lee g

So I woke up this morning to find the garage where my 2006 TSX sits flooded with 3-4 feet of water (the garage is underground) due to the NorEaster that came through yesterday. I reported it already to my insurance company (USAA) already, and they said call them back when they can send someone down to assess the damage (still flooded for now).

Anyway, my question is, what can I reasonably expect to get from the insurance company. Right now I have 28 months left on a 42 month lease. As far as I'm concerned, they owe me a 2006 car with 15,000 miles on it with nothing more out of my pocket than my monthly payment. I am insured with USAA if that matters.

Thanks in advance for the advice!!

drunkenbuda

That sucks...Hope they'll give you a new ride.

dom

Who says its totalled?

LuvMyTSX

That blows. There's lots of flooding here in Jersey, where are you?

Parts of my county are under water, thankfully not me.

http://blog.nj.com/reporter/somerset_county/

lee g

I guess thats part of my question too - the thing is sitting in water as we speak, and will be for quite some time - the water is still coming into the garage. Can something like this be repaired?? I just have a bad feeling that the car will never be the same after they "fix" it - all sorts of electrical problems can develop.

lee g

I'm in Stamford, CT

DAYTA

I'm in Greenwich, and the flooding yesterday was the worst I've ever seen.

That sucks about your car...I hope everything works out for you! Do you have flood insurance, or is that included in your coverage?

joerockt

Did you call USAA yet? I have them as well, they are excellent. Not sure how they would handle this under a lease though.

I would think that if your entire car was underwater for any amount of time its done for. Electrical would corrode and interior would be shot to hell...I'd call that a total.

rb1

Submersion in salt water is an automatic total from what I can remember, because the salt will end up corroding everything.

Fresh water may be a different story, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they just total those also. Still, a car interior (seats, carpeting, headliner) can be replaced with less fuss than you might think, it might just depend.

lee g

I called USAA, and they will send an adjuster once the water is pumped out of the garage. In the meantime, they are covering the cost of a rental car, which is nice. USAA rocks, every time I've had to deal with them it's been a pleasure.

acn684

Flooded cars, especialy 4 feet of water would probably be considered totaled, To make sure everythign is in operating manner and the whole body work would take too much time. Its not like an isolated damage where they can inspect that one spot, they'll have to go through every single panel to make sure everything is working, electrical and all, and to make sure no corrosion starts happening anywhere if there was exposed metal. Probably safe to say they'll consider your car totalled and reimburse what you have paid on the car so far.

SeanS627

not always true

when i worked for honda we had a civic si(EM1) that was flooded out and the insurance company paid to have all the interior replaced

needless to say the tech that did it got paid well, BUT HATED IT

i hope they total it and if you can afford it, ask for the buy back amount and look into parting out or modifying the good stuff

hfkuan

my car was totalled

geico paid me 28k for a 2006 nbp auto with 7k miles on it

Celtic FC

When I lived in the Houston area, my car was flooded. The insurance company did not total it, and I was driving it at the time. It took about a week to get the car back since there were so many other flooded vehicles. Good luck anyhow.

JAXTSX

Lee g

USAA pronounced my TSX totalled due to a collision last week. It is also a leased vehicle. Here's what they told me:
If you have gap insurance on the lease (mandatory in NY), that insurance will pay off the lease and USAA is liable to the leasing company for the residual value of your car.
If you don't have gap insurance, USAA will pay the present value of the car.

What I don't know is what happens if the present value of the car is less than the remaining lease plus the residual value? In my case, two years into the lease, USAA said my car is worth $26,000! I doubt if your situation is significantly different.

By the way, "totalled" is damage equal to 75% of present value. My body shop said there was no way they could make my car right after being "t-boned" dead center. The car performed as designed, four air-bags went off, and I didn't have a scratch or a bruise. My first thought was "thank you Acura!"

Good luck with your car. As others have said, USAA is the best!

INSPIRE 32V

iTrader: (1)

i'm pretty sure if the water is 3 to 4 feet high the car is totaled.

wenge

No matter what, you owe the leasing company the entire negotiated price for the car, in one way or another. If your car gets crumpled into a ball, the insurance company is only going to cover the cash value of the car at the time of the incident. If that number is less than what you still owe to the leasing company, and you don't have any form of GAP coverage, you are personally responsible for the difference.

Note that GAP applies to financing, and the numbers are the same - if you owe 20K on the car and insurance says you get a check for 18K, you owe the missing 2K.

If I recall, all AHFC leases I've ever had have had GAP included.

People assume leasing is somehow less of a liability than financing, but it is not - you are still liable for the entire price of the car.

