What appears to be a spontaneous combustion of a car in Old Crewe Road this week has drawn attention to a crisis waiting to happen, according to one motor expert who says Hurricane Ivan and deception aplenty by sellers here are causing a major headache for motorists.

In September 2004, Hurricane Ivan devastated the Island, leaving homes and cars badly damaged. Twenty months later, the worst fears of registered car dealers and mechanics have been realised.

“Transmissions are now going bad on a lot of people because the water got into them and it has worked into the oils,” said Robert Campbell – owner and manager of Cars Unlimited/Campbell’s Auto.   

“Now it’s causing the clutches to go bad, so you start driving the vehicle and it doesn’t want to change gear and one day it doesn’t want to move.”

According to him, the cost of a transmission could range from $500 to $5,000, but it’s minor compared to what could happen.

“It only takes one vehicle driving down the road and its lower control arm breaks out, two kids riding a bicycle and they’re wiped out. One life is just too many.”

Mr Campbell urges motorists to have their cars checked.

“It’s going to get worse. When the rains start you’re going to see a lot more of the rusting showing up because of that extra moisture,” he said.

“We’re also finding out that brakes are seizing up. The vehicle can’t move because the callipers are rusted and they’re locked against the rotas.

Among the areas most affected are drive shafts, differentials, alternators, computers, power windows and others.    

“It’s not just electrical problems that we have seen - people have got to be aware of the Honda CRVs, we have seen many cases where the entire chassis has rotted to pieces.

“Salt water got inside the U-shaped chassis through the little holes on it and it sits there and eats from the inside out,” he said.   

Mr Campbell and other vehicle professionals predicted the crisis a few months after the passage of Hurricane Ivan, which forced the authorities to order that thousands of cars be placed in the dumpsite.

It has not only been talk coming from the dealers and their support staff but action had been taken to alert motorists and prospective car owners.

“We have tried to do a lot in the past to help people and educate them about the serious effects of the salt water.

“But people are now seeing what they call ‘deals’, good opportunities to buy cheap cars,” he said.
But deception seems to have set up in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, according to the car dealer. 
 
“We’re getting a lot of unknown deception – for example you would have bought a car from somebody who told you it didn’t go through the storm, so you sell me based on that knowledge.

“When someone inspects the vehicle for me they realise that this thing went through Ivan but you’re under the misconception that it wasn’t, because the person who sold it to you deceived you and you unknowingly deceived me.”    

With close to 20 years in car dealership and experience as a mechanic, Mr Campbell knows too well the intricacies missed by the lay person who he said thinks a car is all right once it starts. 

“A lot people don’t realise that most cars have a direct current to the starter, there’s no fuse, and vehicles are designed to have a fuse like your house with a circuit breaker, if there’s a fault somewhere it trips so that it doesn’t catch fire.

“The current that goes straight to the starter is direct, no fuse there, so when the starter short circuits because of the salt corrosion the wires inside are making contact positive and negative and there’s no fuse breaker so the car can go up in smoke.”

And there is the danger of being knocked out by airbags, which could be deployed when short-circuiting triggers a message that the car has had an accident, he said. 

He said that many motorists are naturally reinstalling batteries after almost two years, giving rise to cars burning up in garages and backyards due to a short circuit associated with the new power.

He further explained that there is natural corrosion in Cayman but it takes between 10 and 15 years to show the effect that the storm is now having on the cars in less than two years.

Mr Campbell calls for stricter inspections and he showered praises on the Vehicle and Licensing Department, saying they are doing a good job in detecting corrosion. 

“We need to seriously educate people of the dangers, not because you turn the key and the car starts that everything is fine, there’s a lot of other things to look at,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Fire Department is investigating the cause of a fire, which extensively damaged three cars that were stationary in the parking lot of the Elizabethan Villas on Old Crewe Road.

The George Town fire at 5:24 am on Monday is reported to have occurred while the owners were asleep in their apartments.

One neighbour, Dr Roget Boykin, related his version of the incident to Cayman Net News. 

“I heard a sound and saw a huge flash of white light. I then looked up and saw what I thought was a dumpster on fire.

“I woke my son up and he called the Fire Department and I started shouting fire, fire. I thought the whole place was going to blow up,” he said.

All three car owners declined to comment, only saying they were awaiting the outcome of the investigation.

Divisional Officer in Charge of Fire Prevention and Investigation, Doorly McLaughlin, said the Fire Department received a 5:24 am call and arrived on the scene at 5:30 pm with two fire appliances from George Town.

Mr McLaughlin said the blaze was extinguished at 5:50 am and that investigations were underway. He added that the findings would be handed over to the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service in the next few days.   

One insurance company official, who wanted to remain anonymous, said there has always been a major concern over ‘Ivanised’ cars despite the assurances given in mechanical reports from motor vehicle experts.

paul@caymannetnews.com