Insurers gun for Ford SA after EcoSports catch fire
ANOTHER Ford vehicle fire controversy is raging after two insurance brands confirmed they are planning to take legal action against the international carmaker.
This is after Auto & General and Dialdirect settled three claims from Ford EcoSport SUV owners whose cars burst into flames.
Auto & General and Dialdirect, both part of insurance giant Telesure, have dealt with two and one fire-related EcoSport claims respectively, from May and July last year, and the third last month.
They said Ford South Africa was informed of each incident.
“Our legal team is presently constructing a broad-based claim against Ford South Africa,” said Auto & General spokesman Martin van Wyk. “Our sister company, Dialdirect, has now followed suit.
“While at this point we cannot say if there is a direct cause or link to a manufacturer’s fault, we are investigating.”
But Ford South Africa claims it is only aware of the most recent case, that of Nomsa Dondashe’s EcoSport which went up in flames on the N2 outside East London six weeks ago.
“This is the first and only EcoSport-related claim that we have received,” said Ford South Africa spokesman Minesh Bhagaloo. “We have received two other claims from Auto & General, but these relate to the Kuga 1.6 EcoBoost. We suspect that EcoSport and EcoBoost terminology may be getting crossed in the references to the three EcoSport claims.”
But Telesure was adamant it was “not confused”. The three fire claims in question all related to EcoSport models, the company said, but involved different fuel and year models, and the circumstances surrounding the fires differed.
The EcoSport is a smaller, less expensive SUV than the Ford Kuga.
More than 4 500 Kuga 1.6 models were recalled in midJanuary after about 50 of them reportedly went up in flames. Investigations revealed that the fires were caused by overheating, which led to engine cylinder heads cracking and oil leaking.
Dondashe’s 2013 EcoSport 1.5 started burning on a drive back from Mthatha after an engine
Our legal team is constructing a claim against Ford South Africa
noise she had been complaining about to her dealership intensified.
She had reported the noise to Ford Assist during that February 18 road trip, but was told to contact a breakdown service, and instead chose to press on.
About 20km before she reached her home in East London, the driver of a passing car flagged her down and told her: “Lady, your car is burning.”
She and a passenger abandoned the EcoSport before it was engulfed in flames. The SUV was towed to a storage yard in East London.
Somila Dondashe, her daughter, complained this week that although Ford South Africa had given her a courtesy car, the company had not given the family feedback for weeks, despite assuring her mother she would be given feedback after an inspection of the burnt vehicle on March 3.
The Sunday Times queried the case with both the manufacturer and the insurer this week, and Auto & General finalised the claim a few days later.
Bhagaloo said both Ford’s and the insurer’s investigators had inspected Dondashe’s EcoSport “and together found evidence of mechanical failure. We believe it was due to the driver continuing to drive the vehicle after being advised not to do so.
“The owner confirmed hearing noise from the engine bay at the time of the failure, but continued driving.”