Insurance Claim Advice

[tyron]

Hey Guys,

So I drowned my car on the weekend, the passenger side front was full of water up to the glove box and the engine took in a heap of water the inter-cooler was full and it wouldn't turn over as it was hydra-locked. I had to get it running to get to phone reception and it was running pretty crap blowing a lot of smoke with half the dash lights on and it wouldn't come out of 4wd.

I just got a call from the insurance company saying the mechanic said there is nothing wrong with it and its good to go, they are towing it to Nissan and getting and getting the electric’s checked this week ( am pretty sure she just meant plugging it into diagnostics.)

Great news except I cant see how having all that water in the engine and having to drive it could have nothing wrong, or all the electrics that got soaks, will they corrode in 6 months? Or will my engine fail in 6 months or a year?

What are my options in this scenario? What would you do? Am I just over thinking it?

 

[nakedape]

Put your concerns to the insurer - see what they say. Also get a written guarantee from the mechanic if you can (be sus if they won't, and again talk to the insurer).

How'd you drown it btw?

 

[doc]

Check with your insurer to see if they have a lifetime warranty on repairs. If not, ask what the warranty it is.

If it was fresh water you are unlikely to have any corrosion issues with the electrics. If it was salt water, you have bigger problems.

 

[tyron]

It was fresh, they have a lifetime warranty on repairs. My concern was one thing if they are not repairing anything then what will the warranty cover.

She couldn't really answer the question. My main concern is future engine issues, say my turbo craps itself and nissan says it's water damage. Who pays for it.

I might see if I can get something in writing garunteeing there is no damage and there won't be any damage.

 

[Old.Tony]

Even fresh water can have contaminants in it. What I'd do to make sure the car is in the best possible condition is the following:

1) Change the engine oil TWICE, with about 100km of driving between. Change the filter on the last change.

2) Spray WD-40 (genuine stuff) on all electrical connections

3) Be prepared for minor glitches and the simple remedy - removal and reinstallation of electrical connections. As an example, the glow plugs don't come on (difficult cold starts) so you'd pull the glow relay and reinsert it a couple of times (with a little more WD-40 spray)

Your battery should have survived, and unless the turbocharger was glowing hot it should be okay. Might be worth checking play in the shaft to be sure though.

How about gearbox/transfer/diff fluids? Do you have breathers attached that remained above water, or could these have ingested some water too?

 

[tyron]

Thanks. I had to drive it out so I pulls all the intercooler pipes and intercooler off dried all out and sprayed wd40 into the turbo and engine air intake.

Only the passenger front was on the water so I'll do front diff oil.

What about speakers my front speaker was under water. The car was on a fair lean so the water was up to the glove box

 

[tyron]

I can handle some small things I'm more worried about expensive issues later on that should have been fixed under this insurance claim.

 

[Old.Tony]

Expensive things that I'd be concerned about - front diff, engine oil, maybe the transfer case. I'd suggest including the speaker if buying the replacement from a dealership but if you wanted to spend less, you could probably get a 24-carat gold plated speaker hand-made by monks in the Tibetan alps for less than half the dealer price.

Check the turbo's shaft. If it's not showing any signs of play in any direction it probably hasn't suffered any yet - doesn't mean that more awkward shutdowns won't cause it trouble in the future, so being considerate to the turbocharger is only going to help.

Other than that, I can't think of anything expensive you should be concerned about. Have you checked the steering rack rubber seals, CV joints etc? If they're all intact they should be fine too.

 

[tyron]

Thanks, that's a bit of reassurance.

 

[tyron]

So they had it checked by another mechanic, apparently it needs a new engine.. No compression etc etc.. That's a pretty big step from "nothing wrong"

 

[nathand22]

When mine was drowned NRMA told me 99% of the time they just write them off, too much chance of there being on going issues, motor today gearbox tomorrow then electrical the next day, they end up chasing their tail so they just bother cut heir losses and hand over a cheque.

 

[zed]

ohh tyron you poor bugger ! A rather HUGE STEP from nothing wrong ! stinking mechanics ! I feel for ya' man ! keep us posted ok !

 

[tyron]

New engine, turbo, seatbelts, 4wd controller 27k. Will be without car for a month. Time to look for some cheap motard wheels for the bike me thinks..

 

[tyron]

On a plus side they are getting it detailed inside and out haha

 

[Rumpig]

Ask your insurance company if they cover the cost of a hire car while yours is being repaired. Mine did.

 

[tyron]

Nah that's an option I didn't take :'(

 

[4 naving]

On the QLD Dept of transport web site I have previously looked up what is classed as a repairable write off and a statutory write off. it states a flooded vehicle that has had water up over the floor pan inundating the cabin area is a statutory write off. So im surprised they are considering fixing it. this may be an issue if you ever want to sell or even trade it later...
Just worth considering and maybe asking the insurance company...

 

[nathand22]

New engine, turbo, seatbelts, 4wd controller 27k. Will be without car for a month. Time to look for some cheap motard wheels for the bike me thinks..

I cant believe they are spending that sort of coin on the car and still taking a further punt that the diffs, gearbox, transfer case, ECU ect doesnt fail.

how much was it insured for? if they are dropping that much coin it must be allot.

 

[tyron]

Insured for 55

 

[tyron]

Transfer, gearbox wasn't underwater. Really only the front passenger side. It was on a pretty big angle