Sandy Leaves Trail of Flooded Vehicles

COURT HOUSE- We have all seen pictures of homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy but the storm also left behind flood-damaged cars.
Saltwater and cars do not mix well. Kindle Auto Plaza Service Manager Paul Stadnicar showed the Herald 10 flood damaged vehicles brought to the dealership by their owners for repairs or replacement. So far, the service department has seen 33 water damaged vehicles.
Stadnicar said most of the flood damaged cars arriving in the service department are coming from Avalon and towns to the north.
If saltwater hits the floorboard inside a vehicle and rocker panels, insurance companies will not repair the car but “total” the car and issue a check to the owner for a replacement vehicle, he said.
“Electrolysis will start right away and the (wiring) harnesses start to disintegrate,” said Stadnicar.
A tip off to a flood damaged car is condensation on the interior windows. Stadnicar showed the Herald a Chrysler Sebring convertible that had water cover the seats. The CD player in the dash was already showing rust.
The Chrysler had sand in its wet carpets and on its seats with a brown waterline half way up the interior doors. Stadnicar said water was inside the car’s door panels.
A nearly new Lincoln MKS brought to the service department by its owner also had beads on water on its windows. He said the first thing a mechanic does when a flooded car comes to the service department is disconnect the battery.
“It stops that electrolysis process with the salt crawling up the wiring harnesses just in case it is a salvageable car, we don’t want to damage it any more than it already has been,” said Stadnicar.
A water line on the Lincoln’s exterior showed the water level was higher than the floorboard. Inside water stain covered a speaker in the driver’s side door.
“See the brake rotors are rusted already,” he said. “Saltwater just takes its toll.”
The Lincoln was declared a total loss.
While most of the flood cars still run, Stadnicar said the vehicles would have continual problems in the future if the owners kept driving them.
“The insurance companies over the years have gotten very smart,” he said. “It’s cost effective to let this one go than to try and fix it.”
He said reputable dealerships and repair shops do not want to fix cars damaged by saltwater.
“They want to do what’s right for the customer and earn their trust that way,” said Stadnicar.
He compared salt on a car to a rust spot on the inside of car working its way to the outside.
Stadnicar said transmissions have vents, so if water enters the unit, it is ruined.
Kindle is offering free inspections for vehicles that encountered flood waters. He said the dealership would assist with dealing with the owner’s car insurance company.
The service department was able to repair a few vehicles that were flooded with freshwater. He said if a vehicle encountered freshwater, if it is serviced promptly, it may be fine.
All four wheels are pulled off the car, front seats are removed and wiring harnesses inspected.
A Ford Explorer was that was in freshwater in North Cape May was partially dissembled and would be repaired including treating the vehicle with rust and mold inhibitors. All the fluids are changed as a precaution, he said.
Stadnicar said a lot of electronic components are mounted under the seats, such as side curtain airbag modules.
“Even if they didn’t get wet, the condensation that’s evaporating carries that salt up in there and takes them out also,” he said.
For drivers who traversed water, even if it did not enter the car, a thorough washing of the undercarriage is recommended, said Stadnicar. He recommended placing an oscillating lawn sprinkler under the car and let it run for an hour to rinse out salt.
An older Ford Explorer had spots of sand all over the hood. Stadnicar said water was over the dashboard of the SUV. The carpeting was full of sand, more severe than a summer’s worth of sandy feet from the beach.
The saddest flooded vehicle was a shiny red 2012 Ford Focus with only 400 miles on the odometer which was totaled by the insurance company.
A seven month old Jeep Liberty was also totaled despite having high ground clearance. The center console was still holding water.
Hurricane Sandy has not proven to be the worst storm Stadnicar has seen. A Halloween nor’easter a few years ago brought 55-60 cars to the service department, he said.
Sales Manager Fran Adelizzi said a $500 rebate was available to replace flood damaged cars on new Ford, Lincoln and Dodge vehicles. He said that would cover most insurance deductibles.
How much money an insurance company pays for a totaled car depends on the age of the vehicle, said Adelizzi. For cars from new to two years old, an insurance company would look at retail value of a used car in 25 mile radius with similar mileage on the odometer.
On older cars, most insurance companies will pay book value.
An owner of a recently purchased car that was totaled would receive full value of the car, said Adelizzi, noting it depended on the insurance company.