Having a car that needs engine work isn’t fun. But things can get much worse if the engine repair is botched. A North Carolina woman was shocked after her Kia Optima erupted in flames hours after receiving engine work. 

NC woman survives burning car after botched engine repair 

A woman from Greensboro, North Carolina, is lucky to be alive. Her daughter was briefly trapped in her burning Kia Optima just hours after picking it up from a dealership. 

Tina Betterson picked up her 2019 Kia Optima after it received engine work. Then the car erupted in flames in her driveway. 

Betterson remembers her daughter screaming because she couldn’t escape but managed to get free as the crackling sounds of fire got louder. Greensboro firefighters quickly responded to the scene to get things under control before a possible explosion may have occurred. 

She took the car to a Kia dealership a few weeks earlier due to excessive oil consumption. The engine had just replaced hours before the incident. The service manager couldn’t explain what happened. 

According to WF My News 2, Kia’s corporate team launched an investigation. Four months later, Kia determined that the fire was caused by an improperly routed wiring harness. It contacted hot AC lines, melted insulation, and ignited with combustibles. 

The dealership gave her a rental car and $6,000 in rental fees were covered. But Betterson is still without a car. Instead of test-driving the vehicle for 50 miles after the repair, it was only driven for five. Then it caught on fire when she drove it 10 miles home. 

It didn’t pay for the $3,500 left on her car loan and denied that her daughter was trapped inside. The dealership also claimed that she got $9,000 from an insurance payout. Betterson plans to take legal action against its negligence.