Low-Mileage Jaguar XKR Destroyed by Mysterious Engine Bay Fire

Head’s Up: One of the forum members recently lost his 2012 jaguar XKR Convertible to a mysterious engine bay fire.

The sad image above was posted by JaguarForums member think2win, who posted the awful story of his 2012 Jaguar XKR Convertible catching fire when seemingly nothing was wrong with the car. Not only was his car burned beyond repair, but he sustained serious damage to his eyes, causing him vision problems which he is still battling.

Here is his unfortunate story:

“On Friday night a week ago (11/03/17) my 2012 XKR Convertible, 28,200 miles on the clock, suffered an engine fire. I had not driven the car for 5 days and when I got in the car the battery was dead. You guys know that the battery is very hard to access in the trunk area. Per the manual instructions, I used the positive connector provided and grounded to the bolt in the spare tire area in order to jump start with my battery booster / charger. It was a bit difficult to get a good ground, I had to play with the clamp a bit. I jump started the car, let it idle for about 10 minutes, and drove to the local Walgreens about 4 miles away.

While parked and running I turned around to get a bag out of the “rear seats”. I heard a noise, turned around and the entire engine compartment was in flames. By the time I got unbuckled and tried to get out, flames were shooting up the windshield and driver’s side window. Superheated smoke hit my eyes and burned them. I was virtually blind by the time someone in the parking lot helped me away from the car. Ambulance, ER and daily visits to the Ophthalmologist have gotten me back to about 80% vision with blurred vision and some double vision. I have included a couple of pictures of the car. Any ideas as to what happened? The fire may have started while I was driving and raged when I got parked… I don’t know.”

ALSO SEE: Warning! JaguarForums Member’s Car Catches Fire!

Members were quick to post their well-wishes for his own recovery, while offering their ideas on what might have caused his 2012 XKR to catch fire. With just 28k miles on the 5-year-old convertible, it seems unlikely that something had failed due to “normal wear”, but as of the time of this posting – the OP hadn’t gotten any answers on the cause of this fire.

Some members have speculated that the fire had something to do with the act of jump-starting the car, but as several members pointed out, the fire appears to have been too intense to be an electrical fire. Even if a fuel line was damaged after the fact, there was definitely some sort of accelerant burning under the hood of this 2012 Jaguar XKR.

Possible Causes

One possible cause of the fire – or at least the severity of the fire – could be aging fuel lines. As plastic or rubber fuel lines and fittings age, the material dries out and cracks. This fire could have been caused by a failing fuel line, or if there was a small electrical fire, a failing fuel line could have contributed to the problem.

The good news is that think2win is well on the road to recovery, but his 2012 Jaguar XKR is totaled and while we don’t know that a fuel line was at fault – this incident serves as a reminder to regular check the rubber or plastic fuel lines under the hood of your vehicle as it ages.

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com