2012 Buick Lacrosse: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Oct 21, 2022 · Electrical · NJ · fire

I was driving the LaCrosse in my neighborhood. A few minutes into the trip, I noticed a burning kind of smell. Then I saw smoke coming from the left side under the hood. I pulled over to the side of the road and exited the car to check, but the smoke quickly got worse and became flames. I then called 911.The police and fire department responded, and they were able to extinguish the fire. However, the front part of the car including the hood area and the passenger compartment was completely burned. It was a clear and mild summer day. And the car was travelling at relatively low speed on a local street, nothing unusual until the car suddenly started to smell, smoke, and burn. From the first burning smell to the car fire it took only a few minutes. The fire department investigation report states that the origin of the fire was "Left front of the engine compartment behind the left headlight and before the battery", and " the most likely cause was an electrical failure." I am the original owner of the car. It had been regularly maintained. The car had about 87,750 miles. It had not been involved in any accident.

Filed Jul 13, 2021 · Electrical · TX

A message popped up on my dash that said service charging system right before it died and I haven't been able to get it running since cause the 12v battery keeps draining and when I charge the battery separately then reinstall it and start the vehicle I can smell something burning from an unknown place

Filed May 3, 2019 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 158,000 miles · NC

Takata recall. As I was driving on the highway my vehicle slowed down on its own in the midst of 70 MPH traffic and as I pushed on brakes my vehicle jerked. When I tried to speed back up my car slowly accelerated. I was terrified when it slowed down because the car behind me almost hit me. My car is now give me a warning sign 'stabilize track assist' but I had my breaks check and they were fine. Now I start to smell a burning smell sometimes when I'm driving

Filed Jan 11, 2016 · Engine · 55,000 miles · OH

I noticed a few wet spots under the vehicle, but I couldn't establish where it was coming from. On 25/nov/2015 while I was driving, the vehicle's temperature gauge suddenly went up, followed by "engine overheat" message and alarm. I was on a long bridge in a construction area, and I was forced to stop on the side in a very dangerous location. I had the vehicle towed to a repair shop where it was discovered that there was absolutely no coolant remaining. The shop mechanic added more coolant with a dye and let it run in order to find out where it was leaking from. There was no leak at all. I was told to drive home and come back the next day for a check. I went back the next day, and there was no sign of leakage. After about 1 week I started noticing the wet spots on the the ground again. This time I took it to the buick dealer, and they couldn't find any sign of leaking coolant. I checked on the web and realized that this is a common problem with buicks. Many owners have expressed their frustration with coolant leaks whose course could not be established. I am now stuck with a vehicle that could literally go up in flames any momment. I believe that this is a potential design issue that should be established.

Filed Mar 17, 2015 · Brakes · 20,008 miles · OK · fire

I purchased this car from another car dealer in early july 2014 with 19,000 miles. I noticed that the vehicle seemed to be sluggish on acceleration. I first thought it was the electronic parking brake not releasing. After doing some research I found another case where some else had their car in for the same issue. They said it was the brake pedal bushing not allowing the pedal to disengage the brakes once they were applied. I was told to drive to the dealer even though I told them it was unsafe. By the time my wife drove the car in the brakes were about to caught fire because they were not releasing. They replaced the bushing and turned the rotors that should have been replaced. I am taking it back into the dealership for warred rotor would be my best guess; this is a fire hazard waiting to happen. There was no fire but if she would have driven another 10 miles the brakes would have been on fire. I arrived at the dealership twenty minutes after my wife and the brakes were very hot and smelled the same. I checked yes on fire because there would have been one shortly.