Thanks for taking interest in this case, here are more details for you both.
In reply to Steve Q,
We had a wait of about 8 weeks while the insurance company and Audi UK took the car away for a fire investigation. I had requested a claim on the (luckily extended) vehicle warranty on the basis that the car was faulty. The CCTV was shared with all parties and raised further questions over why the car just very slowly started to smoke and burn without any intervention from an arsonist or suchlike. Understandably both Audi UK and the insurance company were concerned over the recent visit to the service centre. The service centre were quick to distance themselves from the incident and took the defence that they work on hundreds of Audi’s each year and this sort of thing just doesn’t happen, perfectly understandable defence in my opinion. After the investigation returned a conclusion that there was no clear indication of a vehicle fault or fault of the service centre the insurance company paid-out promptly and we replaced the car with the same make and model.
In reply to Magnet
You are not the only one to question my thinking on this. When I look at all the information I just go round and round thinking what on earth could have gone on as no one theory has any solid evidence to back up what happened. We have just settled on what we think is the “most likely” explanation.
The focus on the starter/alternator was initially driven by the recall notice R/2020/265 that affected this vehicle. The paperwork indicated that the unit had be replaced as required by the recall and we have to assume the work was done as stated in 2020. There doesn’t seem to be any benefit from service centres risking reputations by stamping off work done but not actually replacing faulty parts. If you research this recall you will see that Audi had some instances of this exact fire event happening and were advising Audi owners not to park their cars in underground car parks or near to buildings due to risk of fire. This is why I remain convinced of an electrical fault starting the fire.
The cause being attributed to the subzero weather conditions is just a theory based on the reports of the faulty starter/alternator where the casing was cracking allowing water to enter the control PCB. I remain convinced that freeing water could have damaged a casing or cover in the same way as the in the instances that triggered the original recall notice.
You asked about the distance travelled from the service centre, this is at least 5 miles.
You mention about the location of the ECU, this is directly above the starter alternator, I have attached a picture, you can see the remains of the ECU handing on the wiring harness.
The theory of arson is understandably possible and has been the most common suggestion from the many people who I’ve spoken too but the lack of any third party appearing on the CCTV doesn’t back this up. Secondly if it was arson the person who did it decided to walk onto our driveway, set fire to the front end of the older of the two Audis parked on the driveway and pick the one with diesel in the tank not the 40litres of petrol in the newer Audi sat right next to it. Fortunately the newer car survived as I was able to drive it away before the fire really got dangerous. The fire crew who responded to the 999 call were of the opinion that it was not arson as they arrived to find all the windows intact and doors locked, they commented that it is not easy to start a fire on the front end of a modern car (especially a diesel) without significant amounts of accelerant. In a nod to the quality of the fire barrier in the bulkhead of the A6, other than water damage the interior of the car was virtually untouched. I even had items in the glove box that remained in perfect condition, amazing considering the heat in the engine compartment must have topped 400 degrees.
In every aspect of this case there is no logic to what happened, we have just tried to come to a logical “most likely” explanation. Perhaps in time someone else might pickup this webpage after a similar experience and shed further light on it.
