repair advice needed for Prius caught in a flash flood

Hi everybody - I have a 2010 Prius IV that was in a parking lot that was flooded during a heavy rainstorm. The water rose up about an inch higher than you see in this photo. Everyone else was able to throw their cars in neutral and push them to higher ground, but mine sat in this water for a little more than an hour.

The dealership hasn't completed its analysis, but they were able to jump-start it and there wasn't a flood (get it?) of error lights, so their list of things is shorter than you'd think. Mostly interior revamp, since the water did rise up about 2 inches into the seats. The service guy had initially told me that when he saw water at this level, the adjustor would typically total it out due to all the unknowns, but my adjustor asked for the teardown and analysis, so here I am.

I'd like to consider myself lucky, but my fear about going the repair route is that there must be a lot of electronics that was underwater that won't start corroding until after insurance has wiped their hands of it. Do any of you have any recommendations for systems that you just know must have been underwater, for which I should push for replacement now?

 

That's good to hear about the electronics. I'm not a DIY. The car is at a dealership but I haven't heard their final report. It wouldn't start, but it would once they jumped it. Apparently it wouldn't turn off naturally, so they're still looking into that. They didn't get any codes, so that's bodes well in a way, but my fear is that there are some enclosed pieces that aren't going to get insepected unless they throw a code, and that if they got wet that there will eventually be corrosion-related issues that won't turn up for a while.

So I guess what I was wondering is whether there is some consensus about which computers/electronics are below that water line that would ideally be replaced in a more proactive way, if you know what I mean.

 

I thought that myself when the adjustor asked me, "Now, is that a hybrid?"

 

I was told there was no evidence of water there. But because insurance wanted to take photos before anything was ripped apart, there was a good 40 hour delay before anything was looked at. What's that compartment like? Could it have drained away and dried up in that amount of time?

 

So the dealership estimate ended up at $14k, which is not enough for insurance to easily make the decision to total it (apparently that threshold is 70%), but I think I'm now in the territory where I can press my case for that outcome. Thanks to everyone for all of the tips on what to look for.

 

I got a new adjustor assigned to the case and his inclination was to total it and I heartily agreed. I think you're right about what they'll get for it at auction. The settlement offer was very fair, thanks to the amazing resale value of the 2010 IV w/solar package. It was actually worth more today than what I paid for it last September.

The biggest ticket item on the repair list was, of course, labor. After that came the stereo and the wiring for the instrument panel. There was some other wiring in the floor that they were going to replace, too, and those harness assemblies were $500+ and $700+.

Of course, getting more than what I paid for it last September doesn't exactly help me land a new IV w/ solar package without paying quite a bit more and waiting longer than I am able to wait. Sad, because I really loved the Prius, but I think I'll now have to wait to rejoin the fold until our 97 Subaru bites the dust (why of why, couldn't I have driven it on Monday?!?) and hopefully then supply will be back and I'll get the smoking new plug-in version.

Again, thanks to everyone for all the support and advice.