Yesterday at work there was a thunderstorm and I saw and heard a bolt of lightning strike right outside my window. Which is where the parking lot is, where my car was parked. When I went to leave 2 hours later, my car wouldn’t start.
It’s a 2018 chevy cruze push to start, and the lights all came on but no engine. Then it displayed a “service stabilitrak” and “service brake assist” notification.
My coworker tried giving me a jump thinking it could be the battery but it didn’t work. My other coworker’s car also didn’t start which leads me to believe that it could have been the lightning strike that caused an issue.
I left it there for the weekend and am planning to have it towed to a nearby mechanic that I trust on Monday.
What I’m wondering is whether I should contact insurance about the lightning strike now, or wait to see what the mechanic says. Will my insurance go up as soon as I tell them about it? My concern is that if I notify them about the lightning and my insurance goes up, then it ends up being an easy inexpensive fix at the mechanic that I could’ve covered myself. But I don’t know if it’s bad to wait to notify them until after I see what’s wrong with the car.
Posted by saucysweetie
3 Comments
There’s nothing wrong with getting an estimate before calling insurance
Make sure the mechanic doesn’t start work. If he starts work then asks for money for work the insurer didn’t get a chance to verify, that’s where the process gets all gummed up
You can have an estimate written up for the vehicle but do not have them complete any repairs until insurance has gotten a look at the vehicle.
Did you try to reboot the car? Disconnect the battery for 30 seconds.