Citroen C5 VTR 160 HDi fuse box spontanously melted

[xantia_v6]

My guess is that the BSI and ECU are probably not damaged, but the dealer and Citroen are estimating that they are - just to be 'safe'. Replacing them as a set also eliminates any issues with them being correctly coded to work with each other.

The initial failure seems likely to have been a high resistance soldered joint or a faulty connector pin in the fuse box, which has overheated under normal loads. If the current had been abnormally high, there should have been a fuse blow to protect the wiring. There is also no visible evidence of burnt wiring outside the fusebox.

It is possible that the BSI or ECU have been damaged by a secondary fault, but that would seem to be a low probability, and again, they should have been protected by fuses and internal current limiting circuits.

If you can locate a (very) similar car being scrapped and obtain the ECUs and harnesses, the parts cost would be an order of magnitude lower.

Your problem is eventually going to be either finding someone to fix the car using second-hand parts, or finding a way to maximise your value when disposing of the car (which may amount to the same problem).

[jgra1]

Please don't forget me I have the engine harness for a 160 waiting for someone to use it and I am skint !

[bobins]

Interesting piece on Watchdog BBC1 tonight about BMWs catching fire and BMW trying to fob off the owners by telling them it's up to the insurance company to deal with the problem. There were two main causes of fires - electrical connections in the blower / air conditioning circuit and..... you'll never guess this one.... a dodgy main feed wiring connector in the fusebox which causes the fusebox to catch fire. Wonder who originally made the components ? BMW have eventually conceded they'll have to recall 300,000 UK cars to check them out.
More details: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44050686
It would seem it took a death, a bit of public exposure, and a bit of a b*ll*cking from the inquest / courts before BMW extended their recall in the UK

[Hell Razor5543]

It is not unusual for it to take a death before manufacturers acknowledge they had a responsibility to their customers. I recall when there was a design flaw with the bonnet catch on the Renault Clio (I think it was the Clio). Over time it would rust, and, eventually, fail. As the catch mechanism was on one plate (although it was the two latch system) it was not unheard of for the bonnet to pop up when the car was at speed (as the wind resistance would help lift it). Renault tried to fob people off with the excuse that the customers had not been properly maintaining the car (saying something like "the catch needed to be greased regularly"). Eventually somebody (in South Africa, if my memory is correct) was killed when the bonnet flipped up at speed, and they came off the road. I cannot recall the details, but I think Watchdog got involved, and Renault finally conceded they had to do something properly.

[Gibbo2286]

I saw that Watchdog piece and thought our Sezza maybe ought to contact them with her story, I'd guess that the offending parts are made by the same company Bosch, Seimens, Valeo.

[Sezza]

.. I saw the Watchdog report, and thought 'well BMW no accept responsibility for older cars! But there again they have had a lot of incidents.

Anyway, *** NEWSFLASH *** the insurers have offered to pay out! But not what I was expecting based on the independant asessment valuation I had - about £1,000 less!

Without going too much into their silly reasons (which are that as the car obviously had a fault, they can't pay out dealer valuations as it obviously wasn't that good a car?!!!)

When pushed they decided that their valuation was based on the mid-value of Glasses (£6460) and that from the CAP guide. Now by my reckonihg to average the value at £5468 which was what they finally said when challenged, that means the CAP guide must have been something like £4460 ........ So my Q? is does anyone have access to a CAP guide?

LB62 NWR with 85000 miles and no other damage (although my engineer did mention it needed a good valet - the joys of carrying dogs in a car in winter LOL)

It just seems strange that two industry standard guides can offer such disparate values

Sarah

[Gibbo2286]

CAP guide was never a true guide to values, always second choice to Glasses.

There is an online guide that's as close as you'll get to accurate by HPI, they give three different values depending on the deal.

https://hpivaluations.com/

[GiveMeABreak]

Sarah, I’m really pleased that you are getting something for it. Not what you expected, but better than the alternative. At least that gives you a bit of breathing room to decide what you are going to do.

