I owned until last night a 2000 Dodge Stratus, well now I am another fire victim I guess. Car was parked had ignition in the aux position to listen to music while I was cleaning up our storage area. Got into car to start it up and boom. First heard a pop followed by immediate engulfing fire under hood engine compartment. Whole thing burnt to the ground in less than five minutes. I have pictures if you need them. Thanks terri

- Elkton, VA, USA

My Dodge Stratus 2000, 65,071 mileage, caught fire in the engine compartment. Everything under the hood "melted." The fire did not reach the inside compartment of the car. The firefighters were speedy at putting out the fire. There was smoke coming out from under the hood after about 10 min. Of driving. And a burning smell which I thought was engine oil. I took it to a Dodge dealer for repair. They replaced the transmission pan, the valve cover gasket, spark plugs and belts. The car continued to smoke and, as I told my husband, I thought there was like sooty ashes being deposited on top of the hood. I assumed it was burning off the old oil that had spilled on the engine. After two days of driving I called the Dodge dealer in the morning when I confirmed that the car was still leaking transmission fluid and oil and still smoking. They said to bring it back on Monday. I went home that evening, picked up one child from day care and then we both went to pick up another child from her after-school place. We walked out about 12 minutes later and half the street was engulfed in thick smoke. I could see fire under the front of the car. We ran back in and called the fire dept. My insurance investigators could not determine the source of the fire because everything was melted in the engine compartment. They totaled the car. The dealer said leaking oil does not cause fires. They believed it was electrical.

- Denver, CO, USA

: the contact stated while exiting the interstate white smoke came from under the hood and engine compartment. Although the temperature gauge remained at a normal level the smoke persisted and the contact continued to drive home. Once pulled over the hood was opened and flames shot out of the engine. The contact closed the hood. The fire department came, but the closed hood already extinguished the fire. A fire report was taken, but did not identify a source of ignition. The vehicle was towed to a dealer. The dealer did not replace the engine, but repaired the parts of the engine that were damaged by the fire. Over a year later, under the same driving conditions, the contact noticed white smoke coming from the seam of the hood and fender. The contact immediately pulled over and called the fire department. The fire was extinguished and a report was filed, but again they were unable to identify the source of the fire. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The dealer did not replace the engine, but repaired the parts of the engine that were damaged by the fire. Afterwards, the engine started but the vehicle did not accelerate at a normal speed, and distributed a loud noise from the engine compartment.

- Tampa, FL, USA

Vehicle shut down. Consumer got out of the vehicle and saw there was a fire under the hood. Fire department arrived to put the fire out. Vehicle was totaled.

- Belva, WV, USA

After being in an accident head on there was not much damage to vehicle, soon after consumer got out of vehicle, it caught on fire. Contacted dealer, and the dealer was not willing to do anything. Consumer stated ABS failed.

- West Minister, MD, USA