Vauxhall has said that it is currently investigating the spate of Zafira fires to establish the ‘root cause’ and owners who may be concerned may go to their dealers and get their cars checked for free.
The reports of Zafira cars catching fire got traction after a few women started a Facebook campaign Vauxhall Zafira Car Fires. Soon after the group was created quite a few owners other than the women who started the group came forward and reported fire incidents with their cars as well with many claiming that Vauxhall hasn’t been paying heed to their investigation requests.
The first instance of Zafira car catching fire was reported in Summer after with as many as 20 different instances of such fires were reported. A Vauxhall spokesman said that the car maker has launched an investigation “as a matter of urgency” and based on initial reports the issue is due to the heating and ventilation system.
The company has also revealed that the issue seems to be limited to Zafira B models manufactured between 2005 and 2014 and only cars fitted with standard air conditioning unit are affected – not the ones fitted with similar-looking climate control system. To find out if your car is affected, look for a button marked ‘AUTO’ on the heater panel: if this is present, your car is NOT affected, says Vauxhall.
During the time period between 2005 and 2014, as many as 280,000 of the affected model, the Zafira B, were produced; however, company says that many of these aren’t on road anymore.
“While the number of incidents is very low in proportion to the number of vehicles on the road, we take this issue very seriously and will take action”, said Vauxhall spokesman. “Our investigations have found that a number of incidents have occurred due to previous repairs being performed improperly or using certain non-genuine parts.”
