Lane DeNicola
Newish Member
Hi all, hope I'm posting this to the right spot!
Last May I leased a 2019 GT from a dealer in the metro Atlanta area. To date I've put less than 12k miles on it and have kept up with the servicing, including (about two months ago) getting the brake rotors replaced to deal with vibration during firm braking (thanks to the advice on this forum)! That was the most recent servicing I've had done, and never had any accidents, fender-benders, or mechanical issues beyond slight brake vibration. I'm not exactly a wizard on the thing's tech specs but have *loved* every mile I've put on it.
Tuesday of this week (4/14/20) I took a drive to pick up some groceries, under 8 miles roundtrip. Immediately on starting it up when I came out of the store I got a "check ECS" indication on the dash, something I hadn't seen previously. As I pulled out of the lot this was followed up by a "check tire pressure system" message. I took the first few turns on the route home wondering what the issue was, then got a chemical-y whiff of something. Within a minute I got a (much more catastrophic-looking) "ADVISE FULL ENGINE DIAGNOSTIC" warning on the central A/V touchscreen, and noticed visible vapor coming from the A/C vent. Suddenly the acceleration seemed severely dampened, so less than two miles from the store I pulled off on to the shoulder, turned it off, and popped the hood.
Some smoke was issuing from the rear passenger's side of the engine compartment. I waited for a few moments to see if it would dissipate, but instead the smoke turned into flames inside of a minute. I backed off a bit (having nothing handy to contend with a fire) and up it went!. Standing 50' to the thing's rear I dialed 911 on my cell and watched the flames leap around the opened hood. After a couple more minutes the horn went off, followed by a nasty chorus of other ungodly sounds from the engine compartment. The county fire department showed up to put it out, opening all four doors to vent the interior which was thick with dark smoke. Looking it over they observed the fire seemed to begin in the rear passenger's quarter of the engine compartment, where a fuse panel and much of the densest wiring reside. A call from an insurance appraiser this morning confirmed at least $20k worth of damage just in what he could see initially so they've totaled it. I got a few snapshots after all the real action was over, but no good ones of the engine compartment itself (looks like I can't post these as a new member).
Obviously I'm now doing a little poking around and seeing the NHTSA probe, the recall on the 2018 Stingers due to electrical harness fire risks, etc. However, I'm not seeing anything regarding similar problems with the 2019s. Anyone have anything additional on this? I'd love to stick with them but I'd be a little leery if this seemed to be a pattern. Any questions/advice are actively solicited!
Last May I leased a 2019 GT from a dealer in the metro Atlanta area. To date I've put less than 12k miles on it and have kept up with the servicing, including (about two months ago) getting the brake rotors replaced to deal with vibration during firm braking (thanks to the advice on this forum)! That was the most recent servicing I've had done, and never had any accidents, fender-benders, or mechanical issues beyond slight brake vibration. I'm not exactly a wizard on the thing's tech specs but have *loved* every mile I've put on it.
Tuesday of this week (4/14/20) I took a drive to pick up some groceries, under 8 miles roundtrip. Immediately on starting it up when I came out of the store I got a "check ECS" indication on the dash, something I hadn't seen previously. As I pulled out of the lot this was followed up by a "check tire pressure system" message. I took the first few turns on the route home wondering what the issue was, then got a chemical-y whiff of something. Within a minute I got a (much more catastrophic-looking) "ADVISE FULL ENGINE DIAGNOSTIC" warning on the central A/V touchscreen, and noticed visible vapor coming from the A/C vent. Suddenly the acceleration seemed severely dampened, so less than two miles from the store I pulled off on to the shoulder, turned it off, and popped the hood.
Some smoke was issuing from the rear passenger's side of the engine compartment. I waited for a few moments to see if it would dissipate, but instead the smoke turned into flames inside of a minute. I backed off a bit (having nothing handy to contend with a fire) and up it went!. Standing 50' to the thing's rear I dialed 911 on my cell and watched the flames leap around the opened hood. After a couple more minutes the horn went off, followed by a nasty chorus of other ungodly sounds from the engine compartment. The county fire department showed up to put it out, opening all four doors to vent the interior which was thick with dark smoke. Looking it over they observed the fire seemed to begin in the rear passenger's quarter of the engine compartment, where a fuse panel and much of the densest wiring reside. A call from an insurance appraiser this morning confirmed at least $20k worth of damage just in what he could see initially so they've totaled it. I got a few snapshots after all the real action was over, but no good ones of the engine compartment itself (looks like I can't post these as a new member).
Obviously I'm now doing a little poking around and seeing the NHTSA probe, the recall on the 2018 Stingers due to electrical harness fire risks, etc. However, I'm not seeing anything regarding similar problems with the 2019s. Anyone have anything additional on this? I'd love to stick with them but I'd be a little leery if this seemed to be a pattern. Any questions/advice are actively solicited!
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