[akash_m]

The upholstry has to go through a chemical treatment to make it fire retardent. There is an institute named CBRI in Roorkee which does fire retardence treatment for Air India aircraft seats.

This process is not comercially avilable in India. CBRI is a government establishment under Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by ankit_chd

Well,Fire retardant chemicals are available in India, I have done it on my cars seats and carpets. It should be made compulsory for the car makers to give it as default.

Could you tell us more. Not that all the cars hold a chance of getting blown up, but its always better to take preventive measures. More info about this will benefit all of us. I hope such chemicals are not harmful to the occupants of the car.

Condolences to the owner's family :(

[amit_mechengg]

just saw in todays newspaper that RTO had investigated the vehicle and are preparing the report.

i just hope VW doesnt pay off bribe to these people(which they will obviously ask) and siphon off the matter.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by ankit_chd

But its very sad to hear about the owner :(

Today's Pune edition of TOI have carried this news @ the Vento owner's death. The saddest part is the owner (Mr Kailash Gupta) is survived by his parents, wife and two sons. His elder son is preparing for std XII board exams. May god give his family enough strength to tide over this tragedy.

Article Window

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Today's Pune edition of TOI have carried this news @ the Vento owner's death. The saddest part is the owner (Mr Rakesh Gupta) is survived by his parents, wife and two sons. His elder son is preparing for std XII board exams. May god give his family enough strength to tide over this tragedy.

Article Window

Its just a very very sad incident. Hope the family finds the strength to bring some sense of stability back into their lives after this huge tragedy.

One thing beats me completely though. There has been absolutely no response from VW on this. On their FB page they are busy posting inane stuff really which make no sense. Not only do they quickly delete posts which ask any question about this tragedy but they are maintaining pin drop silence about the issue. Just goes to show that the VW management in India has utter disrespect and disdain for Indian lives. Every Vento owner is genuinely worried about the safety of the car. I can't fathom even an extra-terrestrial reason for their continuous silence on this issue .

Just vindicates our assumption that VW India management is really pathetic. Here is another incident which just validates that. A Delhi court has asked Delhi police to lodge an FIR against the directors of VW for letting their dealers charge those fictitious handling charges we have all heard about. It seems it is in complete contravention of Central Motor Vehicle Rules. The link is here. Sorry I know this is completely but just thought its worth a mention showing the attitude of VW.

[the VTEC guy]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Today's Pune edition of TOI have carried this news @ the Vento owner's death. The saddest part is the owner (Mr Rakesh Gupta) is survived by his parents, wife and two sons. His elder son is preparing for std XII board exams. May god give his family enough strength to tide over this tragedy.

Article Window

Yes read this news today in TOI and also the original news when this had occured. If you guys observe there is no mention of the make of the Car anywhere. Surprisingly same TOI published news of Nano catching fire with name of the make clearly. It is more surprising that in this incident there was loss of life where as earlier Nano incidents didn't have case of serious injuries as well. Why this Kolavari Di?

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Today's Pune edition of TOI have carried this news @ the Vento owner's death. The saddest part is the owner (Mr Rakesh Gupta) is survived by his parents, wife and two sons. His elder son is preparing for std XII board exams. May god give his family enough strength to tide over this tragedy.

Article Window

Guys I stand corrected. The name of the deceased is Kailash Gupta. Note that Rakesh is his brother. Thanks Coolman for pointing that out. I could not edit my earlier post as it was out of the 30 mins window. Mods if you can then please correct my post.

I absolutely agree with you the VTEC guy. Surprisingly no mention of the car model in the whole report. Why this biased attitude. Did VW top honchos grease the palms of the media so that nowhere the make of the car gets mentioned, sounds fishy.

[S_U_N]

A news item about this on Punekar website:
Car fire: businessman dies, cops wait for RTO report | The Punekar

[srishiva]

Should the carmakers rethink the whole wiring stuff. To have a short circuit near the battery and in no time the whole car going up in flames (as in BMW in Bengaluru and could be here in this case for something near the engine) is lot of safety holes. Wiring needs a fire retardant tunnel everywhere through out the car. The firewall should also be beefed up.

Dont know how good (or bad) Kagu 3D mats are and such accessories?

[Maverick79]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

I absolutely agree with you the VTEC guy. Surprisingly no mention of the car model in the whole report. Why this biased attitude. Did VW top honchos grease the palms of the media so that nowhere the make of the car gets mentioned, sounds fishy.

