Talked to the insurance today finally. They seem to think it was caused by the power wire for my Sirius radio that I ran in 2002. Somehow the wire got caught up in the emergency brake handle mechanism. He thinks that over time as I set and released the e brake it might have wore down the cable causing an arc of some sort. That is where the investigators think they found the start of the fire but based on the interior they are not 100%. In any event even though I wired it they are not placing blame on me since if what they think happened did it would just be a freak circumstance. My advice to everyone is if you ran wires under your dash take an hour or so and make sure they do not come in contact with any moving items. If that is something we learn from this and it helps maybe save someone else from the loss later or even worse an injury or death then my sacrifice will not be in vain.

They are taking pretty good care of me in terms of payment. I will be back in an xterra again soon!!!

My turn signal started letting out wisps of smoke occasionally when I used it a couple weeks ago and I was thinking about replacing it "sometime"... seeing your thread motivated me to go ahead and order and install a new switch (which turned out to be super easy and only $50)

Dang...it does make me rethink the rats nest of wiring I have to accessories...the good thing is that the wires are harnessed and away from moving parts, but wow.

Coincidentally, I watched a Corolla go up just as bad on the freeway on the way to work this morning. Nothing left.

As for sliders, bumper, etc...unless the insurance is going to compensate you for the aftermarket items you had on there, those *should* be yours for the taking....a few hundred bucks in salvage parts is better than just getting the low KBB on the truck, I figure.

Sucks man.

They did.

I'd be cautions about trying to re-use anything left on the truck. I watched a company truck (93 Jeep Cherokee) go up in flames (with a cool movie-type explosion, even) a couple of years ago. There were several items that looked "ok" but when we attempted to salvage them closer inspection revealed small cracks and metalurgical damage due to the high heat.

Yeah I am not going to. Not sure what I will do with the new Xterra yet. (When I get one)

Save some money, get one from an auction that rolled over (seems to be a good number of those) and still runs good. Then either fix it up or chop it up.

Or just get one the normal way.

At least you're thinking of getting another one.

Damn... that sucks. Glad no one was hurt.

Well I didn't make it to the nissan lot. I found a monster deal on a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. I had to take the deal. I kinda always wanted a truck and am glad I have one now but will miss the Xterra. I feel like a traitor lol.

Ban him. :p

Not sure how I missed this thread, but holy shit - that's a nasty fire.

Congrats on the new truck - got any details on it? Just curious. It should be a solid truck for you, and I bet the mileage will be about the same.

j/k

as long as it makes you happy paul, fuck what anyone else thinks.

And in the news today, Paul H had his second car fire in less than a month. Details at 10.

Just kidding.

Good luck with the new truck!