NHTSA Complaint #10780056 — 2010 SUBARU FORESTER

AFTER WORK, I GOT IN MY CAR AND STARTED IT UP. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, FOLLOWED BY TRACTION CONTROL AND TIRE PRESSURE LIGHTS. THIS WAS ODD BECAUSE THESE LIGHTS HAD NEVER BEEN ON BEFORE. I STARTED TO DRIVE HOME--IT WAS TOO LATE TO BRING THE CAR TO HAVE IT CHECKED OUT. I LIVE A MINUTE AND A HALF FROM WORK. THE CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT THEN CAME ON AND FLICKERED IN NO PARTICULAR PATTERN. THEN, ABOUT 45 SECONDS INTO MY 90 SECOND DRIVE, THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE LIGHT CAME ON. THE WEATHER WAS ABOUT 50 DEGREES AND RAINY. WHEN I GOT HOME THE ENGINE FAN WAS SPINNING REALLY FAST. I POPPED THE HOOD. NO SMOKE OR ANYTHING VISIBLY WRONG. AT ROUGHLY 2:10AM THERE WAS NO WAY I COULD BRING IT TO GET THE ISSUES LOOKED INTO. SO I LEFT THE HOOD OPEN TO LET SOME HEAT OUT AND WHEN THE FAN SLOWED AND THEN STOPPED, I CLOSED THE HOOD AND WENT INSIDE. ABOUT 10-15 MINUTES LATER, DURING WHICH TIME THE CAR HAD BEEN STATIONARY AND THE ENGINE HAD BEEN SHUT OFF, I HEARD A POP SOUND. IT WAS A STRANGE NOISE AND I GOT UP TO CHECK IT OUT. IT WAS A MASSIVE ENGINE FIRE. IT TOASTED THE ENGINE AND MELTED A GOOD PORTION OF THE FRONT END. THE FIRE DEPT SHATTERED THE WINDOWS AND PEELED THE HOOD BACK. THE CAR IS TOTALED. THE FIRE WAS JUST FEET AWAY FROM MY HOUSE ON ONE SIDE, AND THE NEIGHBOR ON THE OTHER SIDE. HAD I BEEN ASLEEP THE FIRE COULD HAVE SPREAD TO MY HOUSE OR MY NEIGHBOR'S, POTENTIALLY KILLING PEOPLE. IT WAS ONE OF THE SCARIEST THINGS I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED. THERE IS A VIDEO ON YOUTUBE WITH SOMETHING SIMILAR (SEARCH SUBARU ENGINE FIRE). THE CAR IS A 2010 FORESTER XT, COMPLETELY STOCK. IT HAS BEEN VERY WELL MAINTAINED AND HAS ABOUT 85,000 MILES ON IT. MY MOTHER ORIGINALLY OWNED IT. SHE BOUGHT IT BRAND NEW FROM THE SUBARU DEALERSHIP AND I BOUGHT IT FROM HER.