So I live in a canyon in Southern California, and I have been fortunate enough to avoid the fires so far this season. However, I didn't manage to void the wind gusts of 80mph+. Over the last two nights, my car has been completely raped by the wind. I have to park outside because there is nowhere else to go, and my car has been getting pelted by flying pieces of wood, plastic, metal, rocks, vegetation, and whatever else happens to be airborne.

Long story short, I now have about 50 to 60 scratches and light gashes on the driver's side (the side the wind was blowing from). The other three sides are absolutely fine. I kept my car looking pristine before, but now it just looks like sh*t. Affected areas include the front bumper (corner), front fender, door, body, window glass, window pillar, rear fender, taillights, and I think that's it.

Anyway, wondering if it is possible to claim this on the insurance. I think it's too much work for a little bit of Scratch-X, so the car is going to have to go to a bodyshop. I have full coverage, but I have never heard of a claim like this before, so I want to get opinions before I even try.

Thanks.

 

Hmm sorry to hear that Sounds pretty bad-- not sure if the insurance would justify wind damage as a claim though....but then it does depend on your insurance company and what kind of coverage you have...

Good luck!!!!

 

I never claimed on my insurance before, so I have to get some value back from it. For all the money I have given them, they should cover me now that I need it. I'm a good driver and I take care of my car, that has to stand for something.

 

im watching the fires as we speak. Man its looks terrible in socal. If the navy offered firefighting i'd help!

 

It's terrible almost every year. I have one pretty close to me right now. I can see the flames. My family is just hanging on and waiting for this to develop. We had to evacuate two years ago and it came about 10 feet away from my house. Here are some pics I took after we were allowed to return home:

http://www.amecipizzaandpasta.com/fire

 

^thats F*ckin scary. Sorry to hear abotu your car, whether or not they cover is totally based on the company. As far as how to approach it, get lotsa pictures, especially how the car is/was oriented, if you can find weather reports for the times where the car was getting slammed, all the data you can find.

As to how to avoid this in the future, i have heard of vendors selling padded car covers for areas where wind velocities are above average.

Does the wind always come from the same direction? If so, can you park your nose into it next time? might minimize some of the damage, especially if you throw a bra on the front.

I hope you have better luck in the future, thats my $0.02

 

The wind always gets ridiculous for a few weeks in the Fall. It always comes from the Northeast, which basically means it always hits my car side-on. I can park facing one way and it'll hit the driver side, or I can park the other way and it will hit the passenger side. I haven't been able to find a better place to park, because the county sheriff tickets anyone parking outside of the designated spaces. A padded cover would be great, but I didn't know such a thing existed at the time.

 

^ I'll probably just move to a new home before the next wind season. This is fckn ridiculous with the fires and the winds and the floods and the mudslides. I'll look for an apartment with an underground garage.

 

I'm pretty sure you can claim this as an act of nature. Call your insurance co. to see.

 

^yeah, then you get flooded ;)

 

yeah, duh, thats the one thing i forgot to mention. If you have comprehensive coverage, stuff like this should be covered. Basically, it supposed to cover anything that happens to the car that isnt related to an accident (which is covered in collision).

And in case anyone is curious, i HIGHLY reccomend having comprehensive on your automobile. If you are going cheap out...well, you shoudlnt, not if you value your car.

But AT LEAST have liabiity and collision. I didnt have comprehensive on my previous car because it was a POS, and i lucked out that nothing "natural" happened to my car. Collision, however, saved my ___ when i lost control and went into a jersey barrier on a sh*tty winter night.

 

It's funny, because the forecast next weekend is for rainfall, and the areas which have been burned always end up experiencing landslides when the rain comes. My places always gets flooded with water and mud and debris when it rains. Yeah, nature sucks.

 

Plus if you finance you can't cheap out anyways since you don't technically own the car by having the title in hand.

 

You got any pics? Quixx might work. At first, I tried Quixx without any results, then I start rubbing harder like how Mr. Miyagi did and the scratches are like 95% gone. I would show you some before and after pics, but I'm too lazy.

 

"Acts of God" or natural disasters are usually not covered.

However, you can just claim that you were at a parking lot and your car was vandalized. You'll just have to pay your deductible.

 

No pics at this time. I'm tempted to try to fix it on my own, but at least a few of the scratches are too deep and also the taillight, B-pillar, and glass have some scratches.

 

next time u get the winds you should put a car cover on it.

 

should be covered, it is like if your tc was dented by hail, or a tree fell on it or something. incident of nature.

i remember when a hurricane made it all the way up to MD, so me and my dad parked our SUV's in the middle of the vacant field behind my house so no trees would fall on them.

 

My neighbor's car got raped by a falling tree two nights ago. I consider myself lucky.

 

How much is your deductible? Both my tail lights and body got damaged and I was able to buff it out. I had no idea L.A. was so windy. I'll get post pics when I get home since I'm at work right now.