ksdaddy Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 A couple days ago my oldest daughter called me and said her car radio went out momentarily when she went over a bump. Friday she said it stalled altogether after hitting a bump. I said I'd look into it; sounded like a bad connection somewhere, maybe in the fuse box... WHO KNOWS.... Last night the phone rang and rang and rang until I go up and answered it. "Dad, my car is on fire! I called the fire department but it's right near so and so's house and omigod what if it catches fire and the flmes are shooting out everywhere and WHAT DO I DO?" Not a hell of a lot TO do except wait for the fire dept I guess. She had taken a friend home after work and when they pulled in the driveway she saw smoke and they go out... just in time to see flames erupting. So I jumped in MY Camry and headed there. As I got into town I met a town cop who turned around and followed me all the way across town BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO. Apparently I didn't "weave" nor did my taillight "flicker" nor did I drive 25.00001 MPH so he gave up the surveillance. I was livid about that. Friggin' stupid rookie small town cops need to follow a car across town just because it's 12:45 AM... God knows I could be up to no good in my 4 door '92 Camry. So I got to the fire and the boys had it out and were washing it down just to be on the safe side. Total loss of course. A buddy has a ramp truck so I gave him $25 to bring it to my daughter's house this morning. It's the only car we have that's financed so therefore it's the only one with comprehensive and collision. She only owes $1300 on it. I'm curious to see how she gets treated by the insurance company. Yes it's a 2000 but the thing was a pristine Florida car, no rust, tight as a duck's butt, and basically mint. We'll see. I'm girding my loins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Best you can do is get scrap for it. Not really worth working on...hell maybe if it was a Supra id say pull out the engine and go for it. The chassis is still good, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted August 4, 2012 Author Share Posted August 4, 2012 Oh it's definitely totalled. I'm just curious what the insurance company will pay out. It sucks because she really liked that car and it was almost paid off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis G Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Yep, looks like "toast" to me (sorry). Had a similar experience way back when. On my way to work one winter morning and my car (57 Chevy in about mid '65) suddenly catches fire. Well, I've got my guitar and amp from the previous night's gig in the trunk (yeah, I know), but it's like "Ruh Row". I pull the car over, get my gear out of the trunk and run about 40 yards down the road with both. Needless to say, car was a goner, guitar and amp were okay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Sorry to hear that ksdaddy. Hope everything works out alright with the insurance company maybe if it was a Supra A fellow Supra fan? Supras rule! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grampa Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Sorry to hear that ksdaddy. Hope everything works out alright with the insurance company A fellow Supra fan? Supras rule! Amen! (about Supras) Sorry about the fire, that can be very scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderchild Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 The ONLY thing that is important, is that the young ladies are safe and un hurt. $1300.00 versus your daughter's life?? What a WONDERFUL trade-off, they make cars every day. Can you make another her? Praise the Lord that just the car was killed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyMoon Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Keep us posted...I hate insurance companys because they look for any reason to deny.....damn about the issue tho what a pain..but like everything else it's just an object as long as everyone is ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Hayden Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Glad you daughter's OK,can always buy another car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Sorry to hear that ksdaddy. Hope everything works out alright with the insurance company A fellow Supra fan? Supras rule! I'm a big fan of cars that you can modify, which is why i bought a Scion FRS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzboy Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Glad your daughter is OK and sorry to hear about the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 The 2 posts by 4Hayden and tazzboy about your daughter being ok? I'm with them. There is never usually any good calls at 12:45AM. What a relief it was just a burned car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 First thing the insurance adjuster will do is separate YOU from you Daughter to negotiate the deal. That's how predators work, separate the young and naive from the older and wiser. My daughter was hit by another gal who side swiped her when she failed to stay in her lane in a 2 lane turn. Totally the other gal's fault. Her insurance company was due to come over and I said I'd stay home from work that day. My wife said she had it covered. First thing they did was to refuse to talk about it with my wife around. It was a mini van, drivable with only the passenger side caved. My daughter got beat up pretty bad. They offered her the value of the loan pay out, 2 more payments, about $400. The van was worth 10 times that. They signed the deal, he gave her a check. Having earlier taken the keys to 'inspect' the damage the adjuster left the kitchen with said keys. My daughter said she needed her keys back because she had to go to work. "Oh, no, you signed the van over to us in the settlement papers I have in my brief case. We "totaled" it. I have a guy coming to tow it away...... But....... for $100.00, I'll sell it back to you." Yup, I failed my daughter that day. Be a good Dad, call in sick to work. I wonder if there are any service bulletins on that year and model? My son had a car burn up once. Some numb-nut installed a quick disconnect with a big wing nut sticking up above the positive post. It contacted, then welded itself to the underside of the hood. When all was said and done, it looked about like your daughter's car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Isaac Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 The 'bump' could have caused several things to start this fire, and from the sound of it it could be a wiring issue if the radio faltered. Another cause of car fires after a 'bump' is leaking brake fluid if it gets on a hot surface. Up it goes. The most important thing right now is that your daughter is safe. Did the fire department investigate to find the source of the fire? Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 . Sorry to read about your daughter's misfortune. Probably a chafing point caused a short that didn't break the fuse - happened to one of my brother's cars. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 The appraiser went to look at it yesterday and this morning his wife called to verify the mileage, which displayed digitally and obviously wasn't visible! My policy states we can get up to $20/day for a rental car. No point in pursuing that because rentals cost more than that and it's not worth the spread. So I let her use my Camry and I was driving my '82 Ford pickup, which has been on borrowed time forever. I found out on Monday that because my homeowners policy is bundled with my car policy I am entitled to $50/day for rental up to $3000. When I talked to the insurance rep on Tuesday I asked, "I'm letting her use my car, can we collect 'something' per day in lieu of the $50/day car rental?" His reply was a flat NO... so I called the car rental place and set up a rental. They won't rent a car to HER because she's under 25 but they'll rent a car to ME. I cleared all this with the insurance company. Kim is using my car and the insurance company is paying the $50 rental fee for me to ride around in a Taurus. Pretty stupid I think. They could have agreed to pay me a token amount, $10 or $15 a day, but no, can't do THAT, so now they're paying out $50/day. And now the suspense of what they offer us for that car. I'm sure I won't be accepting their first offer because that's not how the game is played. I'm not trying to rook the insurance company but I just want them to be fair. Kelly Blue Book says $3400 trade in / $4750 retail, NADA says $4200 trade in / $6200 retail. About the time they offer us $1400 I'm going to go postal. Never done this before, nothing to compare it to. Girding my loins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rogerb Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 A couple days ago my oldest daughter called me and said her car radio went out momentarily when she went over a bump. Friday she said it stalled altogether after hitting a bump. I said I'd look into it; sounded like a bad connection somewhere, maybe in the fuse box... WHO KNOWS.... Last night the phone rang and rang and rang until I go up and answered it. "Dad, my car is on fire! I called the fire department but it's right near so and so's house and omigod what if it catches fire and the flmes are shooting out everywhere and WHAT DO I DO?" Not a hell of a lot TO do except wait for the fire dept I guess. She had taken a friend home after work and when they pulled in the driveway she saw smoke and they go out... just in time to see flames erupting. So I jumped in MY Camry and headed there. As I got into town I met a town cop who turned around and followed me all the way across town BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO. Apparently I didn't "weave" nor did my taillight "flicker" nor did I drive 25.00001 MPH so he gave up the surveillance. I was livid about that. Friggin' stupid rookie small town cops need to follow a car across town just because it's 12:45 AM... God knows I could be up to no good in my 4 door '92 Camry. So I got to the fire and the boys had it out and were washing it down just to be on the safe side. Total loss of course. A buddy has a ramp truck so I gave him $25 to bring it to my daughter's house this morning. It's the only car we have that's financed so therefore it's the only one with comprehensive and collision. She only owes $1300 on it. I'm curious to see how she gets treated by the insurance company. Yes it's a 2000 but the thing was a pristine Florida car, no rust, tight as a duck's butt, and basically mint. We'll see. I'm girding my loins. You've heard it before but it's worth repeating "Material things can be replaced" Glad your daughter is safe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl00dsm0k3 Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 that sucks hope everything works out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzboy Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 By the way I meant ask who is auto insurance with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 It's through Tower Group. We'll see how they treat me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Extra Musical Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Lucky there wasn't a 60's jumbo in the trunk. Guitars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted August 11, 2012 Author Share Posted August 11, 2012 So now they tell me are going to come get the carcass on Monday. I'm paranoid about this. I haven't signed anything so the car is still in our name. I van picture them telling me if we don't accept their offer I will be charged storage fees and what not. I'm not comfortable letting them haul it away until it's all signed off. What do you think? Paranoid or cautious? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 I don't understand them wanting the car before you get a check. Usually they don't tow it away 'till after the check gets handed over, no? In fact, they usually don't come get it until you beat them over the head about it, right? Seems fishy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzboy Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 They probably want to have there own independent mechanic go over it to see what cause the fire. Was it cause in the electrical or was it something else? I would suggest finding out where they are taking and you be there man when they do this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazerface Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 I had a 94 villager that burned to a crisp back in april of 2006. I remember rushing to get my martin and my harmonicas out of it before the smoke signals started. I will try to find a picture... I was very upset because i had just filled up the gas tank too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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