A dad-of-two told how his car suddenly burst into flames while parked on the driveway of his home.
Andy Winrow, his wife, and two children - Aidan (nine) and Isaac (12) - were all asleep in their beds at their Walton home when their neighbours raised the alarm that their Vauxhall Mokka was ablaze.
The family managed to escape the house and waited for police and fire service to attend.
The fire in the early hours of January 3 left the front of the car completely burnt out, as well as causing severe damage to the driveway and fence panels.
A spokesperson for Vauxhall said they were unable to establish the cause of the fire.
They added that any number of factors can cause a vehicle fire from poor maintenance to external influences.
Mr Winrow, 52, said: "There were huge flames and we were lucky we managed to escape unharmed."
He said a fire service report attributed the cause of the fire to an electrical fault with the car, which they bought from car dealership Lookers in St Helens in October.
However, despite contacting Vauxhall a number of times - including writing to Stephen Norman, the MD of Vauxhall Motors - Mr Winrow says the car giant is refusing to admit there was any fault with the car and subsequently do not accept liability.
It means the Winrows have lost the £2,800 deposit they paid for the car under the PCP finance scheme, where the car is leased for a number of years before it is either returned to the dealers or bought outright.
Mr Winrow said: "I was waiting for Vauxhall's insurers to examine the car, but instead they contacted me to say the car had been crushed before an investigation had taken place. That meant they had no way of finding out how the car went on fire."
A spokesperson for Vauxhall Motors said: "Firstly, we are sorry to hear of the incident concerning Mr and Mrs Winrow's vehicle.
"Vauxhall Motors’ Customer Care team was first contacted by Mrs Winrow on January 27. They gathered information about the incident, before contacting the customer’s insurer, whose agent had possession of the car, on February 4 to arrange an inspection.
"We were told that the vehicle had been crushed on February 3, and therefore an inspection was not possible. Clearly, without being able to inspect the vehicle, we were unable to establish the cause of the fire.
"It should be noted that any number of factors can cause a vehicle fire, such as poor maintenance, or other external influences."
A spokesperson for Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service confirmed their investigation report concluded the cause of the fire was "accidental ignition due to an electrical fault."
