Engineer, 21, shocked as his first car bursts into flames just hours after he bought it
Adam Long saved up for two years and waited to finish university before buying the 2006 Seat Ibiza from a registered trader for £1,500
A NEW driver was stunned when his first car burst into flames just hours after he bought it from a second hand dealer.
Adam Long, 21, had saved up for two years and waited to finish university before buying the 2006 Seat Ibiza from a registered trader for £1,500.
But as he drove it home the engine warning light came on and it started misfiring.
Believing it needed new spark plugs, Adam later drove the car to Halfords for new ones when he spotted smoke billowing from the engine.
He pulled over to check and at that moment flames erupted from under the bonnet.
Adam, from Weymouth, Dorset, and his brother Josh, 24, fled from the blazing vehicle and watched helplessly as it was burnt to a cinder.
Adam, who has just finished a music production course at university and now works as an engineer, contacted the trader he bought it off to complain.
He is now in talks with the dealer, who he is not naming, to see if he can get his money back.
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Adam has notified his insurance company but is hoping he won't have to make a claim as that will send his premiums soaring.
He said: "I'd been saving up for about two years and I passed my test last October but decided to wait until I finished university to buy one.
"We assumed the engine had overheated and pulled over to check under the bonnet but when we got out of the car we realised it was actually on fire.
"The fire brigade arrived within about five minutes. It caught on fire quickly but luckily the fuel tank didn't go.
"No one was hurt and lots of kind residents came out armed with fire extinguishers and helped to keep it under control before the firemen got there.
"It's not really a great experience for my first time buying a car. Now I am essentially bankrupt because I've lost all my savings and I don't have a car.
"I'm speaking with the trader I bought it off and waiting to find out what happens." A spokesman for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue confirmed crews were called to St Leonard's Road in Weymouth at 5.06pm on Saturday and used two hose reel jets to extinguish the fire.