‘No confirmed reports’ of fires in Corsa heating systems

But expert claims problems that plagued Zafiras evident in Corsas

Vauxhall said it has received “no confirmed reports” of fires starting in the heating and ventilation systems of some Corsa models after it was reported there may be a risk.

According to The Sun, analysis of a burnt-out Corsa D, a model introduced in 2006, found the fire had broken out “in the region of the heater system”.

An expert told the newspaper that heating problems which affected wiring in some Vauxhall Zafira models had also been detected in the Corsa’s heating and ventilation components.

The investigator said the Corsa model also appeared to have similar heater components to the Hummer H3, a 4x4 manufactured by parent company General Motors (GM), which suffered similar issues.

The Zafira B and the H3 were subject to recalls in the UK and the US after a series of vehicle fires were blamed on faulty wiring in the heating systems.

A Vauxhall spokesman said: “Vauxhall confirms there is a different vehicle heating and ventilation system configuration in Corsa D/E to the Hummer H3, inclusive of a different connector.

“This is why the risk assessment applied to the Hummer H3 cannot be applied to Corsa D/E.

“Vauxhall has no confirmed reports of vehicle fires originating in the vehicle heating and ventilation system of the Vauxhall Corsa D/E.”

The Sun commissioned research by GBB, an automotive forensic investigation firm, after several Corsa owners reported their cars had caught fire.

In a report, lead engineer Philip Hoyes said “resistive heating” associated with failure in the Zafira B “has also been identified in the heater wiring harnesses of Vauxhall Corsa D models”.

“A fire-damaged Corsa D, with a history of wiring harness damage, was examined to reveal an origin of fire in the region of the heater system,” the report also said.

“The wiring harness and the failure mode identified in Corsa D models appears similar to those of ... Hummer H3 where a risk of fire led to recalls in 2015.

“I recommend that Vauxhall consider that the resistive heating that affected the Hummer vehicles produced by its parent company General Motors is also occurring in its UK Corsa model.”

According to campaigners, more than 300 Zafiras have caught fire in recent years, leaving their occupants with just a few seconds to escape.

Picture: PA. The company has tried to pour water on the claims.