[hellstar]

@csenthil , thats bad , the same sort of thing happened in my office year before last when we had just moved into our new office at hebbal and the side walls caved in resulting in the basement becoming flooded completely ruining all equipment , in the basement inclusive of our data networks and couple of cars and bike which were parked in the basement at that point in time.

The facilities department offered to do the work on these automobile to bring them to their running condition, and was done immediately at company expense but i do hear that the car owners had to fight it out , so i really suggest that you should shoot for that option..

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Thats a matiz. I don't think Insurance will help much. Just get the car towed (do not attempt to start) to your mechanic's & get it serviced.

Whoops, ithought he had a civic

[csentil]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Whoops, ithought he had a civic

That was safely parked at home. :-) I've got it to office today and i hope it doesn't rain and flood today !!!

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by doctorkats

Who's the insurance company and what year of make is your Matiz?
In all probability your car may have been insured for a paltry 1 lac by the insurer, which would mean a insurance premium of Rs.3500
Losing a no claims discount isn't much in such a case (a loss of Rs.4000 approx)
I would say go for an insurance claim without batting an eyelid.

doctorkats, you are missing the bigger picture here. Do you think Insurance is going to compensate for all the damages during a flood ? please read your insurance policy clearly. It is limited to certain aspects only of which i am not clear myself right now. But please do look into your policy. The insurance company will end up paying a paltry amount & you will end up losing bad.

[subbarp]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Whoops, ithought he had a civic

I had the same fear, then relaxed when he mentioned the old Matiz.

[coolkurt]

I have a 2007 Honda Civic. Its self driven, has run 65000 kms. Yesterday due to incessant rainfall in Gurgaon, my car got submerged in water. The water depth was almost upto the windows. After retrieving my car, I had trouble starting and had to get it towed. Since the water entered the cabin, the entire seat upholstery etc has been damaged.

Therein comes my question.

1)Should I just get the repair work done, change the upholstery, leather work, get the car repainted etc

OR

2) Should I sell this car and buy a Honda Civic, new model? I am very satisfied with this car and I don't see the harm in buying the civic again.

Or are there any other alternatives that I could look at? I prefer a petrol car only.

Thanks.

[libranof1987]

Is the damage limited to upholstery? I mean, if the car was submerged almost till the windows; probably the engine area got damaged too.

You should probably factor in that as well. Take a comprehensive quote of repairs; see if and how much the insurance will cover and then take a call.

Cars getting submerged in rain water is very common in Mumbai and people get them back on the road soon; so I don't think you should worry about something as extreme as selling it off. Civic won't go at a good price either so that's another thing you should think over.

[mayankjha1806]

In my view with just upholstery change and cleaning (Assuming there is no damage to the engine and other critical electrical) it would be far more cheaper to repair the current Civic then buying a new one.

I bought a new Civic in December and am very happy with it, the current gen Civic is mostly the same old Civic with some improvements in the Suspension department. So just for this improvement i do not think it makes a financial sense to go for new, especially if the current one is good and has hardly done 65K which is nothing as compared to what it can do in its lifetime.

[shuvc]

How long was the car submerged? Get an estimate to bring it back to the shape it was in and then take a call.

My Baleno went through a similar water bath ! Repairs worth 30k (mostly covered by insurance) were carried out. The car has peacefully run close to 70k kms AFTER the incident, and still going strong.

[PGNarain]

Sad to hear about your car having suffered so!!

One of my friends had a similar experience last year with his Civic. He stays in Pune and is an officer in the Merchant Navy.

While he was sailing, it seems his civic got submerged during the rains. Worse, no one paid any attention to it, so when he eventually returned about 4-5months later, the entire insides of the car were entirely and comprehensively covered with fungal growth, grime and what not other unimaginables!!

The car had to be literally sent to the cleaners and after a routine service it was back to running as before.

To top it, it seems this year it happened all over again, though not to the same degree as before!!

[negativeH]

Vow! That's bad. But when did it rain that heavy in Gurgaon that streets got flooded so bad? Or was it parked in a drain-less basement?

I'd say, like others, get an estimate first 'bout the repairs. Selling a petrol car in the current market is not that good an idea. If the submerged period wasn't extended I doubt there'd be any damage to the engine and other under-hood parts.
My verdict would be to cash in on the insurance now and get new interiors.

[mayankjha1806]

@coolkurt, any update on the Civic, did you find out the repair cost of the whole thing as compared to changing the car altogether. My friend's car also had a similar fate, he is also looking for options. I have suggested him to get details on how much it would cost to get it repaired. Your experiences will help.

[Pacifica]

Hi,

I'd left my 2008 Hyundai Sonata A/T petrol car parked in my company's basement in Poona while I went to London for an assignment. I'd left a key with one of my colleagues to move the car in case of any signs of flooding.

Today I came to know that the basement flooded in overnight heavy rain and my car is submerged up to the wheels. Its so heartbreaking to see my car like this.

I suppose I will need to get insurance to survey the car now. Is such damage something that can be fixed? Advice would be welcome.

[ajmat]

Considering the car was not moved, you might be okay assuming no water leaked into interior. It all depends on whether interiors got waterlogged or not.

Worst case will be the ECU if it has been mounted low. I would lodge a laim with your insurer and transfer the car to the dealer for assessment, YOur brakes might need a clan out and the bottom end electrics like cooling fan, ABS sensors etc might require a check.

[Kumar R]

Oh no..sorry to hear of this. I'm sure the experienced members will soon join into this thread; what I can say is to let the car dry out completely (in the sun if possible) and then clean off the caked dirt / debris -- especially under the hood -- before you attempt anything. We used to have the same problem with our two cars due to the massive amount of waterlogging in our neighborhood and ultimately built a 1' high ramp to keep safe. Our "family-mechanic" diagnosed many of the post-waterlogging problems with trying to start the car too early (although there are many other problems with water entering tailpipe, insulated wiring, etc). For newer cars with electronics, it is even more important to get the car dry to prevent short-circuiting the electronics.