Two nights ago, my 1995 850 Turbo got mildly flooded. I'm at my wits end with what to do re: repairs. She has 165K, and will be needing shocks / struts and maybe brake work in the near future - maybe a tune up too. I've had the car for 90K-4 yrs, and this car has treated me very well.
As far as the flooding goes, the water was up to maybe 5-6 in. above the bottom of the doors, there was about 2-3 in. of standing water in the passenger side in the morning, the driver's side more-or-less drained out. Something happened to the front seats - they are both at some crazy angle, pushed forward and up as far as they will go, we're speculating that maybe they shorted out and just reset to a default position? Anyway, they won't move back, all the wiring was submerged. The panel in the center where the window switches are was apparently not damaged, the windows still work and that console does not appear to be water damaged on the outside. The trunk was basically dry, which leads me to believe the water was not there too long.
The engine was not submerged, maybe the bottom third may have been under water for a short period of time, the headlights were not submerged, but the fog lights were. The engine turned over fine, but water shot out the exhaust pipe (that was clearly under water)...
My dilemma is this... In your valued opinion(s)- If my insurance company says that they want to try to save the car, should I go for it or push for a total loss? It's close and could go either way. My comp deductable is $500, and if the work gets done by their "blue ribbon" shop, the insurance co will guarantee the repairs for a year.
Does anyone have an opinion if the damage is bad enough to create electrical gremlins down the road? The body shop guy says that any wiring, etc that is damaged will be replaced.
I'm having a hard time looking at this objectively because of this extremely abnormal attachment I have to this silly car that I love dearly. (Oh, and did I mention that I just paid it off three weeks ago??)
I'd appreciate any guidance and knowledge, if anyone has experienced anything similar or has knowledge of water damage?
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for listening.