kevin79925

for real i think im jinxed.. my car was towed to the John Eagle Acura dealer in houston on Sat night. on Sunday it rained really hard in houston... so today Monday the dealer calls me saying that the tower had parked my car in the lowest spot in the whole dealership and that there is water in my car on the floorboard. the only frikin car on teh lott that has water in it.. so he tells me i need to call my insurance. i think the dealer is at fault. wtf? they shoulda moved it! I need help laywers out there.. who is at fault and what should i do? i already called my insurance, but if i can make the dealer fix it for free then that would be better.

tommyy2

A flooded car may be haunted by ghosts in the electrical system forever; often it's just totaled out. Try to verify exactly whats wrong and what protection you have from future problems that may arise if it's fixed.

aruca_RENAMED

If you are still having problem with the dealership...................... try give Honda/Acura headquarter a call and see what they say. They should answer you by the next day.
I had some issues that was out of warranty and John Eagle would not fix for me. I called them and explained to them nicely - they took care of everything for me, including rental car.
I guess since the HQ has the power and money - while the dealerships is just after making a profit, so see if Honda willing to help you out!

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

That sucks man. I think in some states the insurance company will total a car if flooded. The dealership should be liable for the damages. I would be really pissed.

kevin79925

do you have the phone number you called to do that?

aruca_RENAMED

I just called the Acura TLC/Road Side Assist or the 1800 number on the key chain/card and they transferred me to 'customer service dept'.
If you can't find it, I will post tonight after I get home.

kevin79925

found it .. talking to them now... asking them to get the dealership to cover repairs or totaling it out.



Your local dealer is the first stop for any questions or concerns about your U.S. Acura vehicle. For further assistance, feel free to contact Acura Client Services. You can get in touch with us several ways:



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MarbleGT

dude, if you get a salvage title i will be pissed off. IMO thats in absolutely no way your fault. 1)you had no control over it 2) they knew that there was a low part in the lot 3)this has prob. happend before...dont take no for an answer!!! Make them fix it!

Smitty

if water got up to your gas pedal, your ECU is toast.

I would have to hurt someone. but then again.. I never take my vehicles to dealerships for service... just recalls ( I sit in the car while they work on it)...

Gixxster

Damn that sucks monkey balls! Why did it have to be towed in? What was the original problem? Hope they fix, keep us updated.

baboya96

that REALLY sux... sorry to hear that.. hope Acura takes all the responsibilities as far as restoring ur car to its original condition

falabarce

And it doesn't help that John Eagle sits so low already on Hwy6...that sucks man! Sorry to hear that!

TLC I believe farms out the wrecker services much like AAA. I'd find out who authorized leaving the car in the spot where it was dropped. I believe that would be the person who would be responsible for it. If the wrecker just dropped the car off and left, I'd track down that driver and slash his tires (after going through the proper legal channels of course). If the dealer told the driver where...I'd make them look for a new set of wheels free of charge.

As a side note: The rain last night in town was a B^$%@!!! I took two steps...literally...into the downpour in Seabrook and I was completely drenched. My floor mats are still drying after having a pool of water in them last night. I think it's time to invest in the CAI bypass.

darrinb

gawd damn, that sucks

kevin79925

it was towed in for transimission for the 2nd time! it was on the freeway... crusing 70mph... suddenly a smell of burnt transmission... then loss of power... pulled over and hit the onstar help button then called TLC and they came and got the car within 30 min.

calling tlc now to see who towed the car and gonna get a statement from him if someone told him to put it there or if he put it there. then gonna call the dealer and see if the story matches. and see wut they say.

Slimey

Keep us posted.

This should be covered under the dealer's insurance. Their insurance should total your car (if indeed it has flood damage) and repay you for the value. Unfortuantely, the blue book is not that great.

If they balk, IMHO, I'd call my insurance company and have them subrogate the claim (as in any other insurance type issue). I'm sure your insurance company will be more then happy to legally push the dealer to compensate for what happened to your car under their care. Unfortunately, you'd still probably only get blue book value.

Major bummer.

kevin79925

i just got a call back from insurance they told me to go ahead and get a rental car and they will investigate the deal w the car and the dealership. i looked up kbb and its only worth 20,075 which is pretty much wut i owe on it. dammit.. think they will let me take off my konigs and tien ss and cf hood? i can sell those still. if they total it. well if it is then that is 1 more 6 speed/navi off the road.

Smitty

kevin79925

looking on the bright side there is a nsx for sale by the guy who owns the store next to mine.. its dark blue, supercharged 94 nsx. custom everything.. very clean car but he wants 40k for it.

i dunno if it will be a good daily driver tho.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

That really sucks. Maybe the deaker can find you one, or give you a much better deal on a replacement. I think they should allow you to take the after market parts off, as long as you replace them with stock ones.

