During the recent flooding, my son and I were evacuated @ 3am by the fire dept. My car was still high and dry, but his car was up to the bumper in water and to get it out, would have had to back into at 6 inches to a foot deeper water. We left his car where it was, hoping the water would not get any higher. Next day we found it had risen 2-3 feet, his car was soppy wet inside and the engine covered with a thin layer of mud/silt. Is there anything we can do to save the car now? Should we have tried to move it out when it was in a foot (or so) of water?
My mother is furious with us for not trying to save the car, and I will be grateful for any info you can give!
You did exactly the right thing, NEVER drive a car into deeper water, it’s just a car, not a life. You’ll need to contact your insurance, I’m no expert, but I’m guessing it’ll be totaled if the engine was submerged.
The first thing to do is to contact your insurance company and do what they say, so that there’s no chance of your claim being denied.
If you tried to move the car, I’d say there was a decent chance that you would have sucked water into the engine, destroying it in the process. I suspect insurance wouldn’t cover that, so leaving it alone was most likely the better choice. If this were my car, I would have left it there.
Just so you know, cars that have been flooded tend to have ongoing issues for the rest of their lives due to corrosion that will continue from here. If you get a chance to take a settlement and move on, that will probably be a smoother road for you.
Condolences for the plight you’re in, but you did exactly the right thing. Never mess with a flood. When the fire department evacuates you, GO. Cars are replacable, but you are not. Perhaps when mom has had a chance to calm down she’ll realize this.
Yeah you did the right thing. Now you either have to just dump it and forget about it or if you are going to try to save it you need to take some immediate action before mold and corrosion start. You have to pull the seats and the carpet and the pad. Try and get the excess moisture out and get them in the sun or a super heated room to dry. Mold can start in 24 hours and you’ll never get it killed. Get under the dash and open up any computer boxes that thave been exposed and get them dry and clean. Same thing with any connections. Change any fluids if there is evidence of contamination. Also may need to pull the door panels and dry the same way and clean the door interiors. Same for the trunk. And on and on. You can claim a loss like this on your taxes next year so may want to just consider dumping it.