LA JOLLA (CBS 8) - A brand new Jeep Cherokee is now just a burned out shell after the vehicle burst into flames in La Jolla.
The driver says she took her new SUV on a short drive this morning and smelled smoke shortly before it caught fire.
Video captured by Margareta Knoos shows the panic that ensued after she walked outside of her La Jolla home Sunday to see her new 2015 Jeep Cherokee up in flames.
"I was just mostly afraid for our lives because the flames were just very large and they were moving towards our house" Margareta said.
Margareta bought the Jeep from the Perry Dealership in National City Friday night. Since then, she had only driven the car twice.
During her second drive Sunday morning, she went out to run an errand and minutes after arriving home, the SUV, which only had 50 miles on it, caught fire.
"I noticed a little bit of a smoke smell, but nothing much, when I got out of the car, I didn't see anything unusual. When I went upstairs my brother looked out the window and he saw smoke coming from the hood of the car."
The SUV quickly erupted in flames and spread to the neighboring palm tree. Margareta called 911.
As she waited for crews to arrive, her dad and brother Johan Knoos tried to put the fire out themselves.
After crews extinguished the flames, all that remained was the shell and some burnt items inside the car.
CBS News 8's Shannon Handy has more information in this video story.