Bad deal for my Cousin on 5/6

Last Friday morning my cousin messaged me at 5:57am saying he needed a car. I thought his account had been hacked because he is a 2nd shift guy and doesn't get home until really late. I figured maybe he broke down driving home from work and he needed a ride? His drive is about 1hr 15min each way and he only works a few miles from where I do. I messaged him back and then he sent me a picture and I knew right away what he meant. It was heart breaking.

He went through one of the things none of us ever want to hear or go through. His wife woke him up at around 4am saying her mother called saying one of their buildings was on fire. She said the security cameras picked up heat signatures and sent alarms to the security system. Josh said he made the 45min trip in 25 and he got there in time to watch them opening the doors to see his car already engulfed in flames.

Oh man - I'm sick just looking at this. Thankful that no people were hurt but it's horrible to see the devistation to his cars. I sure hope he was well insured - things can be replaced....

Luckily and thankfully no one was hurt. He stores the car in their barn every winter. He literally was getting it out this past weekend to pull the motor and replace it with one he just had built. He just got this car where he could road trip it and drive it daily last year. He placed 2nd in it at the burn out contest at Good guys Des Moines last year. This was his Dad's car he was given as his high school graduation present. Literally the only good thing his dad did for him IMO. (long story there)

This thing got really, really, hot. He tore the engine out hoping to use some of it. He said the top of the trans has a hole melted in it, the engine is no longer purple and the intake sagged down into the intake. I told him I'd cut the body sides off and use them for yard art and not plan on using anything from this car unfortunately. He is fighting with the insurance company still. They tried putting it off on to the owner of the barn but they don't have insurance for other people's property. Hopefully he can get it covered other wise it will really be a huge kick to the man parts.

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Originally Posted by glennsexton

Oh man - I'm sick just looking at this. Thankful that no people were hurt but it's horrible to see the devistation to his cars. I sure hope he was well insured - things can be replaced....

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When he sent me that first pic my heart sank. Luckily his rat rod was not stored there so at least he will have that to drive around this summer.

Whenever I see such pictures and read such stories, I feel for the owners. My next thought is a simple one, the cars and property can be replaced, the lives of those involved cannot be.


Bill S.

i learned early on to follow the rules in my shop. batteries out or disconnected . you just never know. one chewy rat can burn it all down . glad no one was hurt . i've had one shop fire and that's enough .

So sad. I think everyone on this site knows what goes into doing a car, not only the parts, but the little bit of yourself you put into them.

As said thankfully no one was hurt.


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that is so sickening. my heart goes out to him.

So sad. Keep us in the loop on what happens moving forward, just for grins....

That's just awful. I can only echo the others.. glad no people were harmed..

Crikey.
That would be absolutely gut-wrenching.
I don't know the chap, most probably will never meet him; but my heart goes out to him.

As has been said: the only good thing about it is that no-one was hurt.

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Originally Posted by shine

i learned early on to follow the rules in my shop. batteries out or disconnected . you just never know. one chewy rat can burn it all down . glad no one was hurt . i've had one shop fire and that's enough .

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That was one of the first things I asked him was if the battery was disconnected. He said it was for 2 reasons. 1 it had a battery shut off, and 2 it had a draw if it sat longer than 4-5 days the battery would be dead.

They think the fire started near the breaker panel. The owners have a wedding barn and they had roughly 25 Christmas trees and various different decorations in this barn and it all went up. Josh said they had some quads and a UTV that happened to be near the breaker box and the 4 wheelers are just a pile of aluminum wrapped steel tubing.

He is on the hunt for a 69 442 currently. The insurance company wants him to compile a list of receipts he has for the car so they can work on a value. They said they will only cover the car and things bolted to the car. Nothing inside. Josh said he left some snap-on stuff in there. Mainly his new timing light and he will most likely not be getting that back. It's a bad deal for sure.

Really sorry to see this

If he can get the snap on stuff out of the char is it possible the snap on guy might replace things under their warranty? Just a thought... Is he dealing with one of the "traditional" insurance companies rather than one of the specialty houses like Grundy, Hagerty, American, etc?

Sadness.

What i next post is from experience. Smaller scale, but real life chit.

It's only stuff. Material things which can be replaced.

Some Material things are irreplaceable.

Then we find new (to us) material things that can't be replaced.

It's just stuff.

Best wishes for replacing your cherished possessions.

Life is key. Love and happiness be yours, good luck.

