[DueLLeR]

Today, while my building watchman had happily disappeared for his two hour lunch break, a mad, pervert man entered the society. After attempting to sexually assault a lady resident, the madman turned towards the parking lot. Only my two cars were parked at that time. Both washed and covered. He lit the cars covers, probably using some propellant and turned towards my window parapet. Clothes were put out to dry. He lit the clothes on fire. The blaze that ensued engulfed the entire sun shade and went as high as two storeys. Thankfully, the windows were closed and the fire did not reach inside. Although, the window glasses did shatter because of the heat. This madman then burnt some clothes hung out to dry in other flats and even threw a burning pant into another ground floor flat. He then went to the next society and tried burning dried leaves. A bhel-puri wala outside was assaulted by him and his cart overturned. By now, the collectively damage was severe and a mob thrashed the hell out this guy. Dad put out the flames and called the cops, who promptly arrested him.

Both the cars suffered fire damage. The melting of the car covers made it stick to the paint and the bumper is melted at some places. Took both the cars for a Diesel + Soap wash to get the soot off. The paint has discolored (brownish yellow) in some places because of fire damage. Also, replaced the number plate which had melted partly.

When my bro called to inform me about the incident, I thought he was kidding. I cannot express the grief to see my less-than-two-month old car damaged in fire, which was started intentionally by a mad man! To add, my four-year old car has suffered more damage! Went to the Police station to see who this guy was. He's some painter-plaster guy by profession and hails from UP. He might have used turpentine (paint thinner) as the propellant to start the fire. His brother, apparently, is admitted in the ICU of a Vashi hospital. This madman wasn't under the influence of alcohol while being arrested. Apparently, he even tried sexually assaulting the lady sub-inspector and took off his clothes inside his cell!!

At the end of the day, I can only thank god for limiting the damage to the paint of the cars and keeping the fire outside the house. If not for the thoughtful and timely intervention by the neighbours, both my cars would have been gutted to soot. My home, too, would have burned down if not for the shut windows, which largely kept the flames outside.

Paint job experts: Please review the damage to the cars shown in the pictures below. Can this be restored without a repaint? Any tips to restore fire-damaged vehicles?

Cheers!
DueLLeR

[Nikhilb2008]

Oh my god!! That is absolutely shocking.

I feel very sad for you.

About the paint, it would be best if you hand it over to a good paintshop where they scrape the old paint completely and reapply the paint.

Also, do make sure that the mechanicals of the car are still fine. You must be very lucky that the fuel tanks didnt catch fire. That could have been an absolute catastrophe.

[androdev]

OOOOUUUUUUCHHHHH!!!! Unimaginable bad luck! Very sorry to hear what has happened buddy. Hope the repair costs are reasonable! You will know the extent of the damage only after a thorough wash - you might get lucky you never know!

[f50xj13]

hi,
really sad to see the state of your cars/home. the damage to the plastic is not evident from the pics but try polishing the car to see if the damage comes down to an acceptable level otherwise the showrooms will charge a lot of money...
i think a good polisher will be able to get off most of the stains on the car...this is assuming only the covers had burnt on the car and not any other component of the car.
hope this helps

[anupmathur]

Speechless! Dumbfounded!
Such things happen too?

It seems the cars will need to be repainted.
Thank God he was not carrying a gun. Things would have been far worse.

[DCEite]

Oh man!
Really feel sorry for you, the cars, the home.
You have got a big heart mate, to be typing this post and that too with a "Cheers" in the end!
Unfortunately I don't have any tips on restoring/reparing the car body, but i am sure someone would chip in with good advice.
Till then, do keep calm and look at the brighter side. The damage could have been much severe and dangerous, as you rightly said.
**** happens.

[mclaren1885]

Its really sad to see the cars in such state because of a unstable nincompoop. Such scoundrels need to be taken to task.

Once when me and a couple of friends had been to Savandurga for a trek, there was this mad man who went about breaking windshields of cars for "fun". When we returned back, the windshield was broken with two huge stones. That idiot actually stood on the bonnet and hurled the stones on the glass and then later on the bonnet.

I wish I could get my hands on him, but the villagers didn't help us hunting him down either. Since the nearest police station was a distance away, we left the place empty handed. Would have been a lot happier if my wheel spanner sent him crying to his dentist.

Like Ajit said, kindly get in touch with your insurance company before you do anything or take it to your dealer and get a quote. Then find out if its worth claiming insurance or not.

[ajmat]

Ouch! You should have showed the car to the insurers before trying anything other than putting the fire out

[s0uljah]

Thats rotten luck.

Though on the bright side the fire didnt get out of hand and ignite the petrol tanks. That would have had devastating effects.

[Nitronium]

Holy mother of god what rotten luck!!

As suggested below, get your insurance company to evaluate the damage.

It looks like a re paneling job, there seem to be holes on the surface. Thank your stars the whole car didn't go up in flames!

[vaseem]

it is bad enough when you get your car scratched / dented when you have parked your car on some street, but this when your cars are covered in the safety of your home!! sheer bad luck man.

I hope you have fired the watchman.

regards

Vaseem

[akshay4587]

oh my god this is really bad.
the moron should get punished hard for this deed

[mmmjgm]

Dueller,

That was a really sad incident, hope that you get your cars ship shape soon.

regards

M M

[dinar]

It really sad, hope the guy is punished for what he did and also for what he tried to do.
Get in touch with the insurance company first.

[turbo1787]

Dueller,
Sorry to see your beauties damaged.
Iam shocked to see that such unfortunate incidents happen for real and not just in films.