both cars hit by lightning

rhett

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Mar 3, 2003
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9
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Indiana
Both of my vehicles, Honda cr-v ex-l 2008 and my honda van, base model, 2007, were recently hit by lighting. The honda dealer pretty much suggested a total on the cr-v but said the van was repairable. that was a month ago. just today I got a phone call from honda and they said that they are recommending the van to be totaled also. Now, I am dealing with the insurance company, Indiana Farmers, on the vehicles. My contact says it is way beyond his approval level for settlement. Have any of you gone through a settlement and can you give any advice? I know what the value of the cars are based on kelly blue book.

rhett
 

gadget_lover

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Oct 7, 2003
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Near Silicon Valley (too near)
Re: both cars hit by lighting

Advice:

#1 Anything that is not in writing is NOT going to happen. Adjusters seem to feel it's their job to lie. They make lots of empty promises.
#2 Don't accept a check if it has anything written on it. The check is often a legal agreement that says they have paid you in full.
#3 Don't accept less than you think you are due. Hold out and they will eventually pay you what you lost.

Daniel
 

Lynx_Arc

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Tulsa,OK
Re: both cars hit by lighting

I had a run in with Farmers...... they gave me wholesale for my somewhat rare car when it was totalled and I couldn't replace it.
 

Chicago X

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May 6, 2010
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Re: both cars hit by lighting

If they don't total the van, please be sure and claim "diminished resale value" as part of your settlement.

Good luck.
 

PhotonWrangler

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Oct 19, 2003
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In a handbasket
Re: both cars hit by lighting

As Daniel said, get everything in writing. Check the law in your state and if ok, record all phone conversations with your adjuster to document all promises.
 

N10

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Oct 15, 2007
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Montreal
Re: both cars hit by lighting

didn't know lightning could cause a car to be totalled since i've watched all those documentaries showing how a car was one of the safest places to be during a lightning storm and the cars tested didn't seem to suffer much damage....what kind of damage did your vehicles sustain if u don't mind elaborating?
 

hellokitty[hk]

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Jan 29, 2007
Messages
645
Re: both cars hit by lighting

didn't know lightning could cause a car to be totalled since i've watched all those documentaries showing how a car was one of the safest places to be during a lightning storm and the cars tested didn't seem to suffer much damage....what kind of damage did your vehicles sustain if u don't mind elaborating?
I am curious too.
 

Steve K

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Jun 10, 2002
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Peoria, IL
Re: both cars hit by lighting

An interesting situation.... any pics of damaged electronics?? Especially at the circuit board level?

Some of the EMC testing that I do involves testing for engines in stationary applications, typically standby electrical generators and such. It has to be able to tolerate a nearby lightning strike, which translates into a test where we put up to 1000v on the wires of the system. This typically requires some good sized transorbs (similar to zener diodes) on the connector pins of the electronics (sensors, ECU's, etc.). This adds size and cost to all of the electronics.

In a car, I think the electronics is less well protected by the vehicle structure, with the result that the vehicle wiring will carry more of the lightning discharge current. Seems like it could easily kill the semiconductors by voltage overstress. The vehicle occupants could still survive, though, especially if they limited their contact points with the vehicle structure.

This would certainly be one argument for driving a '65 Volkwagen Beetle with no electronics (other than an AM radio made with vacuum tubes).

regards,
Steve K.
 

Ken_McE

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Jun 16, 2003
Messages
1,687
Re: both cars hit by lighting

didn't know lightning could cause a car to be totalled ... a car was one of the safest places to be during a lightning storm and...

The metal body of the vehicle serves as a makeshift faraday cage. An electrical current will tend to follow the easy path through the skin rather than jump through the middle. This part is good for the occupants.

Modern cars can be thought of as rolling computers. They have electronic chips controlling pretty much everything. There is a fair chance that some current will find its way through some of those little copper wires that tie everything together.

This means that some little part that was designed to handle .1 amp on and off for ten years finds itself facing 10K amps for some fraction of a second. Normally this does not go well.

Sometimes you can follow the current path through a car by the trail of burned insulation and blackened circuit boards and random bits of flash melted metal here and there. other times you just get, say, a CANBUS error where the car insists that is it getting no signals from the brakes, or the restraint systems, or the tranny, or dog know what.

You can put an entire day into chasing through the guts of the car swapping out parts, and then find out that, nope, the problem is on the other end, and then you start on the next thing, and the next, and the next. After a while the labor and part start to add up. The problems may also be in the wiring harnesses. These can be replaced, but you have to take apart half the car to do so.

Of course, the current could go around through the skin and hop out to ground through the suspension or exhaust, leaving you with nothing more than a wild story and some freaky weld marks. Lightning is capricious, you just don't know.
 

TyJo

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Re: both cars hit by lighting

Nice interesting post. I would have never thought of all the labor and trial and error.
 

Steve K

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Jun 10, 2002
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Peoria, IL
Re: both cars hit by lighting

Here's an interesting bit of info regarding cars and lightning strikes. A few good photos at the bottom of damage to the car's exterior due to lightning. I thought the statement "We suggest pulling off to the side of the road in a safe manner, turning on the emergency blinkers, turning off the engine, putting one's hands in one's lap, and waiting out the storm" to be very good, especially the part about keeping your hands in your lap and not on the car!

I'm still hoping to see damage to the 'tronics, though. Just wondering how extensive the damage can be.... although, with direct hit, the remains might be nothing more than a small, smoldering lump of fiberglass, resin, and copper.

regards,
Steve K.
 
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