Not trying to hijack this thread but had a thought to share concerning the loss of our cars:

Good reminder for all of us to make sure our rides are well insured (no matter what state their in). I have full replacement for my 1963 Nova SS and the '71 Chevy truck. My insurance guy needed a lot of pictures and a complete inventory of all that had gone into the build(s) and issued insurance that valued the Nova at $50K and the truck at $40K. This is in addition to my homeowner's policy as my vehicles are in the garage attached to the house.

Could I duplicate for those numbers? Probably not, but I could certainly purchase another vehicle of similar value. There is no way to ever replace the blood, sweat, and tears nor the emotional attachment, but good insurance does allow us to recover and move on.

Again, I'm glad that no one was hurt and know that your cousin will come out of this okay. It is true that those thing that don't kill us make us stronger (except bears - they'll kill ya!).

scary having an attached garage. i had several. had a friend lose it all over a damn gas water heater in the garage . gas fumes go boom . now we have all the battery powered stuff in there with batteries just waiting to light off . if your garage is attached take extra precautions .

As Glenn said, not trying to hijack the thread but when I was first starting on my coupe I talked to my insurance agent about a policy, and he got approval from the home office to write a "special policy" on the "car" when it was the roller package, just to be sure it was covered when it was being trailered home, and in the barn under construction, not yet registered. After I trailered it to get it inspected & registered, I talked to him about an "agreed value" policy, and he sent me the contract language which stated clearly that in the event of a loss the company would look at market value of comparable vehicles, including "book value" for vehicles of that age. We discussed it, and I pointed out that it sounded to me like we'd be in a knock down, drag out fight over the value of the vehicle at the time of loss, and after a bit he agreed that it was best for me to insure my "collector car" with a specialty (stated value) insurance company. Just sayin', it easy to "agree" when you're paying them, but may be difficult to "agree" when it's time for them to pay you. When you negotiate a value that differs from "book" all it does is boost your premium, and with a loss they will go back to the contract wording and fall back to "book" and "market" for value. Let the buyer beware....

Ryan, I hope your cousin had good insurance!

stated value is the only way to go .

I totally agree with you all on having good insurance. I really need to get insurance back on the 40. It has nothing on it and hasn't since a year after I ripped it apart. I do have an agreed policy on my Camaro with my local insurance guy. Hopefully it isn't an argue fest if anything were to happen. I can't insure it through Grundy. You can't drive it to work or any school through them. I drive it daily and if I need to drop kids off at school, I will. Hagerty wanted $1250/yr knowing I drive it a lot so I inquired locally and for $25k agreed value it is only $70/month.

Just last Saturday I was coming home from work and I saw a fire truck refilling with water at my old high school. Then a 1/4 mile later I saw several fire trucks at a residence on a side street. I found out later from my wife that a garage started on fire and it was attached and took the entire house. No one was home and the cause was still unknown last time she looked. Just a harsh reminder.....

Back to Josh's situation. I spoke with him and his insurance was through a local company in his town. He didn't remember what he had on it after the agent started going in circles. But the agent was able to dig up a policy agreement from 2019 when Josh told them the car was worth $8k. He said that was before he dumped a lot of money in it but he swore he signed another form for $20k last spring but those papers are no where to be found. So he got $8k for it and a very hard learned lesson. I went and looked at another 71 Chevelle for him. Now to try to get it on the cheap so he can try to build another one.

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Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

I totally agree with you all on having good insurance. I really need to get insurance back on the 40. It has nothing on it and hasn't since a year after I ripped it apart. I do have an agreed policy on my Camaro with my local insurance guy. Hopefully it isn't an argue fest if anything were to happen. I can't insure it through Grundy. You can't drive it to work or any school through them. I drive it daily and if I need to drop kids off at school, I will. Hagerty wanted $1250/yr knowing I drive it a lot so I inquired locally and for $25k agreed value it is only $70/month....

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Ryan, I would recommend you pull out your policy on the Camaro and read through it to find the section about claims, and especially about how they handle determining value for a total loss. At the time I was with American Family, and their policy stated clearly that my "stated value" meant nothing. I'm now with Farm Bureau, and my agent agreed that it was best for me to stay with Hagerty for the two hot rods. I understand that having a vintage car as your daily driver creates a problem with the specialty guys, and you may very well have your bases covered as best they can be, but it wouldn't hurt to read the words in the contract, which is what the policy is - a contract between you & them.

Off my soap box now. Hope you can help your cousin find a new start for his dream.