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Ms. Fang in Zhuhai reflected to the media that the Peugeot car she had just bought for more than a year caught fire without starting. Afterwards, the fire department, Dongfeng Peugeot manufacturers and third-party identification agencies issued identification reports on the cause of the car fire one after another, but there were different opinions from all parties, which made Ms. Fang feel helpless.

According to Ms. Fang, her Peugeot 408 was bought at Zhuhai Haibiao Trading Co., Ltd. in September 2018. On the evening of November 3, 2019, the Peugeot 408 burst into flames, and the fire department came to the scene to put out the fire. Ms. Fang said that the car was still in the warranty period when it caught fire, maintenance was also carried out in the 4S store, and there was no modification. The car was parked in an open area at the time of the accident, and there were no combustibles nearby. It is suspected that the fire was caused by problems with the car itself.

On December 20, 2019, the Tanzhou Brigade of Zhongshan Fire Rescue Detachment issued a fire accident identification certificate, which showed that "the site of the fire is the front of the car." the causes of the fire exclude lightning strike, artificial arson, foreign flying fire, power equipment failure and smoldering spontaneous combustion, etc.; do not rule out the possibility of remaining fire and electrical circuits.

After the accident, Dongfeng Peugeot manufacturers also identified the cause of the fire in Ms. Fang's car, but the result was completely different from that of the fire brigade. On January 6, 2020, Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Motor sales Co., Ltd. issued a statement on the cause of the fire in Ms. Fang's car. The note pointed out that "rule out the possibility of a fire caused by igniting combustibles in a hot exhaust pipe" and "rule out the possibility of being ignited after an oil leak" and "rule out the possibility of fire due to short circuit in the engine cabin and abnormal heating of electrical appliances". To sum up, it is considered that "the vehicle fire is not caused by the product quality".

In addition, the third-party appraisal agency also gave a certificate of identification of the cause of the vehicle fire. On June 10, 2020, Guangdong Zhenhua Trace Judicial Identification Institute issued a judicial identification certificate on the cause of the fire in Ms. Fang's car, which pointed out that "combustion spread around from the left side of the engine cabin." the cause of the fire was identified as "the battery on the left side of the engine cabin caused internal failure due to aging and other factors, resulting in overall overheating combustion, resulting in fire."

The completely different identification results made Ms. Fang a little helpless. Ms. Fang said that the third-party appraisal agency believes that the fire was caused by the internal fault of the car, but Peugeot manufacturers believe that there is no quality problem with the vehicle, so what is the cause of the fire?

On September 22, the media contacted the car sales company, and the other side said that the manufacturer's technical appraisal results showed that the car fire was not caused by product quality. at present, there was no room for negotiation between the two sides, and car owners were advised to solve the problem through legal means.

Some legal personages believe that the combination of the fire accident identification certificate of the fire department and the appraisal opinion of the third-party appraisal organization can prove that the fire may be caused by the fault of the car itself. these two materials can be used as a reference basis or even direct evidence to determine the cause of the accident. In this case, Dongfeng Peugeot manufacturers and 4S stores are required to provide sufficient evidence material to overturn the appraisal results of third-party agencies, otherwise they may bear the corresponding legal liability.

In addition, the legal personage also reminded consumers that when they encounter the problem of car spontaneous combustion, they should pay attention to collecting relevant evidence materials and reflect them to 4S stores and manufacturers in a timely manner, and when they encounter problems such as fruitless negotiation and protection of rights, promptly request the consumers' Association to intervene in mediation, reflect to the market regulatory authorities or safeguard their legitimate rights and interests through legal proceedings.

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