So after a night of epic thunderstorms here in FL I woke up to an inch of water in my house and 8 inches or so in the front yard and garage. It's not all that bad, but we have to dry out a bit. The jag got damp floorboards but that was it. No sitting water or anything. I'd guess it was up to the bottom of the doors for maybe an hour during the peak of the flash flood. The water was not dirty and it generally looks pretty clean. I wet vacced it and shampood the carpets but Im thinking I should take it to a detail shop and maybe pull out the seats and carpets and maybe the mechanic to ensure there was no issues. Please let me know if there are any mechanical or electrical components that may have been damaged or what you would do. I hate to make a flood claim if its just wet carpets but I don't want to ignore any other potential issues.

 

Be thankful it was NOT salt water. If the car starts and ALL electrical works, you were probably spared $$$$'s in expenses.

Taking the car to a professional detailer is probably a very good idea. Pulling seats may require some electrical work.

My opinion, see how the car runs. If there is no mechanical of electrical issues, the detail would be the way to go, without pulling seats and unplugging electrical wires, modules etc.

Shampooing carpets etc, would be good.

 

It may take months or years for corrosion of electrical connectors to occur and for components to fail. If you decide to keep it, dry it out as much as you can and leave it outside in the hot Florida sun (with a windshield sun reflector to save your leather dash) to dry it even more.

You should file claims now with your automobile insurance (Comprehensive) and homeowners insurance (Flood, if you have it) to preserve your rights should your car later develop electrical problems. No sure which insurer has primary liability, so file with both and let them resolve that issue.

Good luck!

 

If the carpet has been wet, the only two modules likely to have suffered are the Driver and Passenger Seat Modules. These are bolted underneath the seats and almost in contact with the floor carpet.

Check all seat and exterior mirror adjustment and memory functions to determine if there has been any damage to the modules.

Graham

 

Hmmm... we had epic flooding in the DC area the last couple days, too. But it never occurred to me to see if my Jag got flooded (it's parked away from my apartment). I will need to check!!

 

As mentioned above, be thankful this it is not salt water, or you would be abandoning ship on this one. My opinion on the Insurance would be to think carefully before submitting a claim. You might be hiking your insurance premium unnecessarily and unless your car was close to a total, I'm not a believer of insurance claims. They are in the business to make money, and you can be sure if they pay you anything for your claim, they will make it back many times over in a premium hike. But that's just me.

 

For what ever it means; if you file an insurance claim they "might" report the event to CARFAX and the value of your car would drop through the floor even if all is dry and good.

 

Get a small fan or 2 and put it in the car in various positions for a day or 2 with the windows open (in a garage).

I did this after leaving a window open during a Florida monsoon. In fact my drivers window and mirrors wouldn't work and the seat and rugs were soaked through. After a couple of days with the fan everything dried and electrics went back to normal.

 

What I'm suggesting is not a formal claim since there is no actual damage...yet. To be valid, a claim must have been filed within a certain time after the event or occurrence (the date of the flood). Filing now is simply to preserve your rights if the damage shows up after the contractual period within which you are required to file a claim.

My understanding of CarFax is that it takes months or years for an event to show up after it is paid. I doubt that merely filing a protective claim will trigger a CarFax report.

 

Wouldn't the idea behind filing a claim be to receive some sort of compensation? If it was flooded, I would want the repair costs + some sort of credit for diminished value!

In your state, does a flooded car get a branded title?

 

Agreed. I forgot about that one. In that scenario you would be looking at owning a flood car.

 

Not sure about car insurance, but with home owners insurance, once you file a claim, regardless of whether or not it is paid, it is still considered a claim and goes on your record as a claim.

 

Carfax receives their data electronically (computerized) from vendors who report to them i.e. dealerships, especially insurance companies.

It won't take months or years to show up, it will be on Carfax once the insurance company reports the damage which is usually a week or two.

It's much quickly than what you might think.

Any info that shows up on a Carfax suggesting water damage or flood damage will certainly hurt the value of the automobile for future sale or trade.

 

This is a very VALID point. Great suggestion/information/thought from AXR6.

 

Richard,
My experience is the opposite. One of my cars has been involved in two major accidents, the first over 4 years ago and the second over 2 years ago. Last month I almost traded it for a new car. When the dealer pulled the CarFax, I was surprised that it was clean. Obviously not reported by my insurance company, the dealer or the body shop even though substantial sums of $$$ were paid.

This Forum needs the professional advice of a property and casualty insurance broker/agent regarding: (1) timely filing a claim (or otherwise notifying the insurance company) in order to preserve a potential future claim for latent damage, which might not arise until long after the date of the occurrence (flood) and the contractual period within which a claim must be timely filed, and (2) the effect of so doing on the policyholder's loss experience and future premiums, assuming that no damages are paid by the insurance company. If an insurance company establishes a reserve for a potential future claim, will that cause the insurer's premiums to go up?

Looking forward to a reply from an insurance professional

Stuart

 

I know some dealers report service to Carfax. Those get reported very quickly. I don't think flood damage would be any different!