Thats true, but it does not even have to be an old car to have a fuel leak. I have saw very late model cars with fuel leaks (on the internet for sale, etc), causing fires. One car that seems to have a lot of this is Porsche, and Jaguar- even very late models. I also have seen more than necessary Range Rovers with scorched engine bays. I have no idea what their problem is, but it is a major one. I am not sure, but it may even be an electrical issue on some of the Jaguars and Porsches, but from what I have heard, it is mostly fuel issues. Even in a lot of the local salvage lots from time to time you see late model cars with engine fires - more than likely a fuel issue, but I am sure some can be electrical. I remember a while back, there was a mid 80s Porsche in the parking lot at work that had a engine blaze.

It reminds me- my grandpa has a 90' Mazda 929 that still had the original fuel lines. One had busted and was leaking. Luckily we smelled it and replaced it before it caught fire. Really seems to depend on an individual car on how long a fuel hose lasts, it can vary from climate, how the car was stored, etc. Speaking of OLD cars, I have a couple of old cars- one being a 1973 Pontiac. When I bought it from the original owners 2 years ago, it still had the ORIGINAL FUEL HOSES. I was amazed. They still said "GM" on them. One toward the bottom was leaking, but luckily, it was one at the bottom front of the engine where it runs into the fuel pump, so really not a threat, but this is something you want to replace ASAP anyway. Just for updates, we went ahead and replaced all of the fuel hoses on the engine, which were only two. My other old car (1969 model) had already had them replaced before.

About this Mercedes on e-bay that was scorched- it does not appear that the engine itself sustained damage. Looks like the wiring is the problem now and I am sure that would be a big headache to replace - not to mention lack of reliability. And why does this car have wipers on these lights? Its not the Euro lights. . Also, this car only supposedly has 97K miles- makes you wonder how many with more miles are ticking bombs out there.