Most Used Car Dealers Won’t Take Flood-Damage Cars?

Over the past four months, floods have been a blight on motorists in Malaysia, most recently in early March 2022. But what about repairing vehicles damaged in the flood or selling them once they have been 'fixed'?

Evening deluges or ones that last a full or multiple days have left utter devastation of personal and public property in their wake.

Cars are most definitely not able to withstand the complete or even partial submergence in these waters as we have seen so frequently with entire parking lots of cars sitting in a deep pool of rainwater.

Flood-damage cars continue to overwhelm workshops and service centres both 3rd party and officially operated as it is often extremely difficult to fully repair. But even then, stricken owners are having a tough time offloading them as used car dealers are reluctant to take them in, even at prices well below their market value.

According to the Federation of Motor and Credit Companies Association Malaysia (FMCCAM), which comprises independent motor dealers, many owners with cars damaged from flooding will attempt to sell them but will face a stiff upper lip.

“Car owners will attempt to sell off their vehicles, as was the case when Taman Sri Muda and other parts of the country were badly affected by the floods last year. But dealerships are thorough in their inspection and will know if a car is flood-damaged. Most will not accept the vehicle as it will be more trouble than its worth,” FMCCAM’s Federal Territories and Selangor branch vice-president Lim Keat Hin told Free Malaysia Today.

Even light flood damage that was only isolated to the interior or undercarriage can already be enough of a red flag to inspectors as lurking electrical issues and other malfunctions can slowly manifest itself should they buy it off the owner despite a seemingly healthy engine and its surface appearance being very presentable.

Lim added that repairs for such cars would vary between make and model but could easily come to more than RM10,000 for older vehicles and up to RM80,000 for higher-end cars. However, again, even an expensive repair doesn’t guarantee none of the issues will return.

Shyan Wong, a workshop owner in Petaling Jaya, admitted that she was also hesitant about accepting flood-damage cars for repair as it also came with a level of liability.

“When it comes to flood-damaged cars, there is a lot of uncertainty over the electronic parts and the engine control unit. More issues are likely to arise during the repair process, which will only increase the bill,” she said.

We may need to wait for parts and if there are none, would owners be willing to leave their cars in workshops for such a long time?”