Michigan Dave

Wow. Yesterday morning, I park my car, and walk up to the office (a couple blocks since I work downtown). About 5 minutes later, I get a call from a coworker asking what my license number is. Confused as to what the heck he was talking about, I was then told my car is on fire. I ran down to the parking lot to find 15 foot high flames shooting out of the Krautmobile, and black smoke engulfing the parking lot. Standing in dumbfounded amazement, I watched the front of my car melt. Once the fire inspectors were done, I was able to check it out. The front end, engine, completely melted. On the ground. Inside is blackened. I was asked by fire inspector whether the car was in the shop recently. AA BMW had the car a week ago. They must've pinched something in the electrical box, which caused this bonfire while the car was OFF. I was told that had I done my normal routine of warming the car up for 5-10 minutes before getting in, I probably would've been driving on M-14 when the car went up, and unable to do anything, since the doors melted closed and the car filled with smoke. Unreal.

So, I left work to file my claim, and now have to get a new car. Crazy.

Crappy cameraphone photos:

Fire inspector with car:


Close up:



What she used to be:

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JoeSixPat

Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.


That's a scary thought about being trapped in there but I'd be surprised if it went up so fast you couldn't pull over and get out before the doors melted. Tell yourself that anyways as these things can sure shake us up.



Great blog by the way.

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milwaukeebeers44

Just saw a similar thing on the way to work today. . .damn.

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Michael

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Michael

As an FYI car windows are designed to shatter. Just hit them square and hard in the center (preferably with something pointy like a screwdriver) and they'll just shatter.

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fleabassist1

Wow... to bad. That is a really nice BMW ...

Is it the fault of the people at the repairshop / retailer ... or does your insurance have to pay for it?

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JoeSixPat

That's a fight the insurance company will take on themselves... not something the consumer needs to worry about... though one does need to make sure that the insurance company doesn't raise your rates for things that aren't your fault.

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Michigan Dave

Bingo. I actually stand to make out well in the deal. I got the impression that the insurance company is certainly going to be going after the dealership. It's the first thing the fire inspector, and claims adjuster asked me about (was the car in for servicing recently), and I have all of the necessary paperwork for the dealership work which is an asset as well. They will definitely be paying me a higher claim in order to get those

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Clonamery

Consumers should always pay attention to their insurance companies when claims are involved as they are under no obligation to inform you of payouts or subrogation with other insurance companies, etc.

In this case the garage that completed repair will be on the hook (eventually).

MichiganDave's personal insurance company has coverage under Comprehensive (if purchased) but they will subrogate (if necessary) to the garage's insurer. Depends on how quickly the claim is responded to by all involved and who MD approaches.

Terry Glenn is a cowgirl

A very similar situation about 15 years ago happened to my father's service truck for his business.

The dealership added an extra fuel tank in the bed of the truck box. When they wired it all up, they forgot to put an inline fuse in the electrical wiring.

In the end, a 1 year old work truck caught on fire (very similar 2 this).

I tried to pull the hood quick to put out the fire, and it was already melted...

The smell of the vehicle fire is wicked bad.