Three feet of floodwater at a Mazda dealership in CO? That would be a new climate change!
Well I would say buy it at the right price. The warranty is a legal issue at this milage. They really cannot avoid the emission warranty. Thats a fed mandate. At salvage it is still an issue. They cannot deny a warranty if the damage was body work only. Get a good documentation of the repairs. The cost to fight a refusal of warranty is years down the road hopefully. Usually this sort of thing gets settled quickly If you have the documentaion.
You never know. Some people I know who are now deceased (old age) owned a cabin in CO near the Big Thompson River; with emphasis on the past tense of own.
Back in the 70s here in the flatlands of OK we had a major flood here that appeared very quickly due to about 16" of rain in 4 hours time. I think about a third of the cars in town went under water and the water was about 2 feet deep at the Ford and Buick dealerships.
The dealer is free to ask whatever they want. You are free to offer whatever you want. With a 40K msrp, you decide what you think is a fair price you’d pay for the car as it is. Likely somewhere between 10 and 15K. Make an offer assuming they will counter and see if you can settle at a price you’d be ok with.
New it wouldn’t have sold for the msrp. It likely would sell for around 35K. Now it is one model year old and not too far from 2 model years old. Then the dealer is giving you no warranty on anything. Last the car was paid for by an insurance company already.
Let them laugh at you, offer 10K. Write your phone number on a piece of paper with the offer and give it to the laughing salesman. When no one else offers more, you might get a call.
I recall flying into Front Range Muni and seeing planes parked there with more dimples in them than a golf ball. Makes any hanger fee seem reasonable!
Personally, I’d want it to be 1/2 the selling price when repaired. If $20k is half and it still has the hail damage, then I’d be interested only if it was ($20k - body work estimate) or less. Covers the damage and any potential fallout from no warranty. I’d certainly have it inspected as a contingency as well.
The hailstorm broke all the glass on one side and curled the chrome trim. Every horizontal surface has marks, but no paint chips. The glass has been replaced, and MAACO will perform dent removal for about $4,000, and replace the trim for another $1,000. Otherwise it is a new car with about 30 miles.
Salvage title is pretty much the only way any warranty will be voided, and why even the extended warranty companies are avoiding the car.
Look at it this way, if you pay $15k for the car, the $20k you save can go towards a LOT of repairs. As was said before, get it in writing that the only problem with the car is the hail damage.