flooded86

My 1986 1/2 928 was recently submerged to the top of the steering wheel in a flood. I've already grabbed the toolkit from the rear hatch and the spare tire. Anything else worth trying to salvage before the insurance company totals it?

Mark Anderson

where are you located?

Hilton

Does the car have a sunroof? If not, pull the headliner.

Shawn Stanford

I had a 79 car go under to the headliner. I gave it away to someone who had it running again with a few hours work. The interior is ****, but as Matt showed: there's a lot you can do with bare metal!

dr bob

And what kind of flood water. Dirty river water = bad. Salt water = fatal.


Many moons ago, my dad's beater Pontiac 6000 was flooded to the headliner with rainwater. He left it out in the sun here with the windows open for a week until it was dry. Vacuumed the dirt out of the interior. Changed the oil and trans fluid. Not much else besides wash the windows really. It wasn't much worse than before the flood. He drove it for a few more years after that.


This is the same dad who questioned why I bothered washing his car, and specifically why I was hosing out the doorjambs one time. "In case someone else has to ride in your car!" He treated cars like disposable commodities. He was shocked when I bought my mother a brand new car; she'd always gotten his hand-me-downs, and I was tired of rescuing her from the middle of intersections half an hour away, multiple times in a day. That was before his flood car.

Tim Noce

Think it would be out of the question to tell them the wheels/brakes fell off in the flood? Ha, but seriously...

82Porsche928

I would take anything aluminum off the car that you can without it being noticeable. You know it won't rust, and can always sell a few things. You can always find super cheap wheels on cl and swap then out. I would also take some of the plastic pieces out of the interior that can be worth a few $$.

James Bailey

The insurance adjusters ALL KNOW about people starting to strip cars after an accident/flood and they often are NOT amused....some consider it to be fraud. Better to worry about negotiating a reasonable settlement than grabbing a couple parts.

Mark Anderson

Jim probably remembers the customer of ours that did this and ended up getting nothing for his car if I remember correctly.
I will tell you that I can generally offer more to a customer than the insurance will give you credit for. Make you best deal with them on the value than after their best offer agree to accept it you can retain salvage. You get the car for little to nothing and make a few bucks selling it to someone like me.

danglerb

What Jim and Mark said, with the short answer to should someone try to drive it again, maybe not, but "most" of the hard parts are not damaged by getting wet. All the soft parts, interior may be wrecked depending on the water and time to dry and conditions during drying.

Location will decide who might be interested.

Cutter67

I have bought a few flood cars and i am stripping a S4 flood car right now. You will be surprised at how many parts are still good. You should be able to buy it back for little or no money. What really matters is how long it was under for it was a flash flood and the water went down quickly a lot more can be saved. Where are you located i would be interested in it also.

linderpat

the 86 air box and venturi tubes are nla, so they should be salvaged for sure - after following Mark's and Jim's advice of course.

flooded86

Thanks for all of the responses!
I'm in Pensacola, FL. Insurance will soon tow the car to Mobile, AL.
The headliner is in good shape, but the car has a sunroof.
The event was an overnight flash flood, so it was flooded with dirty fresh water and most of it drained-out within 24 hours.
Since I had comprehensive insurance, it's wise not to risk getting a good settlement. I would be happy to salvage the vehicle if someone is interested, but I'm not looking to try to restore it myself.

Brett Jenkins

I was down there for a volleyball tournament on Okaloosa Island. Left right when the storm was starting and stayed just ahead of it all the way back to Nashville. I recall you got 24" of rain in 26 hours. Bummer, for sure. I agree on leaving it intact and getting the best settlement possible, and then buying it back from the insurance company, if it's cheap. Then fix it up or more likely part it out or sell it to a dismantler.

James Bailey

You might get the insurance company to provide you a rental car....the fact that each and every day costs them $$$$$ is an incentive for them to settle and keep in mind it IS a negotiation and what they propose is ONLY an offer, a number they would be HAPPY to pay you. Your job is to make them LESS HAPPY !! If you have the receipts for all repairs for the last couple years have those ready to use as a bargaining chip to prove your car is better than the ones on Craigslist.......Just remember the insurance adjuster is not on your side and wishes to close the claim as quickly and cheaply as possible. You can keep delaying it to wear them down and push for more $$$.