Thread: Risks in buying flood affected vehicles?

EVERY electrical connection.

I have a friend who is an insurance adjuster. He writes off NEW Commodores if the water got to dash level.

BTW, this may change in NSW from next month when there is no economic write off as insurance companies will not write off as many cars, as there will be no recovery value. ie it will be more economic for the company to fix a car if severely damaged as they factor the wreck value into the total cost of claim.

BUT they will still write off most dunked cars as problems will continually arise as months go on.
Regards Philip A

Don't forget that it will not just be water that has got into everything but abrasive silt as well.

If you want to re-use the vehicle, the engine; gearbox; drivetrain; etc would all need to be stripped and cleaned and reassembled, in addition to just about every electrical component.

Imagine the time needed to do a thorough job on something like a Range Rover, or Discovery

Don't do it. As Phillip A said, you will be chasing electrical problems for ever. It will make owning a Rangie look like a stroll in the park. Had a friend who drowned his VL dunny door, got it going again, then spent a weekend each month hasseling me for help to get something on it going again - usually the engine, as all the electrical connectors kept on corroding and stopping it. Something really old with bugger all electrics in it may be ok though...

I helped rescue an XE Falcon sedan that had been flooded in a shed to halfway up the doors. Basically everything electrical, including the instrument cluster, starter and distributor, had to be stripped right down and repaired. Brakes survived, but the main problem was the interior.

It stank.

The car was effectively worthless but it got a mate out of trouble. I wouldn't dream of doing it to a more modern car.

25 years ago I drowned a Suzuki Sierra on Fraser Is - ended up 10' under - drove it back to Newcastle three days later - when it got covered the battery was disconnected so no power running through.

On the way home contant missing due to drops of water still making its way into the carby - charcoal canister suck up the salt so tank had no breather and was being sucked in as fuel was being used and engine starved of fuel - drove home with the fuel cap off.

When home the lining inside the tank started to come off and continually block the fuel filter. Then the clutch started making noises - the release bearing seized up - as the Suzuki was only 3 months old the tank and clutch was replaced under warranty.

The tacho stopped working due to corrosion and the movement was replaced by one from Kmart - a good dose of WD40 kept the other instruments going. It took about 6 months for the foam in the seats to dry out which meant a wet bum for a while. Salt constantly oozed from the seats. After about 3 months the steering went funny as the bearings all started to sieze - easily replaced. Every piece of gold and grey cad on components disappeared before the car was pulled out of the water.

At about 12months the seat frames started to collapse due to them being rusted out - all reinforced with concrete reo rod.

The body never developed rust and I sold it 4 years later in good going order - I never developed electrical issues.

The reason I never developed electrical or body rust issues is because of actions I did before and after the incident - power off saved electrical components. When I got the car over to Harvey Bay I went to a 4wd hire place and asked what they do - answer take the car out to a farm dam and push it in and leave it there submerged for a view days to neutralise the rust. I did not have a dam so I used the caravan wash bay at the park to completely wash down - soak the entire car with fresh water - did this repeatedly over 24 hours to wash all the salt out - also it was a new car so all the paint etc in the inner panels etc was still good and not cracked.

I do not know why I did not claim on insurance - maybe because I was worried about being knocked back for being offroad - but if I had my time over again I would claim.

I would definitely not buy a flood damaged modern vehicle.

Garry

Does not take much water to do damage and damage on vehicles you would not expect. Water crossing here in 2009 Nissan Patrol Ute (fire appliance). Water was up to bonnet, but was only a 40m crossing and only that deep for 20m. Day shift did this, as it was due for service next day requested all fluids replaced. Had done 40kms since crossing. Result is gearbox is US.

I would only buy a flood affected vehicle for parts - and then it would want to be cheap!

After the 1974 Brisbane floods numerous cheap cars appeared in southern states, and those who bought them often had severe disappointment. And cars today have far more electronics than then.

John

I wouldn't even buy such a vehicle to dismantle, anything with an electrical connection will more than likely be dodgy for years to come.


Personally I think a lot of these vehicles, in Land Rovers, any with an ECU, BCU, ABS, gearbox controller, .... should have been stat write offs. Just think of the people who unbeknowingly buy such a vehicle from a dealer, after a quick fix and clean-up. No doubt problems for years to come.


A small example - about 5 years ago, a friend of ours who had a D2 had his windscreen replaced, after which it developed a tiny leak on the drivers side. Water went down a loom and onto the back of the inside fuse box, which corroded some of the terminals on the plug. The symptoms of the fault were that every now and again, every dash light would come on. Took ages to find, and this was water on only one connector.

So unless it is a reasonably low tech (electrically) vehicle, get it very cheap, do an extremely thorough tidy and then expect things to go wrong, avoid it.

Erich