Cadillac Owners Forum banner

2007 Escalade caught fire today

14K views 41 replies 19 participants last post by  MrHolland 
#1 ·
What a beautiful vehicle and it is great how GM stands behind their product. I purchased a 2007 Escalade and have had it for just about 1 year. So far I have had to replace a defective windshield, hubs, EVAP sensor, purge valve, Fuel level sensor, TRANSMISSION, defective rims, plus the normal wear and tear items....breaks, rotors, battery. All of which happened to go right around 90,000 to 100,000 miles. I contacted Cadillac to address the issues and compensate some costs as this SUV has always been regularly maintained with the best products available including synthetic oils. They refused to work with me.... Well today the icing on the cake. My Grandfather passed away this week and while moving his personal belongings and having a full truck load of them the truck caught on fire. Smoke began to pour in from the dash by the windshield the under the dash. I opened the hood and flames shot out burning my hand. The police and fired department came. Thank God for the family in the home near by who ran out with a fire extinguisher. The fuse box and wiring harness went up. I had to pay for a tow from Maine to NH. I was out of state, the dealer is closed until Monday. Find a vehicle to use to go to NY where the funeral service are being held. This vehicle is shit..... Undependable, unreliable, junk. When I was a teenager I purchased a car for $225.00 it didn't look pretty but it ran, drove, and got me to where I needed to be. It was safe...I didn't fear for my life or the safety of my family each time we got in it. It was better then this $70,000 SUV. I will never recommend a Cadillac to anyone. Not only is it because this one is a Lemmon but because they do not back the product. They do not work with you, nor do they see the issues that so many customers have. They do not care about the publics safety. They don't care if folks get injured or killed. Many of the issues I have had are safety issues but GM dose not find them to be. If a transmission locks up when you are doing 65 on a highway and drops to 20 I think that's a safety issue. At least that is what I have been told by multiple mechanics. If your windshield is defective due to the plastic and glass separating and you can't see to drive, that too is a safety issue. If your hubs go bad your wheel can come off at any speed...another issue. And if you are trapped in a burning car. I would also say that may be an issue too. Great job Gm,
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Sorry to hear of your loss leelabell1 and I would be extremely upset as well! I work for for a major import automotive car company not GM, even though that is what I drive. I also work in the department that coordinates buy backs/lemons. Sorry to tell you but what you are experiencing in the norm for then industry. At least second owner, 7+ year old vehicle with a 100k on the odo and a year in ownership for current owner. We would do nothing but apologize as well. Even if you were original owner with excellent documentation the assistance isn't there or we did anything it would be minimal and I doubt we would. If you bought a $20,000 Toyota or a $100+ Mercedes I seriously doubt any manufacturer would assist at this point. I was driving to work on Thursday and my "Service Airbag System" light came on and I wouldn't even think of calling Cadillac to pay for it. It has 95,000 miles and I'm the second owner (purchased under CPO warranty) with documentation of every service and repair since I owned it. I agree with evois's comment. You also never know what was done before you bought it. People will say anything to sell a vehicle and can leave out and provide whatever documentation they want when they sell you the vehicle. The vehicle is by no means a Lemon.
 
#18 ·
sorry to hear of your loss leelabell1 and i would be extremely upset as well! I work for for a major import automotive car company not gm, even though that is what i drive. I also work in the department that coordinates buy backs/lemons. Sorry to tell you but what you are experiencing in the norm for then industry. At least second owner, 7+ year old vehicle with a 100k on the odo and a year in ownership for current owner. We would do nothing but apologize as well. Even if you were original owner with excellent documentation the assistance isn't there or we did anything it would be minimal and i doubt we would. If you bought a $20,000 toyota or a $100+ mercedes i seriously doubt any manufacturer would assist at this point. I was driving to work on thursday and my "service airbag system" light came on and i wouldn't even think of calling cadillac to pay for it. It has 95,000 miles and i'm the second owner (purchased under cpo warranty) with documentation of every service and repair since i owned it. I agree with evois's comment. You also never know what was done before you bought it. People will say anything to sell a vehicle and can leave out and provide whatever documentation they want when they sell you the vehicle. The vehicle is by no means a lemon.
no means a lemmon...you drive it and tell me you don't fear for your life. Multiple mechanice including gm dealers have confirmed the fire was due to a defect in the fuse box/main wire harness which could have caused severe injury or death had we passed out due to smoke inhalation...we also could have burnt to dealt, also the transmission. When you drive a $70,000 car you should get over 100,000 miles out of it. My last car....a honda pilot maintained and driven the same way had well over 300,000 miles on it with no issues. This escalade is a death trap!

