FAIRFIELD, Ct. — Fire officials are investigating the cause of an early morning car fire on the Merritt Parkway that destroyed an Audi R8 belonging to a Connecticut Powerball winner.
According to reports, Rahul Patel, of Newington, was driving the car, only a week old, northbound on the parkway around 9 a.m., when, between exit 46 and 47 in Fairfield, he looked up in the rearview mirror and saw smoke.
As the car's engine is in the rear, Patel pulled over to see if there was something wrong with the vehicle. After stepping out of the car, he reportedly saw flames coming out of the engine.
No one was hurt in the incident, but the car was a complete loss. Fire officials said the car is only one of two of its kind in the United States and that the car was valued at $140,000, with options. The list price for the vehicle on the Audi web site is $114,000.
Losing such a rare car might be considered bad luck but, almost exactly a year ago, Patel had luck of a different sort when he won a $25 million Powerball jackpot. He won the money on June 29, 2009, from a $1 ticket.
At that time, Connecticut lottery officials said Patel, then 32 years old, and the only winner, opted to take the prize as a one-time cash lump sum of $12.5 million. After state and federal taxes, he received a check for $8.7 million.
A section of the parkway was closed for about 30 minutes due to the car fire. The cause of the fire is unknown and the Fairfield Fire Department is investigating.
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Oh my, more publicity. Which I'm sure he does not need.
I think I'm too cheap for life because my idea of splurging is a Corvette, not a $140,000 Audi.
That's some bad news, but as the other two posters have said, it would have been better to buy a cheaper car. Good to hear he is okay though.
Personally I'd go with a car in the $30,000-$50,000 price range. Particularly so if something happens to it I won't be as big in the hole and also so I'm not immediately labeled as 'very wealthy', just 'doing well'.
lol the fire officals claim it was only one of two r8's in the country....??? well thats some bull, i've seen r8's driving around NC. another joke is the fact that if it were only one of the two r8"s in the states.... wouldn't it be worth more than $140k
every one can relax because im sure the guy has/had insurance on the car. may be he will get another one and claim to have owned 2 of the only 3 r8's in the States.
Kobra- ITs this upcoming years model (note they even say the car was just a week old! 2011 series were just relased)- so its ABSOLUTELY possible that its only one of two out there on the roads Maybe you are thinking of another model year one that you keep seeing???..... .Are you a car appraiser to know the value? Or do you go off Kelly Bluebook ?
As to how that guy spends his money- Its nunmybiz. He can spend it on silly bands. ITs his to enjoy! and enjoy it he will. Just hate to see a loss of property for anyone....rich or poor its a loss .
nvm the car, im more concerned a $25M jackpoyt lands him with 8 mill in his pocket.
I wonder if winners in US lotteries would receive the full jackpot amount eventually if they opted for annual payments ?
but of course I get the weekly newsletter from wreckedexotics.com and seen plenty of them
which makes me wonder if thar worth the price ??
actually in this morning's letter ...... thars a nice pic of toasted hummer limo
It's a burden to own a flashy car and I wouldn't want one even if I won the lottery.
I get a strange satisfaction to see a sports car being ticketed, towed away or clamped for illegal parking.
Took this pic some months ago on a side-street where I live:
I am not sure that having a less expensive car makes you wiser or a better person !
Money is for saving AND spending !
If I would ever win a large amount - I would have an expensive car or 2 - it is up to each individual as to what they do with their money - not for self-proclaimed experts !
If you want a sports car, purchase one and don't worry about lunkheads that think you should be driving a pickup truck !
I hope that the gentleman gets another dream car, if that is what he wants, after all - it is HIS money !
oh ok, i see were its says the car was a week old. i guess my first time reading it i figured it was a week old to him. and trust me hun you may mistake a r8 for another model or year. but i want
yeaH THE ADVERTISED JACKPOT IS ANNUITY , but not taxes. so if he had taken annuity he would get 25 mill over the years but had to pay tax ea year. on what he gets.so woulda been $25 mill over 25 years minus tax.
i think the trick is to figure if you can do better with the money than the gov in the intervening 25 years. most people feel they can, and take the lump sum. what with interest rates being what they are over there in USA and UK even, i dont think i could find a safe place to invest and live off the interest.
My house cost less than that car!
SO were my grandparents when purchased (bought for 38,000 sold for 180k$ years later, they put one third down and paid off in 15 years so they made a nice chunk of change) - Luckily real estate is on the upswing in some areas so you will gain value thru time. Cars usually lose value after time, (unless its a rare collectors model).
