'My new car caught fire just days after I bought it'

A woman has described the "terrifying" experience of her car's engine suddenly going up in flames as she drove home just days after she had bought it.

Sian Crooks said she had only driven the £9,000 Kia Stonic away from Motorzone Northwest in Blackpool 12 days earlier.

The 29-year-old told how the car lost power and came to a stop before the engine was "engulfed" in smoke and fire.

The garage has not responded to requests for a comment but manufacturer Kia said: "We treat events such as this with the utmost importance."

Sian said she bought the car with six months warranty and on the day of collection was told there was an known issue with the parking sensors that the garage said they would repair.

It was within its seven-year manufacturer warranty and had done 53,000 miles.

Sian said she had been driving the vehicle with no problems until, when she was driving home from visiting her grandmother, "I lost all power".

"About 20 seconds after that, my amber engine warning light came on, and within 30 seconds, the car ran out of power completely, stopped, and the engine was on fire," she said.

"Everything filled with black smoke and the engine just went up.

"I was in the middle of the road but fortunately it wasn't busy, so I just pulled off on to the side road.

"I was terrified, I had to get my mum to come out of work, I was crying to her on the phone."

Sian, from Workington in Cumbria, said her 19-week-old puppy, Bowie, was also in the car, but both were unhurt.

Afterwards, the bus driver said she contacted the garage on Palmer Avenue where she bought the Kia and is liaising with her insurance company.

But the matter is yet to be resolved, she said.

"It's sat in in the recovery yard because nobody's been out to it since the fire brigade put out the fire," she said.

"Obviously, I need a resolution.

"There has been no investigation as to what happened.

"Everyone's expecting me to foot the bill for the car that blew up 12 days after I bought it."

Kia said: "As this is an ongoing case, we are unable to comment on the cause of the incident.

"We can confirm there are no recalls applicable to the vehicle or the Stonic model.

"The vehicle was purchased outside of the Kia dealer network and therefore we have limited information about its history.

"We treat events such as this with the utmost importance and we are working with the vehicle owner to obtain a full account of the situation, as well as the vehicle's servicing and repair paperwork."

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