Well kids,
my 08 Spur got totaled out due to flood damage. We had some heavy rains here in South Texas a while back. I drove into a low dip in the road at night, and the car shut off in about 8 inches of water. Engine died, but had power in the cabin and no water in the cabin. Car was towed about 30 mins later to a tow yard. called Insurance.three days later i go to the yard and the car turns on. (white smoke from exhaust (NOT GOOD), and some warning lights in the dash). Car was taken to Bentley Austin for eval. and here's what i got.Bentley said water got sucked up into the engine from the lower air intakes? and water got into the cabin from some holes in the floorboard area. Heres the initial damage estimate. WARNING! its ugly. I wonder if that car is even worth considering buying it at salvage price and repairing it at a lower cost.

QTY DESCRIPTION PARTS LABOR TAX
1 ENGINE AND ENGINE ACCESSORIES $ 69,044.15 $ 12,810.00 $ 5,696.14
1 BOTH BATTERIES $ 677.92 $ 630.00 $ 55.93
1 CARPET $ 3,042.22 $ 1,260.00 $ 250.98

SUBTOTAL $ 87,464.29
SALES TAX $ 6,003.05
MISC. $ 100.00
TOTAL $ 93,567.34


Anyway, there's a lot of aftermarket big ticket goodies on the car. The Ben hur system (2,500), Kenwood Excelon DDX (950), Mansory Bonnet Vents (1500), Mansory fender emblems, STRUT Oxford Marquis front and rear Grills.(9,000) Hawke Aquila Alloys (3440.00), and i want to know if there are any insurance savvy folks on here to tell me how to proceed regarding submitting the items to USAA so they can adjust the valuation of the car and increase the offer. or if they have actually added them to the valuation.(doubt it)

 

Usually when you fill out the initial insurance app they ask you if the car has been modified. That was your chance to say yes and pay the higher premium. My advice is to see if you can swap out the items assuming you still have the stock parts. Its not the answer you wanted to hear, but something my wife (insurance exec) has always pounded in my head.

 

Hello @Daniel 08 Speed ,
So sorry to hear of your troubles !

I agree as Captainbaker stated, as I have found in the past, if it wasn't factory installed, or you did not disclose and pay a higher premium for added custom items, say even a custom stereo, you were not covered for the loss.

On the other hand, I am not sure as to if you want the vehicle totaled or not...

I can only say that some of the comments and pricing do not add up, the engine does not have air intakes at the bottom, or lower intakes as stated, the air intakes are at the top of the radiator support on each side off center, UNLESS you had loose lower hoses on either intercooler, or a leaking intercooler itself, then you may have sucked water in that way, not likely though, because if you had either situation prior to the water issue you would have had engine power issues, it's more like you didn't realize how high the water came up the front of your vehicle at speed, like a wave up into the hood grill area and into the two air intakes.

And not to pour salt into the wound, but please, never ever try to start the engine after what you experienced with the water, the intake manifold should have been pulled and all coils and spark plugs removed prior to turning over the engine, this way you could have pumped the water out of each cylinder freely without having a hydro locked engine, any water in any cylinder with the spark plugs installed has no where to go, but to blow a head gasket, and or bend a rod...

The other issue is that the engine is not $69,000 it was as I have priced in the recent past, $34,000 list price, $28,000 shop cost, and that was complete top to bottom, front to back with even the serpentine belt installed for the base engine, the 448KW/600HP SPEED engine is now shown at a $39,000 list price, still a far cry from the $69,000 Bentley of Austin quoted you...

https://www.scuderiacarparts.com/par...121/2092/36847

Johnny

 

Has the insurance company made a proposal to total the car? If so what is it, if it's half of the estimated repair take the money & run, because the car's not worth 1/2 of that ($93k), extras and all. My experience with insurance companies is that they're going for he cheapest way out.....say you just put new tires on car at a cost of $1600 & totaled it the next day, they consider tires a commodity & you get nothing extra. Possibly you have the option to take a lesser amount AND keep the car, at which time you could pilfer from the drowned victim to your new spur & sell off some other parts. A tragic end for a fine vehicle.

 

@Daniel 08 Speed ,
Any updates ?

Johnny