News Corp Australia’s auto writer Peter Barnwell was test-driving a 2015 Ford Everest SUV the other day when it suddenly erupted into flames. Good thing Mt. Everest isn’t a volcano or we’d have a weak pun on our hands.
Oh wait, hang on, Barnwell and his editors have us covered:
The cover to that reads “Journalist’s Review Of The New Ford Everest Is HOT Off The Presses.” Man, those print guys have all the pun. I mean fun. ZOOM! Try to keep up.
Anyway, I wasn’t sure what to make of this, since this diesel drivetrain in the Everest has been in service in the global-market Ford Ranger since 2011. Then again, Everest itself is still new. Even if it shares a platform and engine, there could be differences that lead to fiery death.
Apparently only about 1,000 examples of the new-for-2015 Everest are on the road Down Under.
Australian media dug up two other incidents they’re insinuating could be related; some guy said his 2012 Ranger XLT caught fire while parked a few weeks ago. Another owner with Ranger XLT in another part of the country apparently had an exciting afternoon when his truck spontaneously accelerated from a cruise to almost 90 mph, and only rolled to a stop after he forced it out of gear. And yes, that one was also burning by the time it came to a stop.
Both those owners say they were forwarded to their insurance companies by Ford, which is apparently standard procedure. About 100,000 Ford Rangers are on Australia roads with similar drivetrain configurations.
Ford Australia says they are investigating the Everest incident, but it’s too early to talk recalls or mass-hysteria and, did I mention fiery death already? The actual corporate statement is:
“We are not aware of similar reports for the new Everest and Ranger, or the outgoing Ranger. As always, we arecommitted to providing our customers with top quality vehicles. We are equally committed to addressing potential issues and responding quickly for our customers; however, we cannot comment further until our engineers complete their investigation of the Everest and determine what happened.”
We’ll keep you posted on what they learn!
Images via Christopher/Flickr, Ford
Contact the author at andrew@jalopnik.com.