[Sezza]

... having written this I then had a message to call back the insurers, and when I got back to them they said they had forgotten to mention the £650 odd that the dealers were going to be charging for storage!!!!!

So another battle now ongoing! Insurers will accept storage from the 3/5/18 when I re-activated the claim when submitting my assessment, but say I am responsible for the preceding 30 days or so!

So now challenging insurers saying it is their fault that things took so long as I was challenging the claim, and as the car not secure, then it had to stay in secure storage, so not my fault! That point being taken to a Team Leader at insurers. As a 2nd line, also challenging the dealers to say again not my fault that car in for so long whilst we challenged Citroen. My view too with dealers is that whilst the car was in their locked storage, they had plenty of room and it wasn't costing them anything in loss of revenue or whatever, so not fair.

Hey-ho ......

But as you say, great that at least an offer of some sort on the table!

P.S. Garage checked CAP valuations and they are dramatically lower than Glasses, so if that formula of mid-price between Glasses and CAP an industry norm, then yes it is about right ......

[Gibbo2286]

... having written this I then had a message to call back the insurers, and when I got back to them they said they had forgotten to mention the £650 odd that the dealers were going to be charging for storage!!!!!

So another battle now ongoing! Insurers will accept storage from the 3/5/18 when I re-activated the claim when submitting my assessment, but say I am responsible for the preceding 30 days or so!

So now challenging insurers saying it is their fault that things took so long as I was challenging the claim, and as the car not secure, then it had to stay in secure storage, so not my fault! That point being taken to a Team Leader at insurers. As a 2nd line, also challenging the dealers to say again not my fault that car in for so long whilst we challenged Citroen. My view too with dealers is that whilst the car was in their locked storage, they had plenty of room and it wasn't costing them anything in loss of revenue or whatever, so not fair.

Hey-ho ......

But as you say, great that at least an offer of some sort on the table!

P.S. Garage checked CAP valuations and they are dramatically lower than Glasses, so if that formula of mid-price between Glasses and CAP an industry norm, then yes it is about right ......

That will depend on the dealer's terms and conditions, they can't charge for storage if you were not informed that there would be a charge.

[jgra1]

Good news there is something on the table Sarah. I wonder if you can buy it back from them at the end ....

[Sezza]

Good news there is something on the table Sarah. I wonder if you can buy it back from them at the end ....

I can buy it back - offering it back at 30% of the settlement value i.e. about £1700 ....... But for me probably not the best option as I just don't have the knowledge / contacts to get it fixed

[Hell Razor5543]

You probably do (indirectly, at least) have the contacts, as there are people here on the forum who will be able to suggest/recommend garages who will be able to properly repair the vehicle;

viewforum.php?f=15

[Stickyfinger]

A good auto electrician should be able to do that without many problems. Using this forum all the information should be able to be supplied.

[Sezza]

OK - so it's final decision time .......

I've argued black and blue with the insurers about the valuation as with the valuation given I just can't replace the car. I searched the internet yesterday, and the only comparable (same model / age / mileage - although with a slightly better spec) car was being offered at £8,000. Now even with some negotiation, that is likely to be a car being sold for about £7,500 so my settlement of £5300 won't help! The next two similar cars - same model and spec did have lower mileage than mine BUT were two years older - and they were both priced at £6500 - so still not there. So seems that the premise of being able to replace your car with like-for-like goes out of the window for me on this occasion

We have however sorted out the storage issue, with the dealer agreeing that they will only charge storage from the 3/5/18 when the claim re-activated with the insurers, and therefore the insurers will pay that and I won't have to pay any charges (they were threatening me with storage of £690!).

So, do I just accept the settlement and get on with my life with an older car as one like mine isn't available for the money OR do I go down the repair route which has it's own associated risks. Is it realistic that I will be able to repair the car well for about £3000 (the amount they will pay if I keep the car less the storage which I will then be liable for)?

I appreciate there are no certainties, but seems that it is only via the repair route that I *might* be able to get the sort of vehicle I was used to?

Sarah