I think I know the answer, but...

...I want to tap in to the collective wisdom here before I say anything. A friend lives in the country in a pretty expensive custom house. It was recently struck by lightning, taking out everything from the electric driveway gate to the AC to a couple of televisions. She also has a whole-house generator, fueled by a 1,000-gallon propane tank, because this is, after all, Florida, and bad things happen. Though the house never lost electricity, she had the generator checked, apparently by the people who sold it to her and installed it, and they pronounced it "completely fried," and after replacing the starter and a circuit board, they insist the only solution is an entirely new $5,500 generator. I know it's a bit off-topic, but I'd appreciate some thoughts. 

She should get a second opinion. Also, would this be covered under her homeowners insurance?

That just means they don't know how to fix it. But if she doesn't and she doesn't know anyone who does, it's as good as truth anyway. 

I know a lightening strike doesnt just hit a pin point spot, the generator should have been electrically disconnected by the transfer switch. Have someone check the transfer switch and if its scorched at least the generator has a good chance of being damaged.

My neighbor put in a new whole house generator. Shortly after, lightning struck near by and zapped a few things in his house, one of the things was the controller board on the new generator. Rest of it was fine. They are connected to the normal house power to keep the battery charged. 

I found it slightly comical that a device who’s job it is to work during bad weather was rendered useless by a regular florida thunderstorm. 

My guess too is insurance claim. 

I would call another electrician and don’t tell him what happened and see if he can diagnose the generator 

We had lightning hit either in the lot next door or the house across the street yesterday. So far, it seems that it killed a TV that was off and plugged into a surge suppressor, a DVD player plugged into the same surge suppressor (everything else plugged in there survived just fine) in my son's room. And, downstairs it seems to have done in my Tivo, but the TV that is on the same surge suppressor is just fine. Guess I will never watch last weekend's F1 race now unless I can revive the Tivo somehow.

In reply to scs :

Why did she call them to check the generator? Granted, lightning can berkeley up a lot of things, but if she just called them to "check the generator", then I'm calling bullE36 M3 on them.

Fried electronic board - totally can see that. Replace the whole generator?!  Uh-uh. Gonna have to see a connecting rod fused to the crankshaft or something.

Just me 2 cents.

Pretty much what I thought, folks, thanks. Just don't see how anything short of a direct-hit lightning bolt from God can "completely fry" an internal combustion engine. Much appreciate.

Maybe not the ICE but the generator attached to it. 

Admittedly, lightning doesn't seem to play by the common rules of electricity often treating what we think of as insulators and conductors equally but that's a weird and far reaching combination of failures.  She needs to get a good electrician in to take a look at the whole system.  It seems like there's a bonding issue of some sort.  Probably inadequate bonds running to different locations.  She should also get another opinion on the generator.  It's hard to imagine one being totaled by a lighting strike. 

In reply to scs :

Good luck. I feel she is dealing with a less than reputable company.