Well said Id buy a corvette first !
That's interesting.
Those winners who managed their money badly must have wished they had taken the annuity.
With low interest rate, the present value of a jackpot win before tax should be good reason enough to take the lump sum.
pretty scary though...i know i would have panic
...forget the money...
seeing my car in smoke through my mirror.... money could be in my lap while driving and i would have left it all in that dang car....
"Those winners who managed their money badly must have wished they had taken the annuity."
Not necessarily. There's a book called Money for Nothing by Edward Ugel. Ugel worked for a company that bought lottery annuities off of lottery winners who, for the most part, couldn't manage their finances. It's an interesting read. Sometimes people who take annuities take out huge loans for the fancy sports cars and big mansions, and normally their yearly check would be enough to cover these payments, but they couldn't say no to all the friends and family who turn into leaches. Even with annual checks coming in worth millions (that'd be like winning the lottery every year), some people can still manage to stay broke.
I agree. If I won $8.7M after taxes, I wouldn't buy a $114K car. Seems sort of a waste to me. In fact, I'd probably just keep what I have now since it still works and looks decent. I'd just make a few small fixes and install a new 4.1 way stereo system into it. The total cost probably wouldn't be more than $3K.
Well then, you sound like a mean spirited person. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who think the way you do ... it's a real unhelpful weight to whichever society that they interact within.
Yet, thankfully, a mean spirited person can become a useful member to their society whenever they choose to change their thinking and behaviors! It takes a concentrated 21-30 days to change a habit; I hope that you will change yourself soon (for your's and society's sake).
Yes, as someone mentioned before, most posted or announced USA lottery jackpots are the amounts paid over 20-25 years. The winner has the choice of taking a lump sum or payments over these years. The winner must then pay taxes. Typically, the lottery officials will take out an initial amount for taxes but this usually doesn't cover all taxes. The winner must then pay the rest at tax time.
A simple way to estimate the value of a USA lottery jackpot is to divide it by 3. This will give you an estimate of the value of the lump sum after taxes. For example, this winner won $25M and the lump sum after taxes was $8.7M. Estimating, $25M/3 is $8.3M which is very close to the actual amount. Another example is the recent $260M PowerBall jackpot winner: $260M/3 is $86.7M lump sum after taxes. It's not $260M but I could live with $86.7M. It's usually slightly more, but it gives you a good idea of what the winners end up with. News outlets usually don't tell you what the lump sum after taxes is.
Also, as another person here mentioned, there are companies which will buy out any annuities, including lotto winnings. However, these companies will charge a fee and interest for this service. The lotto winner is then free to do whatever he wishes with his money.
How does it work in the UK? Is the announced amount what the winner gets? I understand UK winners are not taxed. Is this true?
That's what I initially thought. However, upon retrospect, engine fires are a lot more common that you might think. In fact, a long time ago, I had a car where the carburetor would leak fuel out of the top right onto the hot engine, something wrong with the valve. It never caught fire though. I was lucky. But then again, perhaps someone sabotaged his Audi R8 to extort money from him. Perhaps the local criminal element did it. But nah, new cars are so complex, it was probably something either heat or fuel related.
While he did have insurance, there will probably be a large deductable, up to $5,000 he will have to pay. However, because of the bad publicity, he might be able to get Audi to give him another car for free. If he wrote the CEO of Audi in Germany, he could request they give him another car. After all, it's probably a defect in the car which caused the fire. This does not make Audi look good and Audi would want to repair its image.
Cal you make a valid statment that image is everything to the car industry. THey could also say the guy gave them a bad image and counter sue. Audi is quite the shrewd manufacturer and will not allow tarnishment by any means. Will be interesting though to see if it was mechanical ....or due to what was stored in the tail end.
As iterated before, Its his business how he spends it or invest in his joys.Just glad he is alive and able to walk away from such a terrible incident...
Rahul, I'm glad that you're okay [very few drivers regularly look at all three car mirrors when driving; so you have great defensive driving skills!] and that if it was Audi's flaw in your car, that they will mend problem and then give you another to replace!
Oh my thats so sad........I wish him all the best.
"[very few drivers regularly look at all three car mirrors when driving;"
I have to disagree with that. I be lookin everywhere.
Specially if the lady next to me got a... well... never mind.