Car got flooded today...What should I do?
05-07-2009, 12:44 PM
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Car got flooded today...What should I do?
My 99 coupe got flooded today. The water got up to the top of the seats before we were able to push it to dryer place. The questions I have are should I call my ins. agent, or fix it myself...The reason I ask is, I lost my job 2 months ago and still job less. The car has a brand new 408 motor, ECS driveshaft and RPM stage V transmission....and lots of other goodies.
The car also has 192,000 miles on the body....So I know the ins. company will probably want to total it out. If I was to try and fix the car myself, what do I need to look into outside of replacing the ECM, BCM, PCM that were submearged in water. I can do the work myself, but would it be cost effective enough to do it myself....or should I just let the ins.company total the car, buy the car back and find a another car to swap all my parts over too.
Thanks for the help....I really need it.
The car also has 192,000 miles on the body....So I know the ins. company will probably want to total it out. If I was to try and fix the car myself, what do I need to look into outside of replacing the ECM, BCM, PCM that were submearged in water. I can do the work myself, but would it be cost effective enough to do it myself....or should I just let the ins.company total the car, buy the car back and find a another car to swap all my parts over too.
Thanks for the help....I really need it.
05-07-2009, 12:48 PM
#2
Intermediate
Member Since: Jan 2009
Posts: 37
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
sounds like you have the car to drive and don't care to much of the resale value of it. I would call insurance, and buy it back as long as it will have a salvage repairable title. Then perform the work necessary, make sure to have the receipts for the new parts, and have the title status changed to salvage repaired so that it can be registered and insured again. The only bad part about this is that if the car gets totaled again, you only get 50% of the value.
05-07-2009, 01:04 PM
#3
Race Director
Member Since: Jul 2007
Location: Reno is so close to Hell you can see Sparks , State Of Confusion
Posts: 18,681
Likes: 0
Received 38 Likes
on
23 Posts
St. Jude Donor '12-'13-'14
I have seen some insurance cases that won't cover a flood, Depends on how it got flooded.
05-07-2009, 01:10 PM
#4
Race Director
I would total it and buy it back. The car has a bunch of miles so resale is not a factor for the most part. Any C5 even with salvage title is worth 8k.
05-07-2009, 01:22 PM
#5
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
The car got flooded sitting in the parking lot of my APT...It was only under around 30-45 mins....I got the water out of the inside as fast as I could....
05-07-2009, 01:31 PM
#6
Race Director
Here are some pics of our area at the moment guys. We had very serious rain this morning and it caused some terrible flash floading. Eric isn't kidding here 
.
.
Eric, I hope you gete it straightened out man. Let me know if I can do anything to help.
.
.
Eric, I hope you gete it straightened out man. Let me know if I can do anything to help.
05-07-2009, 01:32 PM
#7
Race Director
05-07-2009, 01:45 PM
#8
Instructor
Member Since: Aug 2008
Location: Denton Texas
Posts: 123
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I don't think insurance covers "rising water" unless the policy holder has flood insurance or a flood rider.
You'd better read the policy carefully before calling anybody.
You'd better read the policy carefully before calling anybody.
05-07-2009, 01:47 PM
#9
Race Director
Member Since: Jul 2001
Location: One Particular Harbour
Posts: 16,825
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Cruise-In 9-10-11 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10,-'13
I believe in the Beer Fairy
man that really suck - no advice to offer, but I wish you luck getting it all worked out. 
05-07-2009, 01:50 PM
#10
Melting Slicks
If it runs and the damage is cosmetic I would repair it myself. If there's some major electrical issues I would call insurance.
GL
05-07-2009, 02:20 PM
#13
Intermediate
Member Since: Feb 2009
Location: Montgomery AL
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hey man,
I'm in Montgomery also. I've been waiting for the waters to drop so I can drive home and check on the house. If there's anything I can do to help you out, just let me know.
05-07-2009, 03:42 PM
#15
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
The insurance guy will be out in 3-5 days. It is covered under my comp. But im pretty sure that they will total the car.....But im going to fix it myself...I just put $20,000 worth of new parts on the car in the last 8 months and im not going to throw that away. It will be a work in progress, but I've worked with worse. So I shall keep everyone up to date.
05-07-2009, 03:44 PM
#16
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
I will let you know..Thanks for the offer. Where do you live here in Montgomery? Im across from the Eastdale mall.
05-07-2009, 04:03 PM
#17
Pro
Member Since: Jul 2006
Posts: 512
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Any way you look at this it is a hard thing to face.....
I an sorry to hear of your situation , but I might be a blessing that you can now recover some cash from it since you are out of work. I am sure its not easy to see it that way
A flood car is a real drag. Sooner or later things will haunt you and you will wish you may wish you had let it go.
Save yourself any more trouble than you already have.
Collect the $$ and give them the car.
Once again I an sorry to hear of your challenge.
Mike
Portland Oregon
I an sorry to hear of your situation , but I might be a blessing that you can now recover some cash from it since you are out of work. I am sure its not easy to see it that way
A flood car is a real drag. Sooner or later things will haunt you and you will wish you may wish you had let it go.
Save yourself any more trouble than you already have.
Collect the $$ and give them the car.
Once again I an sorry to hear of your challenge.
Mike
Portland Oregon
05-07-2009, 04:32 PM
#18
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
She was under for about 30-45 mins....The ins. guy will be out in 3-5 days. From there we will see. Either way it goes im going to be fixing the car myself..I will replace all the wiring in the car and the computer and body control mod. I will drain and refill the motor, trans and diff.
05-07-2009, 04:40 PM
#19
Racer
Member Since: May 2007
Posts: 395
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sell or total the Vette..water will seep into the trans,brakes,all sorts of places..every time you park the water will separate from the oil and the gears or whatever will start to rust..in a few months things will start to fail...electronics of course will start to fail right away.. Just get rid of it.
05-07-2009, 04:48 PM
#20
Race Director
Man I really am sorry. I can't believe I sent you a txt telling you not to drive in that mess, and you call me 30 minutes later to tell me this
I feel aweful because I was only kidding
I feel aweful because I was only kidding