Flood Damage: Worth Repairing?

Awww crap, sorry about that. Yeah if it got that high it got into battery compartment and its ECU. The water got into battery compartment through the air vent in the back seat because the battery is air cooled (or backed up into the exhaust air vent which is even lower). Now it's water cooled unfortunately. Even if the water didn't get to the top of the battery, I'm sure the bus bars on top of the battery cells will start to corrode because of the high humidity. The ECU faulting like that is indicative that not all of the water is out. Sounds like you need to let a specialist look at it and there might be still some value. Then see if you can trade it in. Most of the time they'll just send it to auction anyways.

 

I'm sorry to hear that your car got flooded, that sucks.
Can you push it to Boston, MA? ;-)

Summary:
If the car is rust free, someone may be extremely lucky, to get a great deal on a "project car".


More Details:
Realistically, it's ~$8K to $13K++, to have it repair by professionals.

An important thing is that the main high voltage cable (?~$1,500++? new) must be replaced, for the car to be at all reliable. That's a lot of time.
The battery is also likely bad.
For a half-decent DYI-er, they can get the high voltage cable, and carpet at a local salvage yard.

For the hybrid battery, figure ~$500 to $1,500 used. And, ~$3K to ~4K, for new. And, ~~10 hours of added work.

Also, imho, to be proactive on any possible rust, the car would also need a deep coating of Surface Shield, and close attention for the next ~3-5 years (along with yearly reapplications).

Imho, for a DYI-er, I figure ~~$5-6K near the high-end?
Figure 30-60++ hours or work total.

Good Luck!

 

I'd suggest, without delay, reading through T-SB-0229-12.

It has a section 1 just about getting the vehicle safe. First, decide whether any water got over the rocker panels into the car. If not, great, go to section 2. In your case, that's clearly yes, so: Otherwise, even if you see no water but carpet's damp, open all doors/hatch/trunk, pop the rubber plugs at floor pan corners and spare tire well, disconnect 12V battery ground (be sure to fold cable well away from the terminal so it won't sproing back and make contact), pull traction battery service plug (but only after disconnecting 12V, and only after letting water drain from the area). Then use wheel dollies to get the car to a safe place away from other valuable stuff.

Most of the rest of the TSB is section 2, with different lists of things to inspect depending on how high the water got (level 1, lower edge of rim; level 2, axle centerline; level 3, top of rocker panel/lower door edge; level 4, lower edge of dash panel; level 5, top edge of dash panel) and whether the car was driven in the water.

From the pic, I'm guessing yours at above level 3 but not quite level 4.

Section 3 is then about repairs.

 

To be clear, and to get through the semi-bs of the following:
=======
NOTE:
For Fresh Water Flooding:
o The dynamic inspection tables serve as a general inspection guide.
o Residual corrosion and conductivity, once vehicle is dried, is not as great a concern as with salt water.
ALL flooding situations should be inspected and judged individually.
=======

Imho, the above is like saying, having a dozen calm full-grown Brown Recluse spiders crawling on you, "is not as great a concern" as having one very PO'd Black Widow crawling on you.

The term "is not as great a concern" is massively different than "is of no concern at all, we 100% guarantee it".

Imho, for a reliable vehicle, the whole high-voltage cable must be replaced. The cable is older, and it's not designed to be 100% water-proof, while submerged for a period of time.


Fwiw...., my guess is that the car will be sold as scrap. Some dealer will buy it, they will do the cheapest fix, it will get sold/moved to a State where the Salvage title is not required (??will the car even have a Salvage Title??), and some unsuspecting person will pay top dollar for a salvage car.

The above is very common, and is done with flood cars all the time.
Since the above car will not have an insurance claim, there won't be any "flood" indication in any check.
So, the selling parties are pretty safe from any law suit. Besides, lawsuits are $3K-$10K++++ (and are paid by the person filing the lawsuit). And, it's not illegal to take a flooded car from Florida, re-title the car in a different State, and sell the car. Go through one more transaction, and the selling party is safe from a lawsuit. To sue the intermediary, it gets into a "he said, they said" situation (about flooding).

Btw, the car could even end up back in CA.
So, realize, if you ever see a used car going through dealers, then be wary, if any of the owners were in a State where the "Salvage title" could have changed, because of the difference in State Laws.


For any DYI-er, fyi, State requirements to register a vehicle that has a "new" Salvage title, differ massively.
Conn is brutal in trying to register a first time "Salvage title" vehicle. But, for the car above, imho, it would just be a lot of pictures, and documentation. No big deal. Any accident related repairs, massively suck to properly document (all spot welds, all welds, all sealants, all supports, bla, bla, bla).

 

The TSB, of course, isn't intended to reassure anybody or guarantee anything. It's addressed to technicians who understand the risks, so they can have a reasonably structured way of triaging different cars that come in with flood damage.

To be most clear, the first section of the TSB is just about making the vehicle safe right now, and that's the first part a person should read ASAP, especially what's in the big red box.

The rule "If ANY water is found in the vehicle or if the carpet is found wet, DO NOT attempt to start the vehicle until AFTER the inspection and potentially needed repairs can be completed" is already moot in this case, but somebody from the future reading this thread might be able to avoid that risk.

The last step in safing is to get the car on wheel dollies or the like and move it where it can be away from other things of value, while the next steps are considered.

 

I agree!
I just want to make it clear to people that might be considering buying that car, that it's more than "just drain it, and fix what isn't working".
Imho, at 40K miles, in otherwise good overall shape, and being a likely rust-free car, I could see a lot of non-experienced people thinking "Hey, I'd gladly put in 40 hours of work, to save $15K on a car like that".

Imho, as I said, for the right person. I think it's a great project car.
I don't see "anything" super hard to replace. Watch many youtube videos, take the proper precautions, do not cheap out on the required safety stuff, and, in a few months, possibly great car for a great price.

Imho, if it was a high mileage car, or from snow/rust State, I'd say it was likely totaled.

If the OP could find a decently priced independent mechanic, it's possible that the car may be worth having it repaired. Does the car have any under-body rust?

From Wikipedia:
Climate Redwood City, along with most of the Bay Area, enjoys a mild Mediterranean climate , with warm, dry summers and cool, relatively wet winters.

 

Fwiw, I updated my replies, since the car is not in the Southern Calf desert-climate area.

 

Give Luscious Garage in the City a call .... I think you'll be glad you did, if you do. https://lusciousgarage.com/book-your-service/
for a second opinion talk to these guys https://www.gasketmasters.com/san-francisco
flood damage is neither shops specialty, but if they can't do the work themselves I'm pretty sure they'll direct you to the best place nearest U

 

If you had taken the safing instructions in T-SB-0229-12 to heart, you would have stopped doing that, disconnected both batteries, and moved the car away from other valuables while waiting to sell it.