[noopster]

Absolutely not.

I have seen cars completely ruined by the floods of 26/7 in Mumbai some years ago. My BIL's Accent was submerged. It was such a beautiful car before that. Afterwards, despite comprehensive repair work, it was never the same again. Electricals would fail suddenly, things would stop working and start again, the AC always had a weird smell and hidden parts were rusty. These are things you cannot hide from potential buyers so it was tough to resell as well.

You may think of it as a steal (as it undoubtedly is) but may end up with more problems than you bargained for.

[svsantosh]

duh! does this even even warrant a thread?! of course no!

unless it is a jeep or a bare bones 4x4 without electronics/ECU

[gandalf]

Here is my opinion. If Honda is willing to give the warrenty go for it without selling the alto. Use it for 6 months and fix the interiors and some of the electronics that would have conked off. After 6 months the car would be i pretty good shape. Sell it and the alto and get a new hatch.

If honda has not written them off and are willing to pay their warrrenties they are decent vehicles. But they are not selling it in the open market which I am assuming is due to a policy issue or Detailing them and bringing them back to their 'new' feel would cost. so they sell it for a cheaper value to gain space. Given the fact that this is not available to the general pubilc. you could buy it and resell it after refurbshing it thus making a tidy profit. The buyer too would be getting a good honda vehicle for the second hand price. So net to net noone loses

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by harishnayak

Hi Friends,

Just got some information regarding availability of about 20 flood ridden Honda cars in MP region.

Harish, it is quite tough to assess the condition of the car without inspecting it in person in detail.

I d suggest you get it inspected by a local ASC thoroughly and then take a call on it.

[arup.misra]

Wouldn't touch such samples even with a barge pole

Flood ridden cars are prone to electrical failure. Not to mention rust which is the single most biggest enemy of metal. With modern cars fully laden with gizmos (even safety features like ABS & Air bags) why would want to risk a failure in the event that you need it the most.

Even if Honda were to give you an engine warranty would they cover electrical failure.

[fuel_addict]

I would recommend you stay away from this "attractive" but risk prone deal. Having owned a Honda City which was submerged in the 2005 record floods in Mumbai, I can vouch for the risk factor being high with electricals and other components going bad anytime. I had to replace wheel bearings & AC compressor in my City at various stages after the flooding incident. This despite the fact that the car was repaired at an authorized Honda dealership immediately after the floods.

Even a thorough assessment of the car now could be misleading in such cases. You are virtually sitting on a time bomb and can never be sure when something would fail.

[anujmishra]

I would say you inspect the car with all angle and possibility and if it satisfies you, you can go for it. There is no harm in taking some amount of risk.

Whether engine cranking properly? Can you mark out engine repaired or not. Most affected part of floor ravaged car is engine. If it is working fine without any glowing light and there is no mark on it being opened, this means that flood did not damage engine.

[selfdrive]

I would stay away.
But I am interested in knowing if this is being done by Honda or by some of its dealers without Honda's knowledge. I guess you will know once you ask for warranty.

[sameerg001]

The deal is too tempting to stay away, I will suggest you to do detailed inspection of car before taking any decision, DO check the electricals thoroughly.

And also, I guess Honda won't provide any warranty for this, So i suggest you to first check the car in person and then take a decision, But if PDI is not possible, then I will suggest you to stay away from this.

Good luck

Cheers,
Sameer

[mashmash]

A very good deal. It is a risk, but then if it works fine, you will have a never ending smile. Get the car checked inside out by an experienced mechanic. Electrical issues will need a deep dive and checked thoroughly.

A Civic for 1/3. YUM.

[neofromcapone]

@ HarishNayak - My first reaction, DON"T buy. However, in the 2005 Bombay Floods, my Santro was submerged till the bonnet. All night while waiting for the rains to stop, was thinking that the car is gone and will not work.

Cut to March 2012, sold my Santro. No Problems except Rusting. Engine was good. mechanicals gave me no trouble. Nothing at all. Used to do a good run on the Bombay - Pune Expressway
It did a total of 120,000 kms when I sold it. Could have kept it longer, but needed a Diesel.

Go For It, with open Eyes.

Note: Team-BHP discourages speeding, or the mention thereof. Trust you'd drive safely.

[carwatcher]

I post the link to similar thread posted by me sometime back.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-c...-v-8-lacs.html

General opinion is against buying such cars.

I have only one question in mind. How will Honda react when the buyer sends the car for repairs. Will they support it as they have allowed them to be sold or they will remind the customer that car is out of warranty after every 10 minutes and they are doing a big favour by allowing him to enter their workshop.

[akshay4587]

I would say,the risk is worth it.
Just take a TD,and have the car checked inside out by an expert,and probably since it was flood affected,you can probably have all the fluids changed,another thing that you would want to check is rust.
Even,if it turns out to be a lemon,i think you would still be able to sell it without any loss.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

I would say,the risk is worth it.
Just take a TD,and have the car checked inside out by an expert,and probably since it was flood affected,you can probably have all the fluids changed,another thing that you would want to check is rust.
Even,if it turns out to be a lemon,i think you would still be able to sell it without any loss.

Not just rust. What about electricals? ECU damage can occur very easily. Wiring to all sensors. Fuel injection system.

There's a 100 things that can go wrong because of water entry. Stay far away from such a car.

You are better off buying a used Jazz at 1/2 the price than a new flood ridden one at 1/3rd the price.

[iliketurtles]

I'm going to go with the majority and say you shouldn't buy it for all the reasons listed (electrical issues, rust and so on). Look, you could have a car that is relatively problem-free for cheap, but why take that risk and gamble on your hard-earned money?

If you really don't mind a petrol car, the used petrol car has some great deals, look there instead. I wouldn't even think of going for a car that has been previously flooded.

On a lighter note, if they paid me to take or gave it for free...maybe! But this really is (potentially and most probably) more trouble than it is worth.