CessnaDriver

I looked and didn't find this story straight away.
So if it's a repost sorry.

San Diego
Local Family Wins Suit Against GM Over Faulty Car Part
Boekamp Family Says Faulty Part In 2005 Corvette Sparked Fire That Destroyed Home

http://www.10news.com/news/30799836/detail.html



In addition to their home, the Boekamps lost their 2005 Corvette and a classic 1962 Corvette in the January 16, 2010, fire.

According to the lawsuit filed by the family, a faulty telescoping steering column in Patti Boekamp's 2005 Corvette is what sparked the fire.

-------------------


So was this the connectors that would pull apart?

CessnaDriver

Sooooo,

Anyone can think of specfic details on what could cause a fire in the steering column?
Sounds like a rare instance, but given most of us park in garages.... sort of peaks my interests if there is something I need to be checking.

acarroll7715

I'm skeptical. How could they narrow it down to a faulty telescopic wheel if the car was burned to the ground?

These people were probably in debt and needed to find some way out. Most likely fraud.....

Never-Enough

So they decided to burn their own house down along w/everything they own including things you cannot replace? C'mon.

Black LS2

Chevrolet did eventually issue a recall on that connector (See Active Handling issues in 05 with power telescoping). The fix was for them to insert a comb like part in the connector to keep pressure on the internal parts of the connector so that it stayed connected. I would think that is probably a low voltage / logic level issue though.

I am suspect of the ignition switch in my 05 under a post-drive RAP powerdown. The one time I had DBS, was after a RAP shut down, and it acted weird. My switch was warmer than normal to the touch. I suspect the 05 switches were subsequently either updated mechanically, or there was a software redo in the ECM, BCM, or PCM. Only 05’s seem to have “DBS”

Badness430

People in debt do it all the time. Not saying that is what happened here, but people burn down stuff all the time for the insurance.

VERTBLK

A little hard on the poor guy aren't we???

2000 Vette Guy

One more reason to add a heat detector that is tied into the smoke alarm system. That would have sounded the alarm very early. They are lucky they made it out.

brooklync5

Thats a pretty stupid comment. Why make this home.owner out to bebthe bad guy? Im sure that if they were awarded upwards of 3 mil a proper investigation was done. Also have you ever had your steering column lock up? From all the years of driving corvettes nothing was scarier then when i was driving my cousins coupe at around 60 MPH and the column locked up. There is no excuse for chevy to even have a problem like this.

LS WON

I'm glad I didn't order that option when I ordered my car.

andy82

Yup, poor guy with a 5300 quare feet home and two vettes and who knows what other vehicles outside - very poor!

Top_Fuel

Reminds me of Ford's brake switch fire problem from a few years ago...