Every now and then, we learn of accidents involving vehicles that happen because drivers are negligent. Unfortunately, many of these incidents happen because of equipment failure.
The latest major report concerning vehicles that have been known to present serious and even highly damaging risks are made by BMW. Unfortunately, the automaker doesn’t appear as concerned as it should be about the issues associated with its vehicles.
According to an ABC investigation, dozens of BMW vehicles have known to burst into flames. In many cases, these vehicles burst while stored in garages, causing fires that have destroyed consumers’ homes.
But no matter how many of these incidents are reported, the company continues to act as if there isn’t a “pattern” that is consistent with “product defect.”
To a 55-year-old small business man who’s also a longtime BMW customer with a dues-paying membership card to the BMW Car Club of America, his passion for the brand ended up bringing an end to a great deal of what he had worked so hard for over the years.
In December of 2015, his 2008 BMW X5 suddenly caught fire. The vehicle, which was parked in his garage, had just been returned from a short drive. His wife parked the car and told her husband that an odd smell was coming from it. As soon as he arrived in the garage to check on the car, he heard a “snap, crackle, pop” before the car finally burst into flames.
As the fired took over the garage, the couple ran out of the house in horror. As firefighters fought the blaze, they watched as the fire brought their house down.
More than 40 of these fires have been reported in the United States recently, the ABC investigation uncovered. Still, whenever these consumers reach out, they hear nothing but excuses.
When reporters reached out to BMW to learn what they were telling consumers, they learned that BMW believes it has nothing to apologize for. Instead, it says that out of the almost five million BMW cars in the United States, these incidents are rare. They also claimed that issues other than their work were responsible for the fires, such as lack of maintenance, rodent nesting, improper maintenance by unauthorized mechanics, and modifications made after the vehicle had been sold.
As officials in South Korea launch an investigation into the similar incidents they have been seeing in the country, we wonder if BMW isn’t hiding something about this particular string of incidents.
