Quick Service For a Forgotten Fiat Palio

[rayal]

hai anand,
I was really shocked about the incident. Thank god that your friend's family is safe. It is really hard to see those pictures. Do contact the insurance company and explain. Dont be depressed, try to find the cause. Do post the updates.

 

[shashikanth]

Hi anand,
Its really hard to see those pictures , don't get depressed I have seen a zen caught fire while moving only.

 

[jarpickle]

The plastic parts look mangled.

The fire seems to have been on the passenger side of the engine bay.

If it was the battery then the headlight would've suffered more damage.

What does the official report say?

 

[SOOZ_PUNTO]

It was really sad to see the pics Anand. Your friend's family is safe that is the good news. Do update us the root cause if fire.

 

[ss80]

I have no updates as of now about the car, will check with my friend & will update here. Now his love for fiat has increased & says that his next car will be mostly a Fiat UNO (Restoration in plan) or a Fiat Palio diesel. I kept silent & had nothing to tell him.

 

[jarpickle]

Anand, if he wishes to buy a FIAT car tell him to check out the cars test drive them and make a list of all the repairs he needs to get done.Let him check the shops for the availability of the parts and the prices.This will give him a good idea of what to expect.He cannot just expect to spend a few thousand rupees on a FIAT car.Parts alone cost a fortune.This time you did a lot of running around, I think he needs to get an idea of whats involved in a proper restoration.

 

[Sam Dinkar]

@Anand: I hope you didn't run into a loss in this entire episode.

 

[ss80]

Sam Dinkar:

I just spoke to my friend now, he is on his way to KHT motors at Whitefield Road, where the car is parked as of now. Today the Insurance Surveyor will come & check the car, documents etc. The Service center has quoted 1,00,000/- (only an approx quote) to fix all the issues (only inside engine bay, no bodywork, no bumper replacement etc) caused by the fire.

I have told my friend to get the car investigated by some senior mechanic at the service center & find out the exact source/ reason for the fire. I also told him that if it is due to any of the work carried out by me, then I would be baring a portion of the loss. Although my friend clearly told me that he is not expecting anything of this sort. But then I cant live with a guilt for the rest of my life (if at all I am faulty).

I am anxiously waiting for the investigation to finish, because if it is my work which has caused this issue, then I will be adding a big loss to my existing credits. My family on the other side wants me to stop doing anything on others cars & are insisting that I finish the Zen & just keep quite.

On the other hand, its only my friend who's still talking to me in good terms, his family is totally unhappy about the whole thing & are not talking to me the way they used to. So this is really not a nice situation to be in.

 

[jarpickle]

People can be very prejudiced about things like this.Once the insurance surveyor has finished checking the car, why don't you go to the garage and get a mechanic identify the source of the problem.

 

[charithao]

Hi ss80,

That's a shocking story. It's lucky that nobody got heart from the incident. Since the car does not have a over heating issue cause may be a short circuit of the electrical system or may be a overcharged battery. Overcharging lead acid batteries release excess Hydrogen which is flammable. Anyway looking forward to hear from you more about this.

 

[ss80]

Met my friend yesterday and got to know that he is stuck in this situation.

Surveyor from Insurance company is waiting for a quotation for repair work from the dealership. The Mechanic at the dealership is not able to get part numbers for many parts inside the engine bay & is struggling to get hold of someone from FIAT who can give him all part numbers. It is like this for the last 5days.

 

[asahay47]

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Hi,
I came across your post and impressed with your work.I also have a fiat palio same color,2002 model.I bought my car in aug,2014.My car also have a oil coolant and engine oil leakage which I have seen recently.Please let me know if you can repair my car.
Thanks,
Abhishek

 

[ss80]

Guys an update:

The car was declared as a total loss, as KHT guys could not get all part numbers, Car stood at service center for a whole 3 months before this conclusion was drawn.
The insurance guys gave 1,30,000/- approx to my friend (about 80% of actual IDV on paper) and my friend paid 22,000/- to KHT for parking charges! Surveyor, claim procesing charge - 5000/- and 7000/- to the fire tender guys for a certificate from them, to say that they found no clue of intentional damaging etc.

These 4months literally were torturous and my friend decided never to buy anything that would deal with KHT/TATA/FIAT. Now he has settled with a used Fork Ikon 1.3 which he bought from the remaining money.

KHT guys showed no/little interest in speeding up things and my friend had to visit multiple times for the same reason and no solution. In the end, a nice car gone to dust, no body knows the reason. I lost a few grands worth spares which I had put in it and which my friend never bothered to repay. It happens, let it go.