A family were left in shock after their Vauxhall car suddenly blew up in the middle of the night.
Dad-of-two Andy Winrow says the vehicle burst into the flames while parked on his driveway as he, his wife, and children Aidan, nine, and Isaac, 12, were fast asleep in their home in Walton, Liverpool.
But the car giant is refusing to admit fault, leaving the family £2,800 out of pocket, the Liverpool Echo reports.
The fire, in the early hours of January 3, left the Vauxhall Mokka's front completely burnt out and caused severe damage to the Mr Winrow's driveway and fence panels.
Thankfully, the family escaped their house as "huge flames" raged.
Describing the scene, Mr Winrow, 52, said: "There were huge flames and we were lucky we managed to escape unharmed."
A fire service report has attributed the cause of fire to an electrical fault with the car, which they bought from Lookers dealership in St Helens in October.
But despite contacting Vauxhall Motors multiple times - including writing to MD Stephen Norman - Mr Winrow says the company will not accept liability because the burnt-out vehicle was crushed before the accident's cause could be investigated.
"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," he continued.
As a result, the Winrows have lost the £2,800 deposit they paid for the Mokka under the PCP finance scheme, where cars are leased for a number of years before being returned to the dealers or bought outright.
A spokesperson for Vauxhall says they are unable to establish the fire's cause and that any number of factors can be responsible - from poor maintenance to external influences.
"Firstly, we are sorry to hear of the incident concerning Mr and Mrs Winrow's vehicle," they said.
"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 has confirmed their investigation concludes the cause of the fire was "accidental ignition due to an electrical fault."
