Road trip San Francisco to LA after fires
 

We live in CT and want to visit friends in LA in late January but would like to fly in to SF and do a 2-3 day road trip to LA we are concerned about damages from recent fires. Any advice ???

What do you want to see in SF and the coast south of it?
My advice would be to fly to San Francisco (or Oakland) and rent a car there to see whatever you want to see within about 80 miles and then return the car and ride the Amtrak Coast Starlight south as far as Santa Barbara. When on time (most days) the Starlight arrives in Santa Barbara about 6PM.
Rent a car in SBA to see LA and your friends.
There is a lot of fire damage from Santa Barbara to the Ventura area from the Thomas fire.
The coast from Santa Barbara down to Los Angeles is the best part of CA in late January IMO.
The coach fare on the Coast Starlight is no more than what your drop fee would be and you wouldn't have to drive a long section of US 101 that you can't see the ocean from.

Rent a car and drive down to Monterey, spend two nights there, maybe visit the famous Aquarium or go whale watching, drive down Highway 1 to see McWay Falls and backtrack to Monterey then over to Highway 101 via Salinas, then one night in Santa Barbara, then LA. You could also stay in Cambria or Pismo Beach instead depending on your interests.

If you haven't seen Big Sur then definitely spend two nights in the Monterey/Carmel/Pacific Grove area, like jamie99 suggests. See Point Lobos, Pfeiffer Beach, McWay Falls, Bixby Bridge, Nepenthe, etc.

Then take Hwy 101 for your trip south. The fire damage is south of Santa Barbara and, except for not looking very good, won't affect your drive to LA. Break your trip up by staying in Santa Barbara or Cambria. Paso Robles is a good place to stay as well, especially if you enjoy wine tasting.

Forget the train.