Flood damage repair experiences

If that happened to mine, I'd either see it totaled out or traded in.

Not a keeper.

 

I remember used car shopping with my son once, and noticing the exposed heads of the seat hold-down bolts looked extremely corroded. He didn't go any further with that purchase, so let it drop, but it stuck in my mind.

 

Flood damage is best repaired by stripping out the interior and drying, cleaning and inspecting before the car is powered up again. The fact it was driven wet and then died is going to be more expensive to repair. But if you have comprhensive coverage and you can keep the car and get the totaled out check at a lower price, you could probably get it up and running for less than the amount of the pay out if you're DIY, but not if you're gonna depend on a shop or a stealership.

 

I disassembled one HV battery that was in a flood car. Everything had a dried layer of dirt/mud on it, including the inside of the ECU(s), every possible cooling passage, etc. There's a good reason no one wants a flood car. My personal feeling is that you just can't clean it enough to prevent it from experiencing long term corrosion failure of random components.

 

It will be totaled IMO. The repair costs will continue to go up as the shop tears into it and finds more things. The amount to "total" a vehicle is a percentage (typically 70 but varies by company) of the street value not 100%.

The real problem is this will take a while (weeks or months usually) with everyone in the process well-versed in telling you that.

 

Did you even bother to open-up the EMF boxes that contains the ECU? I know for a fact that there's contaminates in there that can bridge a current across and cause a failure - or move and short something out as your driving down the road.
As I stated before, the car becomes a unreliable and a ticking time bomb. I'm sure other people will chime in and state that they've been driving a flooded car for years. Good for them.
Whenever I need to repair a car with weird electronic issues, the first thing I look for is signs of previous flood damage. If I find signs of previous flood damage, I decline the job. What would happen if I repair the car, something else would later short out and I would get blamed for it; since I was the last one who touched it. It isn't worth my time and effort. I wouldn't have an issue tackling a old non-ECU controlled car.

Hope this helps....

PS, If you've got that wet dog smell in your car and don't own a dog, you've got a leak into your interior or the car wasn't properly sanitized after a flood. That smell is bacterial/fungal growth, most likely not coming out of your HVAC system. It's growing in your carpet, pad, and seat cushions.

 

There are too many info gaps in the story to date. None of us know how accurate any of the issues posted so far, using what you've been told are accurate. And will probably never know. Should you trust the car after it's been flooded and the repair is the car fax? I sure wouldn't want to have to make that decision, especially after dealing with amount of time already spent getting the real - story - of supposedly has happened to and what's being done to the car.
Way to many variables, both in the story and the possible issues with the repair.
A dealer saying something to an owner about their car, I don't know and can't say what others have seen and / or heard, but my anxiety level has risen just sitting in the dealership waiting area while waiting for my car to be serviced and listening to service writers explain to other owners what is wrong with their cars being serviced in the shop.

You might want to look into trying to get your cars pre-repair and post-repair techstream printouts, matched to your cars VIN.

 

If the car only had "flood water up to the axles including interior intrusion" and the 12v was then disconnected and towed to a heated shop, I'd be feeling pretty good about the ability to gut the interior and clean all the plugs and circuits and dry everything out with no lasting damage. But because the car started up fine and "subsequently driven until it died the next day." I'd double the repair estimate and not want to do the job because that's gonna be way more massive of a hassle. But who knows, it could just be a bad fuse and nothing else.

 

this is an interesting case. i wonder how much the insco is willing to pay the dealer to repair, before finding out they have to pay you for a total.

 

There's no negotiation to it, replacement value less deductible. Pull up prices of used equivalent cars for sale, that's what they're suppose to pay you, either that or have the insurance company replace the car with a near equivalent - less flood damage of course.

 

Bummer... My condolences... Electrons are kinda like cats when it comes to water. They don't do well with it.

 

I had an insurance company try to low-ball me once, so I told them to find and delivery me an "equivalent replacement"; as stated on their policy. And I wanted to see the receipts and warranty paperwork for the rebuilt power-train. My car had high mileage, but I recently rebuilt the entire power-train and could prove it. They ended up paying me what I asked for the car. This wasn't my insurance company, this was the insurance company of the guy who hit me.

PS; it helps if your racking up rental car charges against the insurance company. I rent a car using my credit card and get the charges credited back and redirected to the insurance company, once determination has been established. Usually a week or two, hopefully before your credit card statement closes. They are more likely to settle faster, based on the daily rental car bleed.

 

LMAO, at least that Buick will be relativity easier to repair......