complicated than that, will they have to be removed from the building to be assessed? Is this likely to drag on for owners of burnt cars? Who claims off who? Do they all claim off the shopping centre or do they claim off the company representing the car that went on fire first, or is it a chain?

As this is damage caused by fire, nobody claims off anyone.

Under insurance law flooding/fires cannot be claimed against other parties.

Everyone with a burnt out car will have to go through their own insurance for a claim.

pwurple · 02-09-2019 10:03PM

Pretty sure kearys have "bring your insurance details" on their offer... So not quite a free car.

colm_mcm · 02-09-2019 10:06PM

Dia_Anseo wrote: »

As this is damage caused by fire, nobody claims off anyone.

Under insurance law flooding/fires cannot be claimed against other parties.

Everyone with a burnt out car will have to go through their own insurance for a claim.

If you’re in a car park and the car beside you goes on fire - taking yours with it, you claim off your own insurance and not the other cars?

Obviously in this case it’d be hard to prove which cars went up in which order, but if there were just two cars involved

Dia_Anseo · 02-09-2019 10:07PM

pwurple wrote: »

Pretty sure kearys have "bring your insurance details" on their offer... So not quite a free car.

Actually just listened to a RedFM podcast today and Brendan Keary said if they can't transfer their own insurance we can sort something else out, i.e temporarily put them on garage insurance.

He also stressed they were not under no obligation to buy, they just don't want people put out especially with school runs etc.

Dia_Anseo · 02-09-2019 10:11PM

colm_mcm wrote: »

If you’re in a car park and the car beside you goes on fire - taking yours with it, you claim off your own insurance and not the other cars?

Obviously in this case it’d be hard to prove which cars went up in which order, but if there were just two cars involved

Seemingly so according to the Insurance broker that was on the RedFM podcast.

Similar situation in a flooding, if your car was flooded due to heavy rain/overflowing river you claim off your own insurance. In similar respect, when your house is flooded you claim through your own insurance even though it's not your fault.

Morrisseeee · 02-09-2019 10:22PM

It'll be interesting if the Zafira has had the 3rd recall done, imagine the panic then. Where do owners of Zafiras (fire-starters) stand legally with regards to these death traps ? Can they demand their money back (at current valuation I presume) ? Could owners sue Opel for it being such a hazardous vehicle?
First re-call was in 2015, then 2016 and now 2019, and who's to say it's 100% fixed at that!
Offending culprit >

dscn2004.jpg?itok=aHA30QE1

fryup · 02-09-2019 10:36PM

^^^^^^^^^^

and whats that yoke?

colm_mcm · 02-09-2019 10:38PM

fryup wrote: »

^^^^^^^^^^

and whats that yoke?

It’s a German.

FishOnABike · 02-09-2019 10:43PM

fryup wrote: »

^^^^^^^^^^

and whats that yoke?

Heater resistor pack. Controls the heater fan speed (through various resistors selected by the fan speed switch).

Morrisseeee · 02-09-2019 10:46PM

Actually this is a good read > House of Commons report >

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmtrans/962/962.pdf
"Vauxhall’s initial investigation did not identify all the failings that could cause a fire"
"Vauxhall’s decision to continue to let people drive affected cars
once it knew that cars that had already been successfully recalled still caught fire amounts to a reckless disregard for safety."
"Air flow in the cabin of a Zafira is determined by the speed of the heating and ventilation system’s blower motor.
The blower has four speeds, three of which (speeds 1–3) use an electrical circuit with a resistor, which is protected by a thermal fuse;
speed 4 uses a different circuit, which is protected by a 40 Amp fuse. When the fan is set to speeds 1, 2 or 3 the current to the blower motor flows via the resistor.
If the fan stalls, or is stiff due to corrosion, insufficient airflow over the resistor causes the temperature to rise.
At a high enough temperature the thermal fuse in the resistor opens, breaking the circuit and preventing further overheating.
The blower motor will then not work until the resistor (with its thermal fuse) is replaced. The part is intended to be replaced not repaired."

my3cents · 02-09-2019 10:47PM

FishOnABike wrote: »

Heater resistor pack. Controls the heater fan speed (through various resistors selected by the fan speed switch).

Almost every car with a fan speed switch has some for of resistor pack. What make the Zafira one so bad?

Edit> Answered above

Dia_Anseo · 02-09-2019 10:49PM

my3cents wrote: »

Almost every car with a fan speed switch has some for of resistor pack. What make the Zafira one so bad?

Edit> Answered above

it's faulty!

TheChizler · 02-09-2019 10:59PM

FishOnABike wrote: »

Heater resistor pack. Controls the heater fan speed (through various resistors selected by the fan speed switch).

Had no idea they were still doing it this way, I was naive and thought they would have sprung for some some sort of PWM controller. Nothing cheaper than a resistor coil.

Explains why one of my Opel fan speeds doesn't work, resistor must be burnt out. Should get that fixed... (it's a Vectra)

punisher5112 · 02-09-2019 11:00PM

Opel, Vauxhall of that era were sh1t pure absolute SH1t....

punisher5112 · 02-09-2019 11:07PM

PSA won't want anything to do with it...

Morrisseeee · 02-09-2019 11:14PM

Should the NCT fail you if you haven't had the 3rd re-call done ? thereby reducing (somewhat) the exposure to the public of this health-hazard?
Surely multi-storey car-parks should hire bouncers and stop any Zafiras entering, "...gwan fcek off"
Note: I'm a Zafira owner myself and it has more electrical gremlins than........the gremlins film

The Satanist · 02-09-2019 11:48PM

It would be a right headache for the NCTS to have to dig through a car's history to check up on recall work. I'm not sure it's a practical thing to do when imports are involved too.

I don't remember ever seeing anything about recalls when taking out insurance either so the insurance company might have trouble getting out of this one.

I wonder if this could be Ireland's most costly insurance claim?

mickdw · 03-09-2019 12:45AM

60 cars and a building with no injuries.....
Chicken feed.

terrydel · 03-09-2019 09:14AM

knucklehead6 wrote: »

In a world of pain would be my thoughts!!

And Opel aren’t going to be holding their hand up to say they had any pet to play in a hurry.

Must be tough to proof the owner got notification of the recall? Most of these are bought as old bangers by foreign nationals as far as I can tell, and have had up half a dozen owners so regularly changing hands. I'd assume the owner will just plead ignorance and probably wont have any means to pay compensation in any case, if found liable. Ignorance isnt normally a defence but I just dont see how you prove an owner got notification of a recall and failed to act on it.

Opel Zafira started the car park fire in Cork

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