----------

It's horriable, even after the dealer said it was due to defect GM still refused to compensate, give a discount, or help with any cost incurred. They suck! My husband is a 100% service connected disabled veteran and I am a cancer survivor going through lots of medical treatment. Both of us need a dependable, safe, means of transportation and are on a fixed income. GM screwed us once again!

----------

It was near the lighter fuse and FWD fuse but it went through the complete main dash wire harness.

----------

If an issue is due to a defect yes. Especially a safety issue that can cause death. There should be a recall. What happens to the next owner who is not lucky enough to get out of the car and they burn to death? Why do you think they have recalls....
 
#5 ·
Sorry to hear of you loss. I would be quite upset myself but I wouldn't expect for the OEM to back me up for a high mileage vehicle that's 6 years old. I've always been told to be shy of buying a new model year vehicle due to the trial and error learning curve.
 
#7 ·
Hello Leelabell1,

I am very sorry to hear of your loss and your experience with your Escalade. If you were able to provide me with your name, contact info, VIN, mileage, and dealership you have been working with regarding these concerns, I could look into this situation for you. Thank you very much for your time. I look forward to assisting you with this concern.

Gregory W.
Cadillac Customer Care
 
#8 ·
This SUV was a certified vehicle upon purchase that came with dealer records of previous upkeep and repairs. It was always serviced at a Cadillac dealer therefore the repairs are legit. I had it towed to a GM dealer and have been told by service that the fuse should have blown if there was a short and it should not have caused a fire. He is going to contact the GM rep. to see what can be done regarding the fire because the dealership feels it was a defect. Thank you all for the kind words on the loss of my Grandfather.

----------

The escalade was looked at today by a GM mechanic and I was told at there have been no modifications to the vehicle. They have informed me that if there was a short the fuse should have blown and it should not have caused a fire. They are going to investigate further and contact GM but they feel there was a defect and that GM should work with me on this issue. Hopefully they will and hopefully other owners do not go through this situation and someone does not get hurt or killed. As I said I did get a burn on my hand and today I am having lung and throat issues from the smoke that entered the vehicle. If you own one I would suggest carrying a fire extinguisher!
 
#10 ·
I understand your pain, I'm glad you were not seriously hurt. I hope none of your grandfathers possessions were damaged in the fire. I know your pain I bought a brand new platinum lade in 2010. Started falling apart after 3000 miles. I expect normal wear and tear but for 80k the quality is downright horrible.
 
#11 ·
I had a new 07' Escalade in 2006 explode in my garage with under 1000 miles on it, and all I can say is GM was great to deal with, they went well beyond what I ever could imagine them doing, now understand at that point I had purchased over 35 GM cars/trucks in my life, but they had a new car at my house within 24 hours and a new truck from the factory in under 2 weeks. But as I have said on this and many forums that these higher price cars/trucks are not worth owning without a warranty unless you can afford to fix them, and that is not cheap :( Many of the items you listed as having had to replace is pretty normal depending on what was done in the miles leading up to 100k, but our shop has several that we have cared for from day one with well over 200k miles on them
 
#12 ·
2007 escalade electrical defect and fire

Not covered or backed by gm....this is what your escalade will look like. Not only that there was only one wire harness in the whole countr
y and the cost to fix...over $3000.00 if you are lucky enough to have a fire extinguisher close by when the fire starts...plus the tow bill and medical expenses for smoke inhalation....thank you gm for all the major safety issues with these suvs that Electronics Technology Electronic component
Motor vehicle Vehicle Engine Auto part Car
are a hazard to the public that can cause serious injury or death and a special thank you for not backing your product..If I wanted to get killed I would have. Gone back to Iraq. Again! . Motor vehicle Vehicle Engine Auto part Car
 
#16 ·
Leelabell1 said:
Not covered or backed by gm....this is what your escalade will look like. Not only that there was only one wire harness in the whole countr
y and the cost to fix...over $3000.00 if you are lucky enough to have a fire extinguisher close by when the fire starts...plus the tow bill and medical expenses for smoke inhalation....thank you gm for all the major safety issues with these suvs that <img src="http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=138298"/><img src="http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=138290"/>are a hazard to the public that can cause serious injury or death and a special thank you for not backing your product..If I wanted to get killed I would have. Gone back to Iraq. Again! .<img src="http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=138290"/>
Im covered..... State Farm, my deepest sympathy for your recent experiences
 
#19 · (Edited)
Dick Van ****'s Jaguar caught fire a few days ago. His burnt to a crisp. It can happen to any vehicle. Sorry about what happened but that is why insurance exists.

