Lightning Damage Help!

[True Story]

We had to park our Lexus 350 ES on the street because our driveway was torn up waiting for concrete to be poured once we got a non-rainy day. On June 29th a lightning strike occurred on or close to our vehicle. The next day, my wife approached the car and it did not react by opening the door. When I got home from work, I used the manual key to enter the vehicle and pushed the start button only to hear the motor turn over but not start. I had the vehicle towed to the dealership and it has been there over two weeks without any clear diagnosis as to damage. Our collision coverage covers lightning strikes with a $500 deductible. I hear Lexus cars can have as many as 40 computers which could be affected and diagnosis is very difficult. My car, in excellent shape, could wind up being totaled! Has anyone else had to deal with this and what was the outcome?

 

[flipside909]

Wow, sorry to hear this. Lightning strikes would be considered weather related incidents and are normally covered under your comprehensive coverage, not collision (as it has to be a vehicle to vehicle or vehicle to fixed object hit). In a previous life, I used to be an appraiser. It would be in your best interest to have the vehicle totaled because of damaged electronics.

 

[mmcartalk]

Sorry to hear what happened. Ryan (Flipside) is correct......weather-related damage comes under Comprehensive, not Collision, on the insurance. That's why I personally keep $500 Deductible on Collision and $0 on Comprehensive.

Did you notice any burn-marks or damage on your car from where the bolt might have struck? Lightning flashes momentarily generate an enormous amount of heat (hotter than the surface of the sun), and even a momentary strike would likely leave some marks or damage on the spot it happened....even on sheet-metal.

 

[RAL]

Sorry for your trouble ... We had a lightning strike close to the house years ago. No visible damage, but some electronics in the house were irreparably damaged.

 

[True Story]

Wow, sorry to hear this. Lightning strikes would be considered weather related incidents and are normally covered under your comprehensive coverage, not collision (as it has to be a vehicle to vehicle or vehicle to fixed object hit). In a previous life, I used to be an appraiser. It would be in your best interest to have the vehicle totaled because of damaged electronics.

Yeah I meant comprehensive in my post. Lexus told us today repairs are $12,000 just to get started. The initial visit by our State Farm adjuster said he couldn't find an entry point, so he denied lightning damage. Lexus also couldn't find an entry point either but are charging us for tons of electrical components. I spoke to the service manager and asked how so many components could be damaged without some type of connection to lightning. He agreed to word it differently such that in his experience the car has been damaged by an electrical charge generated by lightning. My wife sent the adjuster an affidavit chronicling the events of the evening that knocked out power to our TV room, the TV, the cable box, the ethernet connection to our modem, and surround sound amp on our back patio. Several neighbors behind and adjacent to our house also lost TVs and various electronic devices. She also sent him a copy of Whats App texts between neighbors discussing the lightning strike. Can you give me any advice on how to proceed if our adjuster still won't cover our damages? We are sick because we have all of our insurance with State Farm with no claims on our automotive for over 40 years. Thanks for any input.