Sir / Madam,
I am S.Prabhakaran, living in chennai. I have a car of
Hyundai make called Getz. This car was caught fire while starting on
16-10-2008. This car was parked in the porch and i tried to start the
car as usual. First time, the car did not start, second time when i
tried to start again, i heard a bursting sound from the engine side
and huge amount of fumes came out from there and the car engine was
caught fire. I could able to stop the fire in ten minutes but all the
electrical parts were completely burnt.

I have reported this problem to the insurance company,
the nearby fire service station (Tambaram). Later the surveyor of the
insurance company came and he has got all the claim forms from us. I
was asked to send the car to the garage which i usually get done the
repair works (DSC Hyundai Motors, Chennai). They said they could not
able to assess the damage and later i would be informed after the
damage has been set right. They have not issued a copy of the repair
estimate to me so far, but they are stating that the cost would be Rs
1,45,000/=.

The information about the fire accident of my car was sent
to Hyundai Motors India Ltd., Regional office asking the clarification
and assistance on finding the reason of this incident and to replace
the parts or to replace the car as early as possible. After inspecting
the car, they are stating that the fire accident would have happened
due to rat bite / rodent, and they clearly reiterated that the repair
cost would be bearable by the car owner on a chargeable basis.

As a car owner, what is the fault i did while starting my
car? I started the car as usual, but it was caught fire. I strongly
object the irresponsible approach on the safety aspect of the car. I
feel, it is the failure on safety of Hyundai Motors India Ltd. They
have been failed to protect the car and the customer safety against
this aspect. I am very much suffered due to this problem and also the
mental agony which i had for the past two weeks is heavy and it did
not allow me even to have a normal sleep. Further i have inquired more
people about this incident, that i just wanted to know that any other
people have been affected due to this kind of a problem. All of them
told that they also have faced a similar kind of a problem, that their
cars were also bitten by rats but no point of time their cars were led
to a fire accident. This clearly leads to an assumption that it is the
problem of safety failure by the car company and they just want to
escape from the situation. I am very strongly object the way they show
their response even after two months of time.

I have decided to raise a complaint against Hyundai Motors
India Ltd. Kindly please help me in this regard to proceed further
towards filing complaints. Thanks.

Regards
S.Prabhakaran