Dealing with water damage/insurance

I am scheduled to meet with a shop/insurance adjuster tomorrow for my 1997 Civic which sustained a bit of water during some recent rain. The water level was just over the bottom of the doors, so it got in and soaked the carpet, but stayed below the seat and dash. I do carry comprehensive but was looking on advice to how much the repair bill might actually run.

This was not clean water, so I expect the labor to be remove seats, trim, carpets. Then disinfect/scrub the metal floor, make sure there isn't potential rust issues from being wet for a few days. Then disinfect, shampoo, dry and then reinstall the interior. Also, if anyone familiar with Civics, is there any type of electronics under the driver's seat that could be damaged, I currently am thinking that all this labor could potentially put me into 'totaled' territory especially if they encounter something else I haven't thought of.

What do you guys think a repair bill would end up being?

That really shouldn't be too bad. The only thing I would be worrying about is that the ECU is on the right side kick panel, and might have gotten wet. There isn't really anything under the floor.

They will probably write to remove the seats, clean/shampoo the carpet and pad and let it dry, general wipe down, and then put it all back together. Really, it shouldn't be too expensive. That water level is also below where anything would get into the engine, etc, but you might want to change all of your fluids for your own peace of mind anyway.

Oil has already been changed and the engine seems to be fine. My main concern is that they will want to simply clean the stuff in place. This water was extremely unfriendly stuff since it was essentially the second storm with backed up storm drains and other dirty water. I am concerned that even shampooing will not kill all the bacteria and stuff without removing the carpet.

There really isn't a way to get to the padding under the carpet to clean it, aside from taking out the carpet. If they don't write for it, discuss with the adjuster. If you are having a shop do the work, have them call in a supplement if it isn't on there.

yeah, its no different than a house carpet pad, and they should know that.

If worse comes to worse, pull the carpet and do it yourself. It's not terrible.

DrBoost wrote: If worse comes to worse, pull the carpet and do it yourself. It's not terrible.

Hoping to do it myself, being unemployed, I have plenty of time, just hoping the insurance quote is worth going through the hassle and getting them to cut a check.

Its too late now but I would have just fixed it or had it fixed off the books. Selling a flood damaged car is a total pain in the ass. You could be screwing yourself out of way more then the 500 or so it will cost to get it fixed in the long run.

For flooding like that, its nothing more than a sunny afternoon of fun with your friends Pressure Washer and Simple Green. Let everything sit in the sun for a few days to kill the nasties and reassemble. Total cash outlay should be under the $20 mark, more if you have to rent a pressure washer.

xd wrote: Its too late now but I would have just fixed it or had it fixed off the books. Selling a flood damaged car is a total pain in the ass. You could be screwing yourself out of way more then the 500 or so it will cost to get it fixed in the long run.

My deductible for comprehensive is 250, and the only issue with selling a flood damaged vehicle is if they total it. Honestly, I wouldn't be heart broken, its an old civic, and if totaled, I would buy it back and drive it into the ground with a stripped interior and just put the money in the bank.

I didn't read the year. My bad

xd wrote: I didn't read the year. My bad

No worries, I am just looking to see if anyone could guesstimate the shop cost for an operation like this. If I didn't have insurance, then yeah, I'd be doing it myself at a car wash with their super vacs. Basically I am wondering if anyone thinks the labor on the job would approach the value of the car, which is in the 2500 range I would think.

long as it still runs. I know from getting water into my old Hyundai Excel, that wet nasty carpets tend to REALLY smell for a while.

This is what I do for a living...auto insurance claims.

If the water only got on the floorboards, I'd say it's around $500 to take everything out, clean it, dry it, reinstall, etc... If there are any electrical issues, obviously it's much more.

That said, I would not be surprised at all if they total the car. Some of it is due to the cars age and cash value, but a lot of it is just due to the fact that the car was flooded. Depending on how high the water got, what was in it, etc...a flood car can be an absolute nightmare. Sometimes, you get lucky and after a thorough clean and dry, it's fine. Other times, it's an electrical nightmare that goes on and on and on. If the insurance company tried to fix it, they're paying for repairs for months, sometimes years. It's a crap shoot, and insurance companies usually don't want to take that risk. If the water was high enough, they'd rather total it and get a good salvage bid for it. That decision will be up to the appraiser and his judgment of where the water got to.

