Hi, everyone, I've been looking through some of the posts on this forum for a few weeks, but only now had to sign up to log in and post because I haven't found a thread for this one (yet). A couple of months ago I bought an 08 G37, love it, but Sunday we had to evacuate because of fire.

We live kind of off in the woods, lots of undergrowth and trees, and in Texas it's been dry and was really windy that day, so it came fast after our neighbor first spotted the smoke in the sky. Anyway, the upshot of that is in all of the smoke and terror, I lost my keys and had to ditch the car. When we were able to sneak back in, we had a lot of damage but the car was sitting there unscathed. I found the keys where I'd dropped them when I was throwing gates open to let animals out. I checked the fluids and the tires, then tried starting it up, and it fired up fine, so I went ahead and drove it out of there - the fire was still live and jumping around, and I needed to move it away from the gate, anyway.

So, upshot is, is there anything I should look for as far as hidden damage? There is a bit of smoke smell, but that's the only thing I've noticed so far. I wondered if I should go ahead and call the insurance company, but not sure. I'd just as soon air it out and try to de-stankify the interior, but I'm worried about any damage that I can't see that might affect long life - originally I thought I'd buy this car and have fun with it for a couple of years, but after this miracle, I think she's mine until the wheels fall off.

Thanks for any input!

 

God likes Gs as well i guess.

 

LOL! I guess so! I feel almost guilty, we lost a lot, it doesn't seem fair that we were so lucky when a lot of our neighbors places burned to the ground. We had to leave some of the animals, we had to run our horses off and two of the dogs took off after them, and the cat freaked out and disappeared, and it was coming so fast I couldn't get her or the two runners back...it's a miracle that ALL of my animals were waiting in the char for us when we came back, and the darn car was sitting there

Also? I'm not particularly religious, but I have a statue of Saint Francis sitting in the circle of my driveway between two big trees, since he's the patron saint of animals and we've got lots of those, and he's still standing, with his circle undisturbed. the car was parked close to him, the house was only partially damaged, maybe because he was watching for the poor cat inside. I'll get religon yet

 

Wow, Im sorry to hear that. Im glad you and your family came out of that unharmed. Things can always be replaced.

 

Wow, hard to imagine and sounds terrifying. GOod thing your animals and home (mostly) are ok.

For damage, I would think the exterior paint should be a good indicator. Check tire pressure, all the fluids and if you really want, take a look underneath the car.

Good luck.
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wow.. it sounded just like in the movies..i'm glad you, your family and animals are ok. did you find the cat that freaked out and disappear? I can't believe all your animals are waiting for you in the char... they are so intelligent. You should treat them extra nice from now on.

The smoke that you smelled in the car are probably the leftover air pollution from the fire. maybe drive it for a few days and see whether it goes away. If not change the incabin air filter and see what happen..

goodluck

 

Agreed most important thing is that the fam is ok.

 

That's crazy... Sorry to hear that, and yes, glad that you and your family are safe. I agree with G37sbs, maybe you should drive it for a few days and see if there's anything wrong.

 

Thanks, everyone. Yes, we're so incredibly lucky, I can't believe it. I know dealing with the insurance company is probably going to get trying, the house might be all right if there's no hidden smoke damage or warpage, but the shop/garage I had had a LOT of stuff in it. My mom and I live there together and the house is only a two bedroom, so we stored a lot of household things and off season clothing out there to keep it out of the way, not to mention the tools/tack/horse-dog stuff. I'm afraid they're not going to believe that two women had all of the tools that we say we did, but I've got some receipts and statements, plus the mangled remnants.

Every single animal I had to leave is all right! I think one of the horses got tangled in wire or something; he's got a limp and some marks but oh well, we'll feed him for the next 20 years even if he turns up unsound, he totally deserves it. The two dogs that were with them are fine too, no singe all all. My old collie is still a little upset, but the younger one I think thinks it was a big adventure, and still wants to chase horses. The CAT I was really stricken about, I had had to leave her in the house, I could not find her, and we were just plain out of time. We drove through fire on the road to get out, didn't think we were going to make it. A lot of people literally had two minutes, tops, to get out, it came so fast. But, yep, she was in the house, working on her list of complaints and rearranging the contents of all the shelves. There's a livestock agent working with the Sheriffs department going around feeding all of the animals they could find, it sounds like there were surprisingly few animal casualties, and no human ones so far. A lot of peoples homes burned completely, while houses next to them are standing with no visible damage at all.

My number one thank you to whoever is watching is that my mother and all of the animals made it out of this, I would have let the fire have everything else in a heartbeat and I wish it would have taken the car and left someones house. But its kind of a symbol now - I remember driving it out of there, and it was like driving through hell, things were still burning and smoldering. A couple of firefighters and local volunteers turned around to look, and at a town hall meeting a couple of nights ago, I passed a knot of guys talking about a place with a carport still standing and a brand new car sitting there. That must have been us, my carport *is* still standing next to my grenaded shop, and the car looked freakishly shiny sitting there in all the destruction.

Everything looks okay on it, tires seem all right, and I ran around and checked all the fluids before I started it that day. The smoke smell didn't seem that bad at first, but I had to relocate the other night and it seemed to stink a little, but it drove just fine. I'll take it to the carwash in a couple of days if I get some time, although you guys have me spooked about that now, since the last forums I was cruising through a week or so ago were the detailing archives But I'll at least spray it off and see if there's any paint damage. I forgot about the cabin air filter, I'll get after that for sure. My moms Kia Sorrento is what we fled in with us and four dogs, and that thing needs some love, too, right about now, it just stings when I think about going over it and realize everything I would have used is gone. I hope the hotel we're holed up in doesn't mind if I get out there in the evenings and start doing a little light auto work.

OH, don't know if this is how you do it, I never liked facebook, but Ive been using it to post pics to ease my cell phone a little, so if this is the right link, this is what it looked like that day

Facebook

 

Well the G is an animal.. must be why St. Francis saved it!

As for damages, I'd definitely change out the interior air filter behind the glove box. Otherwise it sounds like you lucked out, as long as no plastic pieces melted in the engine bay or wheel wells or underneath the car you sound fine.