My neighborhood flooded - Flex is dead, Audi is wounded, C5Z and 986 S survived.

Ouch, but glad you and yours are good.

Update - Insurance company is going to total the Flex, it gets towed to Copart tomorrow. I swapped it's battery and windshield wipers with the Rover, and stole the valve stem caps and shorty antenna for the Z06. I am planning on replacing it with another Flex, just one with less crazy options (radar cruise, lane keeping, auto park, airbags in the seatbelts, refrigerator, etc) and from a reputable dealer instead of a literally fly-by-night lot on 82nd in Portland. I may look at non-EcoBoost ones, but I doubt I will like them. I may try and get the hideous, but cheap, Lincoln version (MKT I think?).

Audi is fine, it didn't get any water inside! Just some water in the muffler.

On the house front, the yard retaining wall was moved quite a bit and needs to be re-set by hand. I'll just do it myself later. A couple of puddles in the crawl space, but nothing crazy at all. Should be fine there.

Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:

Update - Insurance company is going to total the Flex, it gets towed to Copart tomorrow.

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

I promise I won't buy one at a place that gets more profit from drug deals than car sales.

In reply to Javelin (Forum Supporter) :

Are you happy with the payout number?  

A non-EcoBoost model sounds more reliable which will make you happier in the long run.

We almost bought a used Lincoln MKT.  That was right before Covid.  We waited and went with a $15k Dodge Grand Caravan GT rather than the $23k Lincoln.  I'm happy to have saved the $8k or nearly 1/3rd.  Even though the Dodge is well equipped, it is only well equipped for a Dodge.  The Lincoln we looked at nearly had it all.  Compared to this Flex it was only missing tow package and fidge, but only the Lincoln gets AC seats up front and heated seats for the 2nd row.  

I sometimes miss that we didn't get those things and the Lincoln would have been a better cross country traveler.  However, with Covid, that long travel has not been happening.  Instead, home projects have been happening and boy, does the Dodge really shine at carrying cargo!  It's brought home 6 dinning room chairs, 15 ft rolls of carpet, a E36 M3 load of Ikea cabinets, etc.  Heck, currently there is a mini fridge in the back that has ridden back there for weeks (still leaving plenty of room to not be considered to be in the way.)  

Man, sorry to hear - though I guess if insurance makes you whole you may come out in a better place being rid of the cars you didn't like anyhow!

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

In reply to Javelin (Forum Supporter) :

Are you happy with the payout number?  

No idea what it is yet. 

I'm sorry you ran into some trouble. Glad it's working out. 

Also a gmt800 suburban is what you need. 

Wait, you hated the Flex and wanted to get rid of it.  Now you have and you're going to buy another one?

Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

In reply to Javelin (Forum Supporter) :

Are you happy with the payout number?  

No idea what it is yet. 

seems like something you ought to know before someone takes your vehicle away.

docwyte said:

Wait, you hated the Flex and wanted to get rid of it.  Now you have and you're going to buy another one?

I hated all the electronics in it like the capacitive touch buttons for the climate control, the screens for a gauge cluster that only did annoying things, and the weird options like the airbag seatbelts. The actual size and drivetrain were pretty great. I did have issues with Dorman parts not working, but that's their fault not Ford's. I need a lower spec pre-facelift model that doesn't come from a skeezy car lot.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

In reply to Javelin (Forum Supporter) :

Are you happy with the payout number?  

No idea what it is yet. 

seems like something you ought to know before someone takes your vehicle away.

That's a good point... I should call the Claims adjuster.

Find every and any similar vehicle for sale to get what it would cost you to replace it exactly!  When my car was totalled they lowballed me but I had my numbers ready to show them what it would cost to replace. They just go by book value. You need to know window sticker price for your car, find comparable cars and option costs, calculate depreciation based on cars for sale and come up with your replacement value. After I sent them my spreadsheet they had no problem paying my price and said they made a calculation mistake (of almost $8k). I can send it to you tonight if you want once I get back to my home computer. 

In reply to PMRacing :

Thank you. I have the original window sticker and I pulled up the comparable ones. I would totally appreciate your spreadsheet!

In other news, it drove up the tow truck ramp, beeping and warning lighting all the way. Runs alright.

Everything is dry in that picture!  Crazy how fast it happened.  Glad that was the only casualty

In reply to Javelin (Forum Supporter) :

PM me your email...philmatherracing at gmail

Don't forget to add sales tax an registration fees to your value. The insurance company will overlook those unless you call them on it. 

Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

I promise I won't buy one at a place that gets more profit from drug deals than car sales.

As they used to say "BBW need love too."  Buy here pay here lots need to make $$ too 

wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) (Forum Supporter) said:

Crap. Is that sort of thing at all common in the PNW? I think of Washington as having drainage all worked out.

Glad everybody's okay,

Western Washington is known for rain...but the reality is that it just rains lightly and often. The East coast and Midwest get thundershowers that dump more rain in an hour than we'll see in a week of constant drizzle. As a Washingtonian, I always thought I knew about rain but realized I was wrong when I spent some time in Georgia, the Carolinas, and Missouri. 

Washington storm water systems are well suited for the region, but do NOT handle flash flood volumes like you see in other parts of the country. Javelin's issue was related to a municipal issue so the point is unrelated in this case. 

I was in rural Georgia once a few years ago when it started to rain harder than anything I'd ever seen. Cars were pulling over and I was so confused because we so rarely see rain hard enough to pull over in WA. Instead of pressing on, I pulled off since I figured the locals knew better than me. There was a foot of standing water within minutes, and within minutes it was gone. If I'd kept going, I would have killed that rental car for sure. 

Glad everyone is okay, but... another Flex?

EMBRACE THE VOLVO XC90 RESISTANCE IS FUTILE

Jordan Rimpela (FS) said:

Glad everyone is okay, but... another Flex?

EMBRACE THE VOLVO XC90 RESISTANCE IS FUTILE

I love the XC90, but the kids are already too big for the third row.