Living here at the shore.. I have seen more than my fair share of cars get submerged in salt water. Even the ones that only got the floor in the water often have problems that go on for years.

Best was a Fiero. The local Acme was the high spot, everybody would park their cars there when the tide came up and the ocean met the bay. One time it came up a couple extra feet. I put on my wetsuit and waded to the acme to get a few things and there was a fiero up to the roof in salt water.

The poor thing was in death throes. The lights were coming on and popping up before going off and going back down. the wipers were on full speed, and the horn was going off.

mad_machine wrote: Best was a Fiero. The local Acme was the high spot, everybody would park their cars there when the tide came up and the ocean met the bay. One time it came up a couple extra feet. I put on my wetsuit and waded to the acme to get a few things and there was a fiero up to the roof in salt water. The poor thing was in death throes. The lights were coming on and popping up before going off and going back down. the wipers were on full speed, and the horn was going off.

That wasn't the salt water. That's how the car was when the owner parked it....or maybe how it was when it left the factory.

flountown wrote: My deductible for comprehensive is 250, and the only issue with selling a flood damaged vehicle is if they total it. Honestly, I wouldn't be heart broken, its an old civic, and if totaled, I would buy it back and drive it into the ground with a stripped interior and just put the money in the bank.

I think the biggest question here is why you have comprehensive with a $250 deductible on a $2500 car

93gsxturbo wrote:

flountown wrote: My deductible for comprehensive is 250, and the only issue with selling a flood damaged vehicle is if they total it. Honestly, I wouldn't be heart broken, its an old civic, and if totaled, I would buy it back and drive it into the ground with a stripped interior and just put the money in the bank.

I think the biggest question here is why you have comprehensive with a $250 deductible on a $2500 car

In case something like this happens, I can live with the fact that if I crash my car with no collision coverage, it's my fault, but if I am left without a car because a tree falls on it or something stupid and out of my hands, I'd be furious.

Also, to update, the guy quoted 8 hours of labor for a whopping total of $374. Because the insurance guy was late, I was unable to flesh out all that this entails, but at 8 hours, he is quoting the removal of the carpet i would imagine. Do you guys think that sounds correct? I want to make sure that the carpet is removed and de-molded/disinfected, not shampoo'd in place.

93gsxturbo wrote: I think the biggest question here is why you have comprehensive with a $250 deductible on a $2500 car

Because it probably costs about $15 a year more than a higher deductible would. Liability and collision is where all the cost lies.

Another question I have, can standing water in the exhaust system, which is now blown out, cause issues with the catalytic converter? I also think the initial engine start with water in the exhaust might have caused an exhaust leak. The place I had it to today is strictly an auto detailing place, so I think I need to take it to a shop as well and have them look at it.

Comprehensive coverage is cheap insurance. I have it on my '96 Volvo. I think it's something like $6/month.

Without seeing your car, the qoute sounds about right. But my bigger concern would be the thing you mentioned. Exhaust damage, engine damage, electrical damage that will show up down the road. If the engine sucked in water, it doesn't turn out good very often.

At least from what I'm hearing, you may want to push for this car to be totalled.

Klayfish wrote: Comprehensive coverage is cheap insurance. I have it on my '96 Volvo. I think it's something like $6/month.

I have $0 deductible comprehensive coverage on my project Pontiac and it is something like $6 a year.

did the water reach the wheel bearings, CVs? Have leaky seals or boots? jus sayin'

I am going to have a real shop, not an auto detailer take a closer look, it was about 6" of water on the driver side, but the passenger side was in the curb/gutter, so it could have seen up to 8-10".

Also, I know none got into the engine, oil was clean, and car was never running during the storm, my buddy's BMW however did, the next morning we were able to disassemble the intake arm, and shop vac out the manifold, must have gotten over a half a gallon out of the system, some did get through the engine, but once we oriented the car up hill to help drain the exhaust we got it running. I imagine it fouled a few sensors though as he now has a CEL.

Edit: Some pics of the street, I was parked on the street just left of the second image...