10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 1
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 40,482 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
After leaving a residence, getting onto the freeway with no issues for about 1/4 mile, suddenly upon getting about to 50 mph, I felt a shimmy. I thought I had a flat tire. But I was smelling a burning smell pretty quickly. I thought it was from a polluted semi truck. But it got stronger. So, I decided to take the first exit another 1/4 mile up. I turned on hazards and slowed to 40 and exited. Upon stopping I turned off the car and inspected first the engine, seeing no smoke around it. I then inspected the tires. All good. So I opted for a touch test for overheated tire, to see if they were hot. Which given I only drove maybe 1.5 miles total, or 2, this seemed unlikely. When leaning to touch the left rear tire, I saw a flame come out from behind it, and immediately got away from the car and called 911 for fire department. They arrived and determined that luckily the fire had extinguished itself. Upon mechanical inspection, I learned the caliper froze so the brake pad had ignited. While I was driving. A live flame under my car, I am lucky nothing happened. I am terrified of this happening again and what if its in the front tire near the engine?
- Richland, WA, USA
- Mauldin, SC, USA