angrycamel

Here in Richmond, we had a falsh flood last week and my car got caught in 3 foot of water while parked in the city next to my office. The water on the street that I parked it on rose to 3 foot in less that 3 minutes when the drainage system began to back up. The water from the entire area ended up in one place since the drainage system wasnt keeping up. I waded out into the river that was the side street got in and drove it to higher ground while onlookers told me that bubbles were pouring out of the water from the completely submerged exhaust. The interior was a virtual lake with water up into the bottom part of the seats.

From what they tell me so far the engine and tranny have no signs of water in the fluids. They are telling me they want to just pull the carpet out and shampoo it, but I am adamant that is not enough. I want the seats and the carpet all replaced, not just cleaned. Because I have had a car before that got water in it and even after completely removing the interior and letting it set in the sun for days I still had a moldy smell forever. Also the electronics in the car can corrode over time and may seem fine now but will begin to fail in the future. I think they should replace any wires that had contact with the water. Don't you?

So anyways just wanted to keep everyone up to date. I am pretty bummed since they are not going to total the car I will now be stuck with a brand new car (5k miles) that has a flood damage on the title. So depressing.

If anyone has any suggestions on how I should deal with the insurance company not wanting to replace the electronics or just wanting to shampoo the carpet please let me know. This is incredibly stressing since I am now looking at loosing a lot of money unless I plan to keep the car until its paid off.

dom

Sorry to hear that.

LuvMyTSX

Wow, that really sucks. I know I wouldn't want it back after that. If you can afford it, I say sell it and get a new car. If not, definitely try to get as much replaced (not just cleaned) as you can if you can't afford to take the hit and sell it. The electrical stuff would scare me.

angrycamel

Ya I am deffinately going to fight to get as much replaced, rather than cleaned, as I can. I am also thinking of selling the car as soon as the claim is settled and hopefully the hit on value wont be as bad with there only being 5k on the car and all. I am sure that if the carpet and seats get compeltely replaced I wont ever really get a smell in it but I am just worried that the title showing "flood damage" may prevent me from getting the full value of the car when I go to sell it.

Has anyone had experience with a brand new car getting flooded? How does it effect the resale value when a carfax will show flood damage? I am wondering how much of a hit I can expect to see if I decide to get rid of the car.

NJSGTI

I had my 04 TSX flooded when it was under 6 feet of water in Hurricane Wilma last year, and my grandmothers 04 Maxima was only under 1 or maybe 2 feet of water and it was totaled. It only got a little bit of water in the interior. In my situation it was salt water, if your situation isn't salt water that may be the reason thay aren't totaling it.

In my opinion the insurance company should total it since most insurance companies were totaling cars with 1-2 feet of water when the hurricane it my town. Good Luck

angrycamel

Thanks for the feedback.

Tsx536

I'm sorry to hear that man. Hopefully they total it. The ECU sits pretty low in the TSX, and if the water came up to the bottom of the seats it probably got wet too. I'd be worried about the electronics in the long run. Good luck with getting everything successfully resolved.

Reach

You need a lawyer, ASAP, to help you through this. Claim the location of the ECU and lower electronics and critical componenets. Claim water in critical components, Claim anything the lawyer advises you that you can. A good lawyer will help you get it totalled.

I just hope you buy another TSX. Sorry for your extreme mis-fortune. May I ask, was this in Richmond, VA? When the storms came through at the end of last week?

supaman8118

was this in Richmond VA?

Rocket_man

I might have just left it there. I best thing would have been more water and hopefully a totaled car. Now you will be chasing mold and electrical problems and no re-sale value. Sorry to hear this happened.

darcheeseTSX04

Hey, if they total it and give you the option to buy it back cheap. You should then part it out.

ChrismanTSX

or Richmond BC? I know the Vancouver area got major rainfall over the last week.

Either way, sorry to hear about that. That sucks in a major way! If it is Canadian law, don't settle. They'll try to give you the minimum at first, and will start discussing and negotiating later on in the process. By law, they have 60 days to settle claims, so they become a bit less arrogant with their approach later on in the process.

Get an independant analysis done of your car, have the electronic components verified for any sign of water infiltration/damage. Get them to also assess ANY damage to your interior... you'll need this when you discuss with the insurance adjustor...

Good luck man... i really feel for you!

angrycamel

Hey guys, thanks for all the great feedback. It's Richmond Virginia, by the way.

The dealership finally got the electronics diagnostic done and they cannot find anything that is wrong with it. The engine runs fine, there was no water in the oil or in the tranny fluid and it apears that water did not make it into the seats only up to them. The insurance adjuster said that they will not replace the electronics only on the assumption that they could be problematic in the future. However they say that if there are any failures in the future, they will be covered under the same claim. (bullshit if you ask me, that requires staying with the same company for the life of the car basically. What if a better deal comes along from another company?) I hate insurance companies.

Anyways, it doesn't look like there was that much immediate damage so once the carpet padding is replaced and the carpet shampooed, it will most likely be back to the way it was, at least for the time being. I hope to not see any problems in the future about the electronics.

I did find out that they only report the flood damage to DMV (to be put on your title) if its over $1,000 in damage. So if it comes in under that, which it looks like it will at this point, I may turn around and trade it in for an '07 or something. We'll see.

Anyone have any opinions, ethically, about selling the car or trading it in now before any future electronics problems come up, if they ever do? I feel like I would be doing someone wrong somehow. What are your opinions on that?

S14 n Tsx

sucks!! sorry to hear that..

cheese

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Good luck with your decisions and I hope things will be resolved soon.

BRH

Was the dealership Crown Acura? I'm curious as to how well you were treated with this dilemma. were you happy with their competence/expertise/final result?

I bought my TSX at Crown and get it serviced there, but I've never had to deal with them on anything major like what you had.....

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. Your office must be in Shockoe Bottom?

jwclements1

Not to take us off subject, but I'm from petersburg and bought my TL there. Nobody seems to listen to me when I say this dealership STILL isn't listed in that new directory on the front page.
thanks