Vehicle catches on fire due to oil leak. Manufacturer designed inherent flaws.
Toyota Previa fire or smoke problems
13 of the 223 owner complaints about the Toyota Previa describe fire, smoke or burning smell, most of them for the 1991 model year.
- owner complaints
- 13
- worst model year
- 1991
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
What owners say
I have a 1991 toyota previa le. The distributor o-ring and valve cover gaskets were leaking oil, and they leak right onto the hot exhaust manifold. I repaired these problems, and all is well, however, I have since seen many instances in various forums online where this has happened to others, and has resulted in a major vehicle fire. I believe the word needs to be spread to other owners of this vehicle to check for this problem before it is too late. It is a serious problem, caused by the drying out and cracking of rubber seals. I did, in fact, have flames when I noticed it, but I was able to extinguish the fire before any damage was done. Please spread the word.
While starting up our 1993 toyota previa, the radio amplifier under the glove compartment caught on fire. The ignition was turned off, and the fire stopped. Smoke odors from the fire still persist, and the amplifier was removed. The circuit board near one output transistor was badly burned, and the amplifier is not repairable. It appears that the glue used to attach the large capacitors has migrated on the circuit board and may have caused the short. No new part has been found as yet.
1991 toyota previa and driver noticed a burning smell. Driver pulled over where his vehicle caught fire and was totaled. *kb ohio traffic crash report # 10-90-0947.
Tl*the contact owns a 1995 toyota previa. The contact smelled something burning after she parked the vehicle. She attempted to shut off the vehicle but was unsuccessful. Smoke began to rise from underneath the hood. When the smoke cleared, the vehicle's engine failed to restart. The engine size was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 140,000.
While filling up car, consumer set back in the car until was finished pumping gas. Got out and left hand touched side of car, and consumer got a static polk. Then consumer looked at gas handle and it was on fire as the gas was pumping. Consumer screamed to daughter to get out of the car. Then screamed for help. Service manager removed the nasal and fire was inside of the gas seal and tank. Consumer said that she received a shock in the car just before the fire, like an elctricity shock. Consumer always gets shocked by the car.
Radio caught fire destroying vehicle, recall on radio prior to incident, however consumer did not receive a notice.
When starting the van, the amplifier caught on fire under the glove compartment area. The problem has not been corrected.
Car was parked overnight and caught on fire due to an electrical short in the radio. Car was totaled. There is a recall on the radio. Consumer was not notified of this recall. Manufacturer will be contacted. 93v‑147.
Upon unscrewing pressure vacuum filler cap, flames spewed from filler neck, caused burning of paint around filler neck, fire extinquished itself.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Toyota Previa fire or smoke
Which Toyota Previa years have fire, smoke or burning smell problems?
The model years with the most reports are 1991 (5 complaints), 1993 (5 complaints) and 1992 (1 complaints).
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