A COUPLE whose hire car unexpectedly caught fire within minutes while on holiday now want answers from the rental company – who they claim appeared “completely unbothered” by the frightening ordeal.
Jenna Willcox, 41, and her partner, Matt Jackson, 39, were driving near Killorglin, a small town in County Kerry, Ireland, when their rented Peugeot 3008 began to emit white smoke and a terrible smell.
Sensing a major issue, they quickly got out of the car and pulled most of their belongings out with them, including their suitcases.
Moments later, the car was completely engulfed in flames, leaving them stunned.
“It literally happened within minutes, we were sitting in traffic outside this little town and smoke started coming out of the bonnet,” said Jenna, speaking exclusively to Sun Motors.
“It was pouring out, it was the worst thing I’ve ever smelt. I don’t know what was on fire, but it smelled like hell.”
The couple ran up the road to a nearby petrol station, watching in shock as the car they’d been sitting in was reduced to a burnt-out husk.
“I keep thinking, if the lock hadn’t worked or if we hadn’t been able to get away in time.
“Luckily, people around us were able to drive away – but what if we’d been inside a tunnel or stuck in traffic?”
After the ordeal, the couple managed to get a bus back to their accommodation, expecting Enterprise, the company they’d hired the car from, to provide assistance – perhaps with an offer of compensation or a replacement car.
But Jenna says their response was slow and disorganised, with the company completely unprepared to manage the situation.
She claims they were passed around and transferred to a vehicle recovery company, despite there being “nothing to recover.”
“We literally spent the whole of the next day on the phone to Enterprise to get them to send us another vehicle – we thought the least they could do was send us another vehicle.”
After speaking to Jenna, Sun Motors reached out to Enterprise.
A spokesperson for the company said: “At Enterprise we aim to always deliver high-quality customer service.
“If incidents occur, we maintain consistent communication with the customer during and post-incident to provide ongoing support and keep them informed of progress.
“We believe that our actions in this case followed all necessary steps to resolve the situation.”
However, Jenna and Matt vehemently disagree with Enterprise’s assessment.
They claim that instead of offering immediate assistance, Enterprise told them they needed to return to the nearest outlet – some 100 miles away – despite the fact they no longer had a means of transport.
How to deal with a vehicle fire
If your car catches fire or emits smoke while driving, stop safely, evacuate all passengers and call emergency services.
Leave the vehicle quickly, as electrical systems might fail. Use an extinguisher on small external fires only if safe, but don’t put yourself at risk.
Avoid opening the bonnet as it could worsen the fire, move away from traffic lanes, stand behind barriers if possible and keep a safe distance due to risks like toxic fumes, tyre explosions, or flying parts.
Inform emergency services about the vehicle type and any flammable cargo, especially if it’s an electric vehicle, as these require special handling.
Most of all, prioritise your safety over saving the car.
It was only after failing to find a taxi and making several further phone calls, they claim, that an employee eventually drove a replacement car to them.
Enterprise disputes this claim, saying that it promptly offered transport to the customers.
“It seemed like they had absolutely no contingency plan in place,” added Jenna.
“Even if the car had broken down, you would think they’d have some sort of plan to bring us one.
“The whole thing with Enterprise, the whole way through, they were really bad at communication.
“They didn’t apologise or ask us how we were – they didn’t seem to care about any of that.”
Jenna and Matt continued to chase a response from Enterprise after the incident happened in September.
“Eventually, they got to the stage where they’re like, ‘Okay, we need to do an investigation into what happened.’
“But it was all from that perspective; what they were interested in was, was it our fault?”
Jenna says they never explained or shared any details about the evidence they had – pointing out it was impossible to figure out what caused the fire since the car was completely destroyed.
“At this point, we were terrified, like, what if they think it’s our fault? They could prosecute us or take us to court. There was no explanation or communication on what the consequences might be.”
Eventually, Enterprise concluded their investigation, finding that Jenna and Matt were not at fault.
However, much to the couple’s frustration, that was the end of the matter.
When they contacted the Ombudsman group European Car Rental Conciliation Service (ECRCS), they said they were told by Enterprise that there was a complex investigation ongoing involving many departments.
When the couple asked Enterprise about this directly, they claimed the company did not respond – which meant ECRCS said they were unable to act.
Eight months later, Zurich, Enterprise’s insurance company, finally offered them £600 in compensation, later increasing it to £900.
However, this failed to account for the ruined holiday, emotional distress and time spent resolving the issue.
“Sometimes when I drive home from work, it does go through my mind.
“You’ll sometimes get a weird smell, and you don’t know if it’s your car or someone else’s car, and it does go through my mind – what if it happens again?
“Before this fire, I would have just been like, ‘Don’t be ridiculous, a car can’t just catch on fire.’ But now I know that it does happen for no reason. That does go through my mind, which is pretty horrible.”
