Dash destroyed in electrical fire.

[purpleminx]

No lit cigarette butts were possible. Hadn't had a single one in the car that day. Just got in, drove to where we were going, went away from the car for 20 minutes, came back, windows were blacked out, and sirens were in the distance =/

[*MAD DOG*]

Originally Posted by purpleminx

No lit cigarette butts were possible. Hadn't had a single one in the car that day. Just got in, drove to where we were going, went away from the car for 20 minutes, came back, windows were blacked out, and sirens were in the distance =/

That is one messed up Yaris. Just a few questions, you say "...drove to where we were going..." To me that indicates that you had at least one other passenger in the car, right?

Do they smoke?

Could they have left something on the passenger side of the car?

What brightness setting did you have the speedo on?

It really is unusual for a Toyota to catch fire. I hope it all gets sorted out in your favor.

[purpleminx]

Originally Posted by *MAD DOG*

That is one messed up Yaris. Just a few questions, you say "...drove to where we were going..." To me that indicates that you had at least one other passenger in the car, right?

Do they smoke?

Could they have left something on the passenger side of the car?

What brightness setting did you have the speedo on?

It really is unusual for a Toyota to catch fire. I hope it all gets sorted out in your favor.

They smoke, but like I said, we didn't smoke in the car that day. I'm not sure if they left anything in the car, but if they did, and it's recognisably theirs, and I'm presented with it as being the cause.... God help me.

The brightness setting was on default.

Originally Posted by cleong

If you're in Brisbane and the car has to go to the scrapyard, I'd be interested in buying the steering column off you. Australian Yarii steering wheels are adjustable for tilt and reach, aren't they?

I am in Brisbane, actually. The car is sitting in the Morningside Downtown Toyota Service Centre right now. Called them yesterday, apparantly it's caused quite the stir. It's definitely a write off, so I'll see what I want to do with the leftovers after all this is done.

Originally Posted by contraband831

It looks like the fire started here, so i will ask this again to the OP: is this a flashlight?? if so this could have caused the fire, the batteries where exposed to extreme heat. It looks like the fire traveled up form this point destroying your dash and gauge cluster.

The car wasn't exposed to prolonged or extreme heat. It was left sitting there for maybe 20 minutes max. While it was a moderately hot and sunny day, it was partially shaded by a tree, especially on the passenger side. I refuse to believe that it was the torch. If it was, that area of the car would have sustained so much more damage. The damage that is down there is basically just melted dash thats dripped onto the torch.

I think it had to have been something further up in the dash. Not the storage compartments, not down where the torch is. The heat had to have been extreme where the dash is melted away and the wires are all exposed. Look what it did to the windshield.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...0102008074.jpg

The plastic is so tough that if you look closely at the pictures in my first post, you can see that the rear view mirror actually touches the drivers side floor now. I don't think a torch could start the kind of fire or heat necessary to light the dash on fire.

Then again, I admittedly, don't know that much about cars.

Originally Posted by stran

If someone has time, they can look through the service manual and figure out what's actually behind the dash. If the ignition is off, most of the wires will not be live, so that would narrow down what could cause the fire.

From the extent of the damage and the time that it would have taken to get like that, I'm assuming that the problem actually started towards the end of my journey, probably before I turned the car off and got out.