Originally Posted by the VTEC guy

Yes read this news today in TOI and also the original news when this had occured. If you guys observe there is no mention of the make of the Car anywhere. Surprisingly same TOI published news of Nano catching fire with name of the make clearly. It is more surprising that in this incident there was loss of life where as earlier Nano incidents didn't have case of serious injuries as well. Why this Kolavari Di?

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

One thing beats me completely though. There has been absolutely no response from VW on this. On their FB page they are busy posting inane stuff really which make no sense. Not only do they quickly delete posts which ask any question about this tragedy but they are maintaining pin drop silence about the issue. Just goes to show that the VW management in India has utter disrespect and disdain for Indian lives. Every Vento owner is genuinely worried about the safety of the car. I can't fathom even an extra-terrestrial reason for their continuous silence on this issue .

Just vindicates our assumption that VW India management is really pathetic. .

This is not just 'greasing palms'. It is also called as 'The art of Managing media'. Some OEM's are expert in it while some are not so. It all depends on the PR guys' "smartness" in reacting to all agencies involved in such issues instead of giving a Humanitary finishing to such incidences.

Unfortunately, at the cost of Human life some times!

[fi.robin]

Originally Posted by Ford5

Sir, please read your fabia manual urgently and look up for "Child lock"
In short, when child lock is engaged only that door can be opened from outside.

There is noway that any door won't open at all UNLESS the lock itself is jammed/broken from inside, which is most probably the case in your Fabia

Sir, no disrespect, but I am not a child . I have read enough of the manual and have experimented enough too.

There are two ways in which the older model (pre-facelift) Fabias can be locked. You press the lock button on the key once, it locks all the doors and can't be opened anyway. You press the buttons twice within 5 secs, it locks the doors such that it can be opened from inside only. What's more, these settings can be changed using their software.

Anyway my main focus was on the life saving hammer which I feel is a must for everyone to keep. Surprisingly I found it hard to source. Which suggests that it is still a rare thing here. I also keep a fire extinguisher in my car. You never know when you will need what.

[Zen2001]

Pray tell me what kind of expertise lies with the Pune RTO [or any other for that matter] to investigate a completely charred car as to the underlying cause.
Should this matter not be handled by more dedicated forensic/automotive testing/research institutes?
VW is just playing the usual "time wasting" game, for in a few days we will have someting else to talk about - like elections, or the porngate issue and conveniently forget this matter!

Thats the price WE PUT on our lives - a shame.

Yes, and one more thing - shame on the media for the way in which this has [not] been covered. Interestingly I havent noticed the usual half page glossy VW Polo & Vento adverts in the last week. Talk about criminals lying low!

[nanduchitnis]

Team BHPians it is not correct at this stage to make wild allegations that VW will bribe the RTO/Cops and get away with murder. Nor should we pass any judgement yet against VW management.

This will only lower Team BHP credibility as an unbiased and reputed site.

Let us wait for the inquiry report to come out from RTO/Police and VW on the cause of the fire to this car. That can be debated.

Investigations and publication of findings do take time.

Notwithstanding the above I do feel that VW should show magnanimity and compensate the family of the owner of the Vento adequately. They have deep pockets to do the right thing.

I hold no brief for VW nor am I connected to that company in any way.

I do feel rage inside me for what has happened.

Mods please be free to Moderate or delete this post if it goes against the grain of the discussion here.

Rgds

[ankit_chd]

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

Could you tell us more. Not that all the cars hold a chance of getting blown up, but its always better to take preventive measures. More info about this will benefit all of us. I hope such chemicals are not harmful to the occupants of the car.

Condolences to the owner's family :(

I am commercially involved with this company so i suppose its against the rules of the forum to share any information.

In case mods allow me to share the information , I will go ahead

[sidindica]

From what I get is that we have a tendency to prematurely overreact and start the blame game without knowing the ROOT CAUSE of the same.

First, whether the car was fully stock or not, it isn't clear. Second, if ever accessories were installed, were they installed correctly using competent installers? Third-its been said that the seat belts did not retract when the button to release it out was pressed. Was the button pressed on time fully by the owner? Fourth-just overtly blaming the manufacturer without knowing the real facts-and that to so early.

I think as a forum that we are allowed for constructive criticism, not indulging in overreaction without knowing the actual facts. Money can buy everything. Not life. And I dont think that VW can bribe any media/ PR agency to hide this fact. Let us first see he results, then make conclusions.

Because in every company there is something called CSR.

Peace.