What is GM supposed to recall? Three are a few hundred thousand vehicles in service based off the current Tahoe/Escalade platform and it doesn't seem to be a widespread problem.
 
#25 ·
I would expect it to be reliable....it was certified with 75000 miles on it. My last car was a Honda pilot I purchased new drove it for well over 300000 miles never had a problem other then normal wear and tear. Did all regular maintaince. I have put over $20,000.00 of repairs into this car in one year. Don't tell me that this is normal. I have owned several business have had hundreds of cars and commercial trucks. This is a piece of shit. More then 1/2 the repairs were due to defects from the manufacturer. This has been verified by several mechanics even GM mechanics. Even the GM dealership said GM should have been responsible for some of the issues. And as far as insurance goes...that does not matter when you havE a health issue due to the fire. Especially when you have a previous issue from chemotherapy. There should not have been a fire period. This was caused by a defect, it could have caused severe injury or death and I am sure if anyone of any of your family members got trapped in any brand of vehicle and burned to death due to a manufacture defect you would feel it was ok because the vehicle had what you may consider high miles and had insurance. Some of you folks need some common sense......
 
#33 · (Edited)
My last car was a Honda pilot I purchased new drove it for well over 300000 miles never had a problem other then normal wear and tear. Did all regular maintaince. I have put over $20,000.00 of repairs into this car in one year. Don't tell me that this is normal. I have owned several business have had hundreds of cars and commercial trucks......
I own a 2003 Honda pilot exlres as well and have 209k miles on it. like you I bought it new and it is 10 years and 4 months. maintenance was synthetic oil from the very beginning and after 110k miles use Mobil 1 extended performance and even extended the oil change interval to 15k miles. it's a good thing I bought hondacare to fix the lock actuators(4), emission fix causing CEL light to light at 80k miles(past warranty), leather wrinkling and both rear tail light lens pop-out which Honda doesn't want to replace. other issues like tranny shudder, strict regular VTM fluid change or else it will fail(common issue), drive shaft boot leaks and all shocks shot at 100k miles which is part of maintenance past warranty. I still have it even if it only give 13-14mpg city and 17-19mpg hwy.

So, unlike you I bought my 2009(best year) escalade hybrid new and has exceeded my expectations. it is close to beating my pilot. it currently have 130k miles and going and still have its new car smell. leather is perfect. issues=none. 18mpg city and up to 25mpg hwy, 20mpg hwy if driving between 70-80mph. engine oil changed only with mobil 1 extended performance as well since break-in oil. it's my DD and gives confidence in my travels due to its onstar directions.

75,000 miles of previous ownership by first owner can lead to trouble. the fuse block you are showing was probably used as a fuse tap and since it is ON all the time the wires could have melted. that's why there was no telltale signs.
 
#27 ·
Funny you say lighter fuse. I worked for GM a while ago and came across this like 3-4 times. Although the customer was a heavy smoker and decided to change out the 15amp fuse with a 25 amp. Why? Fuse kept blowing and needed his nicotine lol. They warranted it the second time it happened. After the third time I had to throw him under and mention the fuse amperage. Same process though, dash came out and main fuse block. No issues with safety after a harness getting replaced. Just a case of burnt wire smell.
 
#31 ·
Exactly, not only that but they cover the person and medical expenses in the event of an accident or situation unless the vehicle wasn't fully insured and there wasn't a personal injury/medical liability option in place. Was a police report filed? Insurance contacted? Did you go to the hospital or seek treatment from a physician? These should all be documented and sent to your insurance since these are the things they need as they are your insurer. I think the majority of the people on here are trying to help figure out your situation to get things resolved on your end as well as learn more from the incident than jumping into the GM criticism discussion the OP is expecting.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top