Auto Insurance Claims: Flood Car, EUO, Forensic ignition expert

Question
Hi Rob,

Really enjoy your responses...didn't think I'd ever need to write! Here's mine: my VW Phaeton was parked for five weeks in my driveway, during which time we received huge amounts of rain (hurricane moved North). It was parked because of what turned out to be a rock in the caliper. Anyway, started the car, drove to repair shop, they said brakes were fine and to pick it up.  Called an hour later and said that the car was trying to start itself in the parking lot....not good.  Turns out, they got through testing some of the modules and stopped because they were getting in deep and felt like this was a water damage claim for insurance.  The adjuster called me after looking and said that until the cause of the water was determined, no claim. He hinted that if a window was left open, that might constitute a claim because it was accidental.  He said that that car had suffered an accident before I owned it, and the windshield had been replaced...could be from there. I asked about the sunroof drains being blocked, and he suggested that that was a VW problem, not an Allstate problem.

Bottom line is, I drove the car there and it seemed ok.  I did see a bit of water on the floor, but it was working...help! What do I do now? Have a car with mold and water damage that doesn't run sitting at the repair shop...!  Thanks, Mark

Answer
Hello,

Let.s see if we can nail down the water leak. You should not have given the suggestion that it was a sunroof drainage issue. It wasn't your job to diagnose the water leak was it?

Of course insurance company will do anything to get out of paying claim.

First, you need to find out what has caused that leak, what electrical damage was caused. use or relay box corrode? You also can't shop vac. Carpet and interior have to come out. The carpet jute (underlayment) has to be thrown out. Costs less than $30 for whole car. Breeding ground or bacteria, stink and disease. In warm weather, moisture builds and destroys more electronics. I have repaired hundreds of floods.
Once you find the corrosion, all connectors need to be removed. I use gun cleaning brushes to scrape off the green. Then put it all back together with a tube of die-electric grease.
The main thing is to find the electrical damage and determine if from windshield or sunroof vents. Ins will pay if from windshield or even if you left window down. Won't pay for a vehicle problem though.

Let me know what is found. Once you find the problem you will know if it is covered damage, but let some mechanic diagnose, not you.

Look under the carpet for any modules that degraded due to water. If sunroof was not a problem beore, why is it now. Don't give Allstate an excuse to deny.

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