Coop's Corner: Flooded Car Update

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Flooded Car Update

Well after almost exactly two weeks to the hour, our immaculately clean Taurus is home. I picked it up yesterday afternoon, along with the settlement check but only after spending a few minutes sharing some of the gory details with the towing crew at the garage. Our intrepid tow truck driver Kyle happened to be there and not only did he have questions but his boss did as well. Boss knew our long time neighbors and was quite familiar with the area and even our farm, so he didn't need to close his eyes very tightly to imagine the rushing water across our driveway on Easter weekend.

Up until yesterday, Kyle was only able to describe conditions that morning. Now that he and workmates have my blog address, he could back up his story with images and another point of view.

I will tell you that our rural, dusty car hasn't been this clean for a long time. The crew did a great job of getting the interior dried out and as far as I could tell, my butt didn't get wet on the 15 mile drive home. They had put the car outside over night after many days of fans blowing inside, so the seats were cool but I wasn't able to detect any latent moisture. There was an inch of crusty overnight snow on the car that needed to be brushed off before I left and when I got home, I left the car outside briefly to remove as much remaining snow as possible before pulling into the garage.

The car drove perfectly fine on the way home, everything electrical seemed to work and other than being dust-free, it was hard to know that anything bad had happened. That is unless you consider a couple of wet nuts and french fries that must have floated loose from somewhere.

I really wanted to park the car at The Incident Site on the driveway and get an "After" photograph but decided that unless I could get a shot of green grass and sunshine rather than yesterday's misty-snow, I'd wait.......check back in August once conditions improve.

After the snow was cleaned off, I moved a motorcycle or two and made room in the garage for some more drying. While the interior seemed (smelled) fresh enough, once I opened the trunk, there were some obvious issues that needed to be dealt with. A power converter, an emergency compressor/light/jump machine and some tools are out to dry. Three umbrellas, normally meant for wet conditions, were probably surprised at what they had to suffer through. The fun part was down in the spare tire well.

I measured 8" of fresh water but saw no fish or other detectable life. That trunk floor cover, the sound deadening material, the jack, etc. were all pulled out, the pool of water shop vac'd out and a small portable oscillating heater was turned on high and will stay that way another day to remove as much moisture inside as possible.

I think we're good to go........no harm, no foul. That lack of a readily available vehicle with a trailer hitch that I was worried about has been, at least for the time being, taken care of which again opens up options for summer (as short as that may be) motorcycle towing trips; a very good thing indeed. :)

15 comments:

Erik RApril 14, 2013 at 5:10 PM
So how will that work with the insurance company? If they "totaled" the car and paid you for it, then you bought it back... Is the car insurable again??? Just liability?? I've never had a vehicle with that situation.
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RichardMApril 14, 2013 at 9:24 PM
I was wondering the same thing...
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UnknownApril 14, 2013 at 11:00 PM
Coop:

Here, if your car is totaled and you get it running/repaired again, you just have to get it re-inspected.

sometimes cars are so badly damaged that the insurance company can only sell it to you on the condition that it cannot be re-registered for the road and good only for parts.

bob
Riding the Wet Coast
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Back RoadApril 15, 2013 at 5:36 AM
Hope everything goes well with the car, I have a feeling it'll be OK. The spring runoff reminds me of spring in northern Ohio before the frost melts and lets the snow and water into the ground. I enjoy your posts, thanks for letting us all join you!
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TrobairitzApril 15, 2013 at 7:59 AM
Glad the car is back home and drying out.

Having a tow ready vehicle is a good thing. One of the reasons we like our Subaru is that it can tow 2500 lbs - the gas mileage isn't great but it is a trade off so we don't have to own a truck.

I am guessing your car was worth more than the "buy back" amount so you got to buy the car back and got a check for the difference. Branded title? In Oregon you get a "reconstructed" or "branded" title after a write-off. There are always a lot of bikes for sale out there from being written off after a small crash or drop.
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SonjaMApril 15, 2013 at 2:33 PM
The least you should have gotten is some fish cought in the trunk for the Barbie...
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Keith - Circle BlueApril 15, 2013 at 9:06 PM
I suspect the water wasn't quite as fresh as it was before it found itself trapped in a spare tire well. I'm sure there is some sort of pun or word play around getting water from the well, but I couldn't come up with it. Sorry.

I glad your tush stayed dry on the ride home.
~k
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VStar LadyApril 15, 2013 at 9:46 PM
Not sure whether it is good news or bad news. But the news is, you got your car back, and the better news is the water is gone and you got to drive said car all the way to the garage. Soon the best news will be, the motorcycle will be able to get out the drive was well.
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