Team-BHP - Tata Motors stockyard has been submerged in water

My mind begs this question now, will these cars be sold to customers with some repairs and stuff?

I am sure they won't destroy this many brand new vehicles!

Also, Tata won't be the only company whose cars are submerged.

So does that mean one needs to do the PDI 10x more carefully if buying a car after monsoons?

The Body shells could be re-used easily.

Carpets, seats could be discarded.

Electronic items like AV, ECU, Alternator etc. could be discarded.

Meanwhile, Engine & gearbox could be salvaged. These could be either opened up, cleaned and re-built OR sold separately as spares.

Stockyard insurance will cover 90% of the dealers cost, about 10% will be loss to dealer, Salvage sale will cover 50% of the insurance expense, and as cars are not registered the salvage buyer will dismantle them for after market spares.
By the way buying salvage and dismantling for spares is legal as long as the buyer is informed that he is buying salvaged spares.

Rahul

Maybe its the cynic in me, I feel atleast 50% of the cars will be palmed off as new cars to buyer. There is no way dealer will book a loss of 10~20% on what looks like atleast 50+ cars. Its just too much money to write-off even if they get maximum insurance payout which will be 90% at best.

As someone mentioned, other dealers too would have faced the same issue. I saw videos from Germany of a Porsche dealership flooded. Seeing all those cars floating in water was gut wrenching.

Is the mentioned stockyard company owner or dealer owned? If company owned then Tata would definitely must have insured the stock which can be claimed from insurance co with a minor loss. If dealer owned stockyard then still a good percentage will be reimbursed by Tata provided they are sent back to the factory for a refurbishment and then sold to customers.

One thing for sure this will create a temporary scarcity in the market for the cars. Tata should be able to replenish the stock.

Would it be possible for Tata to write off these cars as total loss?

There will be many unscrupulous dealers - authorised and unauthorised - who will be palming these cars off as "new". Tata or the insurance company will sell these cars off in auction. Lots of floods happening in Mumbai as well guys. Please be super careful when buying cars.

And it's a worldwide problem. Recently, from Germany:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkVdGHX-rus

Quote:

Originally Posted by Venkatesh (Post 5108117)

Tata Altroz, Tiago and Safari at Farukh Nagar, Haryana dealer yard submerged in water due to heavy rains.

This should be a lesson to all dealers to invest in proper yarding facilities. I've seen that they always cut corner here and keep unsold cars in dusty, uncovered areas. This needs to change. Hope TM doesn't compensate the dealers for their loss. Probably some insurance will. But as you said, unscrupulous dealers will try to pass these off as new vehicles, so buyers need to be aware.

Is there any way to detect a flood damaged car?

That Safari stock should be fine IMHO- the water level is below the wheel arches.So long as no one opens the door it will be OK. My harrier was submerged in almost the same amount of water in my basement last year in Gurgaon floods, and not a drop went inside, it stated on first crank and has done 12K kms since, no issues.

Concerning news for Tata buyers in the area. Shady dealers might try to sell these after repairs as new. Is there any way to know whether a flood damaged car has been repaired and being sold as new, without digging deep?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghodlur (Post 5108175)

Is the mentioned stockyard company owner or dealer owned? If company owned then Tata would definitely must have insured the stock which can be claimed from insurance co with a minor loss.

This is leased by Tata. Cars arrive here through train and then are dispatched to nearby dealers. Hyundai, Ford, MG etc. also have their stockyards here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vharihar (Post 5108217)

No dealer will invest huge amount of money to have a covered stockyard. Heck, even Maruti cars coming fresh off the factory are parked in uncovered stockyards. Also, out of all the stockyards nearby, this is by far the best in terms of infrastructure. Hyundai/Ford cars are parked on farm land with no boundaries at all. :eek:

Seeing all these flooded cars the only thing that comes into my mind is when would all these cars be repaired and sold to customers. My dad and I went and checked out Altroz and really loved it and if offered a good deal, it would be a cherry on the cake.
I hope there were some dark edition's of Altroz too :uncontrol

Dealers usually spend the least amount of money on stock yards! I have seen many dealers just renting open spaces with absolutely no barricades!

In Bangalore, brand new BMWs from a dealer are parked in a Mall where thousands of regular shoppers come and go everyday. Sure, the showroom is near by, but the negligence by the dealer is unforgivable! How can you leave new cars in a public parking lot with no dedicated security? I would even understand if the dealer had rented a separate floor or a zone with some barricades, but here it’s just openly parked! I’m sure a few cars will see some damages here and there!

Quote:

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami (Post 5108243)

This is what I thought when I saw the video. The Safari stock is probably okay considering that the water level is below the headlamps and majority of the critical electronic equipment should be above that level. The Altroz stock should be in serious trouble though. I would be surprised is there isn't substantial water ingress inside the Altroz and Tiago stock.