A Tree Smashed My Car

[ChuckG]

This happened in August. At 12:30 am my doorbell rang. It was my neighbor telling me that a tree had come down in my front yard. I was in bed so I got dressed and went outside to take a look. Where I live there are big trees EVERYWHERE. I have this Maple in my front yard that just decided to come down. The weather was fine, it just fell.

This tree was maybe 50-60 feet tall and it fell all the way to my driveway and was covering my car. I didn't think it would have damaged my car because the top branches were all that covered it. I looked briefly at what happened, then called it a night.

In the morning I checked out my car. It turns out the windshield was smashed and the roof was partially collapsed in the front. I called a neighbor in the landscaping business and the two of us cut up the tree.



Can you spot my dog?











My car was undriveable. And because it is 11 years old, I didn't have any comprehensive insurance on it. The insurance company would have totaled it anyway and I would have walked away with about $1500 and have no car. So I called a buddy who owns a car repair garage and he said his towing company owes him a free tow and the next time he comes in, he'll have him pick up my car and bring it to his garage. The tow man picked it up a couple of days later.

A worker at the garage said he'd like to attempt to straighten out the roof enough so that he could get a windshield in there. I told him to go ahead and give it a shot, but in the meantime I'm going to take out my Alpine head unit. I didn't think it could be done.

To get the roof straight, the mechanic used suction cups to pull as much as possible of the roof up. Then they took the car inside of the garage, opened the passenger window, put one leg of the lift through the opening so it was touching the inside of my roof, and then raised the car with that leg. A scary maneuver but it seemed to work. The next day the glass guy came out and put a windshield in. It went right in. Amazing. I never thought they'd ever get a windshield in there. And all the roof electronics work as well.



I'm going to drive my smashed car through the winter and then who knows. I'm due for a new car anyway. Anyone looking for a low mileage great daily driver?

[sjz]

Sorry for your bad luck... at least no one was hurt (old cliche').
I'm not an insurance guy, but is it possible that your homeowner's insurance would pay?
Good luck,
Steve

[Mr.DJ]

Better yet, it missed your beautiful home. Great job on getting your car repaired through some ingenious thinking...enjoy the firewood this winter.

[ChuckG]

sjz- My home owners policy would not cover the car even though it was sitting in my driveway. The contents in the car would be covered but not the car itself. I have just liability coverage on the car. The car was worth ~$2000, and minus my $500 deductible, they would have taken the car and given me a check for $1500. So why bother with any fancy policy. The windshield cost $180 installed and I gave the owner of the garage and the guy that worked on it $100 each. After I paid the landscaper, I broke even.

Mr.DJ- Funny you should mention the wood. My sister heats her entire home with two fireplace inserts. She burns between 3-5 cords of wood every winter. Care to guess where the wood went?

Look in the picture window and see if you can see my pooch.