Got the worst phone call in my 24 years tonight:
Friend: "Yo Al, where are you?"
Me: "Home, why?"
Friend: "Where's your lancer?"
Me: "In the garage, why wassup?"
Friend: "Dog, get over here quick, THE GARAGE'S ON FIRE!!!"

Since I live in Manhattan, parking spaces are scarce so I have a monthly space in a garage a block away from me. So when I get to the garage, I see nothing but fire engines and the windows to the garage are all blown out. I'm thinkin ::damn all that work to go up in flames in 10mins:::. Turns out that a porsche that some dude owns caught on fire when the parking attendant turned it on, igniting a fire and speading to the cars near it. Fortunatley for me, I take the subway to work so my car was towards the rear of the garage. I eventually snuck up to the second level where my car was and found no visible damage on it, however it looked liked like something out of the WTC, completely covered in ash. My father suggested that I take the car out of the garage that night, but I'd rather have my insurance adjuster come and take a look before I even consider moving it out of there.

Should I go the insurance route, or have the garage pay for any damages?? Please, any info would help a great deal.

 

Go through the garage management first. They may settle all damages outside of insurance to save themselves even more inflated premiums...if that doesn't work, then go through your own insurance.

 

Damn bro sorry to hear that best thing is file a claim with the insurance company and then see if whoever owns the garages to pay the insurance good luck

 

You may never be able to get the smell out.
I hope it get resolved OK.

Good luck,

 

haha i thought i was gonna see another trashed lancer thread. i think someones looking down on you.

 

Above all, no one was hurt. Cars are replaceable, but as we all know, lives aren't. My heart dropped when I saw the garage. I didn't see any flames or anything like that. It was pretty dark in there, so i didn't see any damage on my car. However, parts, glass or whatever could flied and hit the car without me knowing and I wanna make sure that I cover all my bases, so I think I might call in the insurance company instead of waiting on the garage.

 

1st of all glad no one was hurt, but sux what happened to the garage

 

I would think the guy who's car caught on fire would have to pay for smoke damage. Not the garage owner. Find out who his insurance agent is and talk to them about any smoke damage or smell.

 

Since there's going to be questions of responsibility: Porsche owner, Valet company (if they're not managed by the garage), garage managment and possibly "act of God type events" in which case your insurance will need to cover damages. I would call my insurance company. If nothing else, they will light a fire under the management/ownership of the garage (sorry, I had to) and will try their best to get the garage or other responsible party to pay for any damages.

I hope you're lucky and all you need is a good, thorough, detailing (at the expense of the garage, of course) good luck!!

 

damn al.. sorry to hear about that. but IMO, if you wanna wait it out, i'd wait for the garage to see if they will cover any damages.. but if you're impatient and wanna get things done right away, go through your insurance company if you have a low deductible.. it isnt your fault, so your premium shouldnt go up.. jus the fact that you gotta pay your deductible is what sucks.. unless of course the garage will cover that

 

Try To Work It Out With The Garage Management; If They Dont Pay You Enough Amount Than File A Claim With Insurance.

Good Luck !!!

 

good to hear no one was hurt and your car was ok.

 

try the garage and go from there. if you do have to go through your insurance, make sure they understand how the fire was caused in hopes that if your vehicle did incur any damage that they will chase down the responsible party.

 

you might not even have to pay the deductible if you have AAA.

Same kind of incident happened with my Lancer about 3 weeks ago. While my car was parked on the street; some lady hit the gas pedal instead of break while she was parking her car. She messed up the whole front of my car. However, i was
lucky that she put down all her information. I called my Insurance company and filed a claim. I told them what happened and they were like, since it is not your fault, we will waive your deductible and you can get that fixe anywhere you want. In these kinds of cases what happens is that the insurance company bills the other parties insurance company that way we dont have to deal directly with the other party. our insurance company take cares of all the billing.

My advice to you is that you should contact you insurance co and file a claim. They will take care of all demage and then bill the Garage Management.

GOOD LUCK AND WATCH OUT. THIS YEAR IS JINX FOR ALL THE LANCER OWNERS !!!

 

I called up Geico last night to cover my behind. They're gonna have someone come over and take a look at the car within the next 48hrs. I know there isn't a great deal of damage, but just thought I'd play it safe. i'll keep you guys posted.