I was recently stuck in a creek flood that ruined the engined of my 2007 Saturn. My insurance company and the repair company made the decision to replace the engine. My concern is now I need to sell the car and am wonering if this is gong to impact the value of the car. Both the insurance company and repair company have assured me that it won’t but I have my doubts. I wouldn’t buy a car that this has happened to. What do you think. HELP!
Value depends on the individuals. There are some people (potential buyers) who will consider your car a risk, and others who will not. What kind of price you can get for your car depends only on what you are willing to sell it for and what the buyer is willing to spend. Since it will not make any difference to some buyers if you find one of them it will not impact the price. On the other hand if you are in a hurry to sell it, you may not get that same price.
If I were the buyer, I would expect some reduction in price, but not maybe as much as you fear.
In any case there is no much you can do about it. It is what it is. There is no specific price people must pay for a 2007 Saturn and a different price for one with a replaced engine.
I guess that is the cost of risking going through a flooded area. I suspect next time you will be more careful.
If this gets noted in CARFAX, no one will want your vehicle. There are just a lot of electrical and other problems that show up years later. The previous poster was a little too polite. Only a stupid person would pay a normal price for this vehicle. If you fail to disclose it was in a flood, many state courts would reverse the deal if the buyer finds out months later when a repair is done. Time to play hardball with the insurance company or decide to drive it forever.
I agree, a flooded car really goes down in value. Hidden electrical problems may haunt the car forever. The upholstry may be ruined.
One of the first cars I have owned was a flood car . . . a 1969 MG Midget. Lime green. You could pick this car up (me and a friend) to put it on jack stands (it was on jack stands a lot!) The only thing that wasn’t adversely affected by the flood it was in was the engine, which came apart on it’s own. The car wasn’t running when it was involved in the flood of Agnes '72. Interior . . . body rust . . . door rubber . . . exhaust . . brakes . . . electrical (well, who can say . . it was Lucas anyway) . . . top . . . headlights . . . turn signals . . . and on and on. I got it cheap and rebuilt it almost completely, first real wrench turning experience. A flood will absolutely affect every component of an automobile and will decrease it’s value tremendously. Rocketman
It was a nice little car, tho. When it ran.
They tell me it only impacted the engine and I would never have gone thru the area as I had been sitting 10 hours waiting for it to clear before the flagger said it was ok…so much for listening to those in charge.
so, how deep was the water? did it come into the passenger compartment? Did you drive through it fast and get water into the air intake (which will blow the engine)?
Perhaps the flagger assumed you would drive thru the flood slowly…
If the water was not too deep, then you may not have any more water damage than you would get driving in heavy rain, aside from the water-locked engine. It’s not salt water, it seems, which is a plus.
Drive that thing until it starts to get old and ugly. Once it is worth less than $1500 it won’t matter anymore.
If you trade it in the likely case the dealer will never check.
There really not much you can do now and it may bite you slightly or might never even matter.
It was easy to push too! Rocketman
Midgets are cool. I test drove one back in the '70s. I went winding through the gears like a rocket, tearing down the roads at breakneck speed. I think I was doing 50!
Assuming the car was completely submerged, there may be electrical problems that may not show themselves for months or years. I’m not sure of the legal issues regarding disclosure at time of sale. This car may be hard to sell. Hopefully you have not completely settled with insurance company. Good Luck.