Hey everyone, new to the forum, I have a 2012 Focus Titanium hatchback, every option aside from two toned leather and navigation. Being in San Antonio, my car had to sit through 3.5 hailstorms last month and after the first one I've been getting water through the sunroof. My car had about an inch of water sitting in the passenger footwell and the rest of the car was damp. I have USAA and they estimated my car at 12k... Well he said the inside would be okay and he estimated the damages from the outside at about 4,300 and an interior detail coming to a total of $4,524. Well my car has another full month to go before it's repaired and the speakers started popping and the driver door handle only unlocks that door 9/10 times, where as it used to unlock them all every time. I was wondering what I should do, it seems the shop doesn't want to do a new estimate as they are just going to charge USAA the full amount and USAA can't do a new one, they just need one from the shop. All the shops are full and are not doing estimates right now but I really want it totaled out because I feel as if this is the beginning of many problems from the water, what should I do? Sorry for the long note.

 

You are no doubt in a tough situation.
I have seen where the electronics were allowed to dry out right away and function OK. On the other hand I have also seen where the moisture caused alternate paths for the electronics and replacement was the only cure. You are on the money when you suspect future problems up the road because of moisture intrusion, depending on the extent.
You might gather as much info as you can from reliable sources and present that to your insurance co, which is probably up to it's ears in claims now.

 

the damage must be 80% of the estimated value of the vehicle before its a write off. Even with the electrical estimate included, you are a long way off from getting a write off.




Definitely, make you insurance company aware that the first estimate will need to be revised and see what they recommend.

Did the hail smash the sunroof glass?

 

Thank you, I thought it was 60%, but no the sunroof was intact, the adjuster said it was a bad seal and that the seal would just need to be replaced. When I took it to get an appointment scheduled to have everything repaired they told me right off the bat just looking at it quickly that every piece of trim on the car needed to be replaced, my wipers and the assemblies needed to be replaced, the A/C would need to be bleached and that my hood may need to be replaced. As for the insurance, USAA brought in about an extra 500 people from around the States, and my adjuster went back home and said there is nothing he can do to the original estimate.

Thanks, what are reliable sources that I can look at? They are definitely swimming in claims here in Texas, the storms haven't even finished and have just about hit every major city here, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Austin and everywhere in between.

 

Be careful where you park it , since waters can rise so fast you may not be able to get it out of harms way !

 

did you have flood damage in addition to hail damage?


if something is missed during an initial estimate, the bodyshop will start an amendment and submit this to the insurance agent. It is quite common to encounter hidden damage that is not detectable during the initial assessment.


the paintless dent repair industry techs follow the hailstorms. We had 12 guys from all different ends of the country show up last year. hope you have rental coverage because it could be 4 to 6 weeks before the bodyshops catch up when so many vehicles are effected.

 

I guess when a vehicle gets under 3 feet of water there may not be much room to negotiate

 

Thank you, I guess I just have to wait it all out, I'm just annoyed that I'm stuck with this car now. Water came in through the sunroof seals, sunroof was closed and not broken, it wasn't sitting in water, but there was water sitting in the floor the next day, and since then, when it rains extremely hard water will seep in, I'm assuming through the sunroof still. And hail damage is on every single panel aside from the two right doors, the trim on the doors and the roof above them is damaged, not sure how those doors didn't get dinged.
Rental car is already reserved, they said 15-30 days but who knows how long it will take, the shop I'm taking it to is the only one on USAA's list that had an okay rating so it was jam packed with Mercs, BMW's, and Volvo's.

 

how do they plan to repair it....paintless dent removal the entire car? Some shops pdr everything but the roof; cut off the roof panel and install a new roof.

 

What they told me is PDR all of the panels, unless the hood is too damaged then they would need to replace that and repaint the hood + fenders to match each other. The roof looks awful though as there is tiny & large dents on every inch, but they didn't tell me they'd have to replace it. I do believe they are going to replace the entire rear tailgate piece underneath the rear window though as it just had a part number for the tailgate rather than the other panels that listed as PDR.

On a side note : Opened my sunroof today and noticed the fabric coming loose from the inside where it wraps around and around the sunroof handle