[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by Ponybha23

Thanks everyone for your inputs. Relatively diverse viewpoints indeed.

SITREP as follows:
We have got approval for ~8L from insurance (DD under prep apparently) and a buyer, identified by insurance, is ready to pay 7L for salvage value. We are not legally required to sell to the buyer but insurance will not pay more that ~8L anyway..

I don't think this is right. In case of total loss, car is put up for auction, salvage buyer bids, wins, and comes and picks up the car with the bid amount and necessary paperwork. Insurance pays remaining amount only after that, and cancels your policy.

[ex-innova-guy]

Originally Posted by Ponybha23

We have got approval for ~8L from insurance (DD under prep apparently) and a buyer, identified by insurance, is ready to pay 7L for salvage value.

So does this mean you are receiving/settling just ₹8L?

[hrman]

Originally Posted by Ponybha23

Thanks everyone for your inputs. Relatively diverse viewpoints indeed.

SITREP as follows:
We have got approval for ~8L from insurance (DD under prep apparently) and a buyer, identified by insurance, is ready to pay 7L for salvage value.
....

IMHO, please take this as an exit opportunity and take the 15L offered and buy a relatively hassle free Hyundai/Kia/Honda car. Creta, Seltos come to mind.
Repairing the car seems not worth the hassle. This would also affect the resale, since the car would have been marked as flood damaged in Skoda's and Insurance records and Skoda cars are not known for their high resale either.

Originally Posted by ex-innova-guy

So does this mean you are receiving/settling just ₹8L?

He is getting 8L from the insurance and 7L from the buyer so 15L in total. He will get the insurance amount if he agrees. Whether he sells to the identified buyer is upto the OP.

[Ponybha23]

Originally Posted by ex-innova-guy

So does this mean you are receiving/settling just ₹8L?

No, the insurance pays our 8L and the dealer, identified by the insurance, through their auction process apparently, will pay the rest (amounting to 15L).

Originally Posted by hrman

IMHO, please take this as an exit opportunity and take the 15L offered and buy a relatively hassle free Hyundai/Kia/Honda car. Creta, Seltos come to mind.

Yes, this is what we have decided. Have the insurance cheque in hand as of today. Once NOC from bank/nil statement from bank is received (since car is hypothecated), dealer will remit the balance and take possession of the vehicle, ending our association with Škoda! Good riddance!!

[EnchantedPanda]

You got a sweet deal at the end, as all suggested to with logical choice instead of going for repairs.

On another note maybe it's time to increase your home's ramp height or plan having temporary system to raise the platform ...steel die cast where can roll in your cars to that platform whenever there is high level alert.

[gautam109]

Just came across this link:
https://x.com/arjunpacha/status/1759...161805013?s=20

Brief summary of the thread:

• Apparently, a 2021 Hyundai Nios Sportz AMT owner, Mr. Arjun Pacha, had his car suffer some damage due to flooding that reached tire height.
  
• He sent the car to PeeYesYem Hyundai Guindy for a check-up and repairs.
  
• Dealership comes up with a ₹ 8 lac estimate (for a ₹ 7 lac car). Advises the customer to claim a total loss. Insists that flooding was up to dashboard level & the AMT gearbox is gone.
  
• Customer asks to see the car but dealership has sent it to their stockyard 30+km away, to be stored as a total loss vehicle, WITHOUT any authorization.
  
• Customer makes a long trip there to recover his car and dealership makes him to pay ₹5,900 "estimation charges" to release his car.
  
• Turns out the so-called "total loss" car has been driven around in the stockyard, which is highly contra-indicated for a flood damaged car.
  
• Local garage repairs car at a cost of ₹ 45,000.
  

Of course, this one customer's word on social media, but this looks like a horrendous experience. Assuming the account is accurate, it is really sad that dealerships of large brands feel they can do this with impunity, implying that brands are unable, unwilling or unbothered to rein them in.

[CarNerd]

Dealer name is "PeeYesYem" Hyundai? I guess that explains the ₹8 lakh rupee bill!

But seriously, unless we have stringent consumer protection laws, such things will keep happening. We need the power to sue companies like they do in the US asap.

[saikishor]

What a gaudy name to choose for a dealership. Apart from that, my personal advice to any flood affected car owner is to claim total loss. I don't really see much foul play here, except for sending the car to the scrapyard without authorization.

[Ashwintona675]

Originally Posted by saikishor

What a gaudy name to choose for a dealership. Apart from that, my personal advice to any flood affected car owner is to claim total loss. I don't really see much foul play here, except for sending the car to the scrapyard without authorization.

Yes i agree. I would rather have gone for the total loss in a flood affected car, than deal with the issues later (let alone the resale value of the car which plummets being flood affected).

But i guess the dealership got over confident, that the customer will agree to the total loss and sent it to Scrapyard without approval.

[gautam109]

Interesting perspective @saikishor and @Ashwintona675. Will keep this in mind if, god forbid, I am ever in a similar situation.

I would just wonder that if the issue is limited to only electricals and AMT-gearbox & not engine (the owner said it was flooded to "tire height" (which means tailpipe was submerged but engine was not? And they did not operate the car during/after flooding), it might well be repairable.

But good point and only time will tell if the local garage repairs hold up or the car turns into a white elephant, in which case the customer would've better off taking the IDV + scrap sale realization & getting a new car.

[Tortle]

This is really sad. I have been facing floods since 2015. It didn't affect me much until 2023 where I brought my new kia carens in march. I was very confident that this wouldn't be like 2015 situation but man I was wrong. Though the waters raised only half the tyre. It still brought me a servicing cost of 10k. There should a solution to this situation so all of us don't face it again. Have anyone figured a solution or an idea that we could try implementing for upcoming years?