[wildsdi5530]

Will it be possible to register these cars i.e.- will they clear RTO inspection?
And will insurance companies insure these cars?
If yes to both of the above, I think it is a good deal. If the company offers warranty too, that's the icing on the cake.
At 1/3 the price, you will have a lot of spare cash to handle any repairs.

[harishnayak]

I'm sorry i was away on a roadtrip to LEH last week so could not respond to anyone. I've dropped the idea of buying this car after reading the pros and cons posted by fellow BHPians

Few more details -

Car needs to be registered ONLY in MH
It would have warranty
Upon getting closer to the deal i found out that the discount was only 35 %

[saadat1992]

This is totally new! I have heard and seen dealers push old vehicles with heavy discounts to clear their inventory but , never heard of flooded vehicles being sold!

I would suggest you to stay away from the deal. You might not know what will happen in the long run.

My Santro was flooded during the 2008 rains. The car was left unattended for 10 days. Later, when i returned , i found that the water was still inside and the seats got fungus all over it! The engine refused to start! But , after a service , everything was fine! Then as time flew by, the problems started to show up. The car is now at it's worst condition! The Alternator , the engine , the exhaust system , the steering column , etc are worn out! It's such a big mess. It's an 8 year old car so , not much of a problem. But, getting a brand new car that was flooded is a BIG RISK ! So, Please! Stay away from the deal!

[madbullram]

Hi Guys,
With my CIvic declared total loss we are in desperate need of a car. Oylmpia honda has a ready stock Brio Automatic in their yard which I can buy ASAP. They are saying its 100% water / flood damage free. I am more worried in buying a car which had water. Is there a way to find if the Car was in water, given that they might have done all to cover it?

Mods: If this is the wrong thread, sorry please move it to the appropriate section.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by madbullram

Oylmpia honda has a ready stock Brio Automatic in their yard which I can buy ASAP.

Start with the obvious - was their yard flooded? If not, that's good news.

Once confirmed, comb the car entirely and look for residue / moisture / smell stains. Water reaches everywhere, so look at places that are hidden (e.g. floor area below seats) or where it's hard for the human hand to reach (open one of the doorpads and look at the bottom area). Spend 2 hours with a torch and it shouldn't be too difficult to tell a flood damage car from one that's been safe.

You could also take an expert mechanic along. Two eyes are always better than one.

[saadat1992]

Originally Posted by madbullram

Hi Guys,
With my CIvic declared total loss we are in desperate need of a car. Oylmpia honda has a ready stock Brio Automatic in their yard which I can buy ASAP. They are saying its 100% water / flood damage free. I am more worried in buying a car which had water. Is there a way to find if the Car was in water, given that they might have done all to cover it?

Mods: If this is the wrong thread, sorry please move it to the appropriate section.

Olympia Honda is in Ambattur, isn't it?
Ambattur made headlines the other day when the industries there declared 1800 crore loss due to floods. As GTO suggested , ask around if Olympia was flooded! No one wants to buy a flood hit car!

[greendream]

Seeking expert opinion for a friends car purchase.

This is a flood affected vehicle C category as per dealer records.

My first reaction was a NO. But again I have only read/heard of flood hit cars. Never lived with one.

The car in question is a three month old Maruti Ertiga petrol.

The car belongs to Andhra Pradesh but I perceive that the flooding has taken place in Karnataka last month.The vehicle is with Maruti true value in Andhra, where I am told the customer has left it after claiming insurance.The on road price is 9.67 lakhs. The offered price is 7 lakhs.

1.What all can go wrong with a 3month old C category flooded vehicle ? (C category= flooding till tyres/ base of seats.)

2. I am aware of nexus between dealers and insurance people where in the customer is misguided about huge repairs and subsequently a total loss solution given. In this case a 3 month old car with true value, a total loss solution given by insurance( my guess), might involve some interesting practises by the parties involved.
Can you please throw some light as to what those might be.

3. If you deem C category flooded vehicle to be an acceptable purchase, what would you pay for it in this case? Who knows my friend may make his luckiest purchase if a go ahead is given here.

[condor]

Originally Posted by greendream

The on road price is 9.67 lakhs. The offered price is 7 lakhs.

IMO, at 7 lakhs Not worth it. Even a 2 year old used Ertiga would be better here, and you would get one at lesser than 7L.

[pganapathy]

Originally Posted by greendream

Seeking expert opinion for a friends car purchase.
This is a flood affected vehicle C category as per dealer records.
friend may make his luckiest purchase if a go ahead is given here.

RUN AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE. Unless zero engine and electricals have been flood affected, you never know which issue will pop up when. Also, the longer the vehicle has been submerged, the greater potential for risk down the line. The body is the easy part to fix. The engine and electricals are the problem areas.

At 7 lakhs, it is overpriced for this. If it was being offered at a very cheap rate where you would be willing to accept a total loss if necessary, then it would be a risk worth taking. Not at this price

[neofromcapone]

Walk away.

There is only one party here getting a sweet deal and that is not you.

My car was submerged till the steering wheel in 2005.

No issues, just fuel line and tank were flushed out.

But the body started rusting and spread like cancer.

Even if I was getting this at 3 lacs + full service pack, I wouldn't buy it, I would never have peace of mind with this car.

[shankar.balan]

Last thing in life to do is to buy one of these flood damaged vehicles.

After buying such a thing you will end up with a never ending source of worry and headaches in maintenance.

Same goes for one of these vehicles thats had a serious crash.

Such vehicles are best allowed to go away to the great junkyard in the sky.

[cheetahrd]

As per my humble opinion, you should walk away.
The problem that I see in this deal is not only the C category flooded vehicle, but also the price in which the car is offered.

I don't think 7 lakhs is a sweet deal for the buyer. Plus assuming that the dealer is saying the truth about the C category, There will be rust issues which would not be visible to our eyes.

One of my relatives Lancer had rust issues under the carpet where water was trapped . Their house was in a low lying area which used to get flooded every year. The Lancer would be driven in water logged areas which we think is the root cause of the issue.

Is the price of 7 lakh negotiable?

[Govardhansupra]

I have bought a flood affected TN registered car. I'm a keralite, BTW. It is a Toyota Altis 2009 1.8GL petrol. It was fully serviced and was in good condition when we saw it. It was owned by an ex-MP or an MLA. That gave us courage to buy it. It was bought at a good price at that time, and also had fancy number (9009).
PS: It wasn't a deal-breaker like yours. This one was similar, but little less than non-flood affected cars, but was in excellent condition. Non-flood affected ones were either too costly, or not were up to the condition, or were older. Altis was a car loved by me, and it was me who pushed my dad to buy the car. I was significantly a smaller kid then, and was not aware of the potential risks of buying a flood-affected car. Moreover, the thought of an Altis struck us after the flood came. We heard that flood affected cars go cheap and also gets properly, and that's why we went ahead. So, in short, we had already made up our mind to buy a flood-affected car.
Thoughts?
We never had faced any issues so far and the car is nearing 1 Lakh kms. The clutch was replaced by us at 95000 kms.