a guest canceled just before time to check in, her car broke down several miles away. How do I cancel and get her money back to her
Why would you refund her? You are not a travel insurance company. Let the guest deal with Air and whatever your refund policy is.
RR
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As @konacoconutz says, your best bet would be to call Airbnb to discuss your options. Although you don’t make it clear in your post about why this cancellation is necessary.
Has the guest told you that she wants to cancel because her car has broken down so she won’t be able to make it to your place? In this case then it’s the guest who has to contact Airbnb to cancel the reservation. If she wants to change her reservation so that she can stay in an Airbnb near where her car broke down, then again, it’s up to Airbnb to rehouse her if she’s stranded. You have no further responsibility if she’s told you that she’s not arriving and doesn’t need your accommodation.
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Do not Cancel the guest. She must cancel. Do not refund anything. Let Air handle he situation.
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From what I understand, your guest cancelled at the last minute, so you do not need to cancel as well. The advice given not to refund is good, even without knowing what your policy is. You are not going to replace the booking at the last minute so you will be out of pocket if you refund.
She will lose her money. I just cancelled on an Airbnb because the trains were not running in the South of Spain. I got an automated response from Airbnb saying that since I cancelled less than 24 hours, I would only get back $38 from the $150 I had paid. When I explained that I had no transportation due to train issues, I was informed that the only way to get refunded was a death in the family (need a death certificate) or a natural disaster (like a hurricane or earthquake).
… or a hemorrhoid flare-up…or the hiccups…or if you bite your cheek…or have a bruised ego…or if your mail is late…or…
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@cougarpeak what happened? All these people offered advice and you have not responded… I am sure you are not the one of those joins and asks a question and ignores the advice and never come back types because that would just be rude.
What was the outcome?
RR
Oh… well its been a day hopefully we hear back soon:)
RR
I know. I hate cliffhangers!! 
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I agree with some of the previous answers. It is the guest’s responsibility to contact Airbnb now. Also, use your cancellation policy that you should have in place to guide you as to what the next step should be. Good luck!
Just trying to live life folks, can not sit in front of this computer 24 7. I got in touch with Airbnb and they are taking care of it. The guest really did have a car break down and could not make it but she only called a few hours before check in was up. I think she will loose her money but nothing I can do about it.
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She SHOULD lose her money. Host should not be used as trip insurance. I offer trip insurance on my direct book site, it is 7% of the reservation. Air gets about 15% of every booking between host and guest. If they want to refund then they should insure the trip. If only…
RR
thank you , Airbnb will not refund her money. makes me feel bad for her but it is out of my hands. Thanks to everyone for your advice
lol, how dare you not keep Riverrock informed 24/7! 
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But I NEED to know !
RR
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