Flood Damage in Cars, what to do if your car has been affected by the Colorado floods
With the floods in Colorado reaching what experts are calling ’100 Year Levels’ we are getting a lot of questions about car repairs due to flood damage. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
First Things First: Call your insurance agent and check to see if your car is covered for flood damage, also check for details on towing insurance and rental car insurance. Get the details on reimbursement ask if using your own mechanic is okay or if there’s someone they recommend. You may have towing insurance, be sure to ask, then have it towed to a mechanic you trust… Like us
Don’t attempt to start a flooded car! you can do much more harm than good. If there’s water in the transmission, file system or engine, you’re only going to compound the damage.
Assessing the Damage: Any vehicle can be repaired if you want to spend enough money to fix it. However, the question to ask it if the repairs will make financial sense. As a general rule, if the water level has risen above the bottom edge of the car doors, and soaked the interior, it likely cost of repairs will be more than the value of fixing the vehicle. Note this is only a rule of thumb, there are always exceptions. Look for the high water mark, it should be relatively easy to spot if the waters are muddy (if the waters were clean, unlikely, but just in case, Look for water inside the tail lights and dampness on the interior.)
Drying out your car: Don’t wait for the adjuster to come out, Mold and corrosion are already at work. Take photos with your camera phone of the damage, use your phone to take a video of the car completely from all angles, inside and out. Then begin to clean out as much liquid and mud as soon as possible.
Fortunately, for most of the cars in Colorado, the damage will be done by freshwater, not saltwater. Salt water is very aggressive and causes much greater damage, has more long term implications than fresh water and is very much harder to deal with. However silt, mud and other material carried by fresh water can be difficult to remove and will increase repair difficulty and costs.
If you have any questions about a water or flood damaged car in Denver, or anywhere else, we are always happy to help. Have your car taken to us and we’ll do a free estimate, and give you some straightforward thoughts on if the repairs would be worth the investment.
Stay safe and dry Colorado – from the team at Davis Repair!