KIA Sportage rented from Thrifty explodes outside man’s office

A man has issued a plea for drivers to check their cars after his rented Kia Sportage blew up outside his Nunawading office. The fire, which destroyed another car, was caught on camera.

A Kia Sportage rental car has exploded into flames outside a man’s Nunawading office, destroying a colleague’s car and damaging the building.

The cause of the blast is still unknown but rental company Thrifty told renter Tim Bryant they suspect it was a fault in the engine hub or battery.

In October last year Hyundai and KIA stumped up $US760m to settle a class-action lawsuit in America over vehicle engine fires, including one in a Sportage.

And in March Korean manufacturers Hyundai and Kia expanded a safety recall in the United States over concerns of engine fires across several older-generation model lines, with more than 2.3 million cars recalled since 2015.

Tim Bryant was renting a KIA Sportage from Thrifty when it exploded outside his workplace.

The fire ripped the car’s engine to shreds.

Mr Bryant said Thrifty offered to waive his insurance excess of $4000 but haven’t offered any compensation. His colleague’s car, a Mini Cooper, was worth about $55,000.

He decided to speak out about the frightening incident because he feared it happening to someone else.

“My number one concern is for people to check their cars and make sure they are safe and that no parts have been recalled,” he said.

“If this happens again, if (one) blows up again, and I haven’t said anything, I would live with that emotional scarring forever.”

The KIA Sportage was completely gutted by the fire.

The damage to the front two seats of the vehicle was frightening.

Mr Byrant, a marketing executive, was in his office on November 19 when he heard a bang, but thought nothing of it until he saw firefighters sprinting to the rear of the building.

He went to see what the commotion was about and firstly noticed smoke in the air before he thought, “s**t, that’s my car”.

The KIA Sportage was engulfed in fire and shrapnel had hit his colleague’s Mini parked next to it, setting it alight too.

The explosion damaged and scorched the wall of his office building.

“I could have been in the car when it happened, I could have been gone,” Mr Bryant said.

The father of two immediately reported the incident to Thrifty.

Mr Bryant said Thrifty launched an investigation into the cause of the explosion, but after nearly three months it was still inconclusive.

Mr Bryant said all he got from Thrifty was the waiving of his $4000 excess.

“I drove it to work in the morning and then took it out to get lunch, so it had been stationary for about three hours when it exploded,” he said.

“I had only had it for four or five days and it had only done about 7000km, so it wasn’t an old car.”

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A Kia executive told the Leader that until Thrifty reported the incident it was an insurance matter for the car rental company.

He said they had only encountered one other similar case in Victoria, but believed the KIA Sportage in that incident had been “overused” by the previous owners.

Thrifty was contacted for comment.