NJSGTI

Sorry to hear that, and join the club. I had my 2004 ABP TSX flooded in a hurricane about two years ago. In my case the insurance gave me $24,200 for a two year old TSX with about 24,000 miles on it.

As for a lease, my moms leased Accord was also flooded and they just took the car and paid the rest of the lease off and we didn't get any money for it. We also have USAA for insurance.

Good luck with your situation

TacoBellSauce

ouch man
the weather has been awful
at least u werent like a dumbass in a GS over here who tried to forge thru over 3 ft of water in his band new 07 gs, proceeded to get stuck and opened the door to get out

looks like somones about to get a 07 TSX

S14 n Tsx

sorry to hear that... are you planning on getting another tsx or something else?

visuelz

Hmm...I thought insurance doesn't cover act of god?

lee g

Thanks for all the advice so far, I'll keep you posted about what happens. As of this morning, they still have not finished pumping out the garage - still a foot of water in there.

USAA already got me a rental car - a Nissan Murano (yuck - looks like a minivan).

I am fully covered for the damage, thank god!!

As far as getting another car, I may get another TSX, but this time I am going for an automatic - 99.9% of my driving is done in bumper to bumper traffic, so I was sort of getting tired of the stick. I may also decide to upgrade to the TL if I can lease one for under $400/ month.

Audioserf

I feel that, man. I'm in Norwalk. The flooding was just unreal Sunday into Monday.

Sorry about your whip. I hope everything works out for you.

Bigtimebooch

Just out of curiosity, was this covered under home owners insurance or auto? I am surprised you were fully covered as most homeowners insurance doesn't cover flooding (not sure about auto insurance). Seems like a place where auto insurance could point the finger at homeowners and homeowners could say it should be covered under auto...whatever.

Glad you are fully covered.

lee g

It is covered under my auto comprenhensive policy which covers all acts of god. Fortunately, auto and homeowners insurance aren't the same in terms of being covered by a flood. That was my first fear as well - that I wouldnt be covered, but turns out I'm OK.

What I suspect will happen though is that my insurance company and everyone elses insurance companies will sue the building. There were about 150 cars down there, and the building blocked off the only exit to the garage to stop the water from cascading in. Unfortunately, the building gave the residents no warning that they were shutting the garage, and thus no chance to get the cars out (they put up sandbags and wood planks). The majority of the water coming into the garage wasnt from the ramp exit, it was from the river running behind the building.

Anyway, what a mess. The latest update I had this afternoon is that they are still trying to pump out the water but the level isnt going down below 1.5 feet. We have to wait for the level in the river to subside before they can make any headway - that could be a few days.

I guess I'll be driving that god awful Nissan Murano for a while.

mrgold35

This is what makes USAA insurance and Federal Bank is one of the best full service insurance/banking/investment companies around. I've been a member since 1988 and they always had the best coverage for homeowners, car, rental, life insurance, etc... Their interest rates on loans are not the best, but you are pre-approved over the phone in 5 mins for almost anything.

Membership to USAA was limited to military officers in all branches and their children when I joined. I think now it is open to all active/guard/reserve enlisted or officer military personnel, Federal government law enforcement, and their children.

USAA will make him whole again.

The next time you get a telemarketer calling you about insurance, tell them you have USAA and they will say thank you and hang up.

lee g

Just got down to the garage - theres still a foot of water down there, but I thought I'd share some pictures

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[IMG][/IMG]

Sclass88

Wow, so sorry to see that dude. Good luck with the insurance company. Hope to see you in a new TSX soon!!

csharp57

That is horrible

I rode thru some big flood waters here in NY and now my belt is loud. I probably gotta change it soon. These waters and the winter that passed makes me look twice at the Ridgeline. Hope everything works out.

LuvMyTSX

Wow. Poor car . Sucks that it's still sitting in that nasty water, too.

NJSGTI

That brings back some bad memories. Sorry about the car, but it looks better than mine did.

dom

Hope they total it. That carpet is going to stink.

NJSGTI, whats the story behind that? Anymore pics?

NJSGTI

In my case it was hurricane Wilma that got mine. Mine was totally submerged under water like most of the cars in Key West were. It even floated away and ended up in a ditch. This is the only other picture I have.

S14 n Tsx

that sucks...poor tsx!

drewba

You're right on about USAA. There are very few companies to which I am loyal, but USAA is at the top of that list.

LoveMyTL-S

USAA rocks! I'm sure they will take good care of you. Glad they got you into a lease and one that will go through shallow flood waters..........Good luck.