Smitty

did you see the car yet?

kevin79925

nope as soon as i get the rental in an hour or so im gonna go take a look at the car and snap some pix

andre

OUCH! dealership should be completely responsible...it was out of your hands.

an insurance claim will hurt you in the future...i'd suggest not to go through insurance...



good luck!!!

falabarce

You know...you could sell those mods to someone who still has stock items in their car plus a small compensation....

m&b6speed

if you go on nsxprime.com under forums and then general discussion, look for the thread "dealer totaled my 04". in short guy there had his nsx in for service and the tech wrecked it on a test drive(there is more to it than that though you'll have to read the whole thing) and the dealer claimed no responsibility. went to corporate HQ and they are getting him a new nsx. sort of related to your story, thought maybe it would help you out. doesnt hurt to read the post on it and see what steps he took.

sorry the site wasnt responding or i would have linked it for you

Smitty

where is Kevin! @

falabarce

Perhaps I should take a drive over there and check things out....maybe he's over there sobbing the loss of his wheels due to stupidity...I know I would!! Well, that would be after anger took over and made some heads roll anyway. :P

kevin79925

insurance is gonna take care of everything... i aint ever going back to john eagle acura... because the dont wanna take responsibility of it.. i looked at the car(couldnt find my camera) not much water got in.. still enough to soak the carpet... i was also told by the enterprise rent a car guy that when i do trade it in or sell it i can look up kelly blue book on the car and then give the insurance co my difference of what its worth due to flooding to the insurance and they will write me a check for the difference. he said they do it all the time

andre

but this claim will remain on your insurance and premium will go up. i would take this case to a corporate level...

sux when others screw you up...

Slimey

Who's insurance? Yours or the dealer's? Or is yours subrogating for a claim on the dealer's policy?

This should be a dealer responsibility as it was in his/her posession at the time of the incident. I would make that very clear to your insurance company if you are going to use them to subrogate the claim.

falabarce

In Texas regardless of fault, your premiums will go up because of the claim.

I was hit by a drunk driver in 2001 in my first Aegean CLS and after 3 years and much fighting settled the case. Bad thing is that as soon as my policy was up for renewal after settling with Allstate (who denies their policy holder was ever charged with DUI though I have paperwork that shows otherwise), my policy went up to 921 for 6 months....I was at 576 prior to that.

I think that if Texas is going to have at fault insurance that it should also follow suit that non-fault incidents do not count against you...

Anyway kev...the vehicle was NOT in your possession nor did you authorize the release of your vehicle to the actual location where it was dropped off. Yes, you do sign waivers of damage or loss of items to the vehicle while it is in their possession. However, storage of the vehicle and damage due to the vehicle due to acts of nature/God should be covered by Acura's dealer insurance...all of the vehicles they have on the lot are covered by this....so should yours.

I would personally fight this to the tooth and nail with Acura before you actually file a claim. The claim will haunt you in this friggin' state for about 5-7 years depending on which company you go with regardless of fault. On top of that, it doesn't help that Harris County has the second/third highest insurance rate in the nation...

Good luck! And don't forget...if it is going to be totalled out to keep us (me me me) in mind for trading out the mods for stock items.

kevin79925

they are not gonna total it out.. right now my insurance said they are gonna cover it. im gonna give corporate a call again and see what they can do but from the first call they said each dealer is independently owned and they have their own policies about vehicles on their lot. does anyone know a number where i can reach a higher up person?

falabarce

I just talked to the svc mgr at Champion and the Acura rep does trips to town at least once a month to see what needs to be done and take a look around. This also gives the opp. to talk to him personally and have him give you feedback on what you can do.

I'm trying to get my tranny replaced eventhough the "test" says it passed...I still get kicks and weird shifts from the car. He's going to be in Houston on the 24th (he might be at John Eagle on the same or other day) and this would be the perfect chance for you to talk to an actual Acura rep. and talk shop. I plan on taking him on a little trip to feel the kicks and have him try to approve the replacement since the dealerships can't really make that call.

On your case where it can be somewhat treated as either an Acura or dealer claim, he has the power to talk to Corporate and see if they will either lend a helping hand or "persuade" John Eagle to take the costs of repairing it.

I would make sure that they:

#1 - replace ALL carpet and padding and NOT dry, treat it and put back.
#2 - check ALL electrical.
#3 - drain and FLUSH the engine...regardless of the engine running or not, it's a good idea
#4 - wheel bearings - might be a good idea to replace them even if they're sealed. You will most likely run into issues down the line because of the water.
#5 - any low electrical components in the engine bay: starter, water pump, etc...
#6 - tranny...oh wait...that's what it was in for to begin with...

I might have missed something or put something that might not be necessary...so guys help out if I did!

These are just things that I had to get done when I had a run in with water some time ago as well...

yunginTL

daMN THAT shit sux i go to that dealership alot, in their wholesale parts department. hope u get it resolved

njzprettyboy

this suxs...good luck kev..

F900

Kevin,

You going around it the wrong way buddy, you should have NOT contacted your insurance company, maybe not now, but your insurance will go up.

From what i read its the dealers responsiblty 101%, let the claim go under there insurance.

Sounds like the dealer is trying to fuck with u.....

I would not sign anything and talk to a lawyer....


On your insurance report its going to show "if" they total it, YOU waterloged or damaged the car, not the dealer.



Don't talk to them anymore...Get a lawyer