corrupt0r

I am scheduled to meet with a shop/insurance adjuster tomorrow for my 1997 Civic which sustained a bit of water during some recent rain. The water level was just over the bottom of the doors, so it got in and soaked the carpet, but stayed below the seat and dash. I do carry comprehensive but was looking on advice to how much the repair bill might actually run.

This was not clean water, so I expect the labor to be remove seats, trim, carpets. Then disinfect/scrub the metal floor, make sure there isn't potential rust issues from being wet for a few days. Then disinfect, shampoo, dry and then reinstall the interior. Also, is there any type of electronics under the driver's seat that could be damaged, I currently am thinking that all this labor could potentially put me into 'totaled' territory especially if they encounter something else I haven't thought of.

What do you guys think a repair bill would end up being?

cheggie

I don't know how much someone would charge to do this, but this is a simple fix - you already know what to do. In an hour, you can have your seats and console out, and the carpet. If it hasn't mildewed, you can mix up laundry detergent and water and scrub out the carpet. Soak it again with clean water and let it dry. If you leave a window cracked and park the car in the sun, it will be dry in there is a few hours. Let the pan dry without the carpet - it will take several days to dry by itself, put it out in the sun when you can, make sure it doesn't get rained on. I put the drivers seat back in and drive it while the carpet dries outside. There will be no rust if you let everything dry with the carpet out of the car.

I rarely let other people touch my stuff - no one will take as much care as you will, and if you make a claim (not saying not to, but...) they're sure to bump your rates at some point to cover the addl' risk.

In short, I would not stand by and risk insurance totaling a car, raising my rates and dic*ing me around for low water intrusion.

NOFX

There is a wiring harness that extends from the back of the underdash fuse box, along the driver side of the car (right below the door and carpet) and back to the rear of the vehicle (taillights, license plate lights, rear defrost, rear wiper...). There should be a plug in for the seat belt warning light under the seat. If it's auto there could be a harness for the shift selector. That's all I can think of at the moment.

The seats come up easily. The fronts are just bolted in on the floor (remember that plug for the seat belt!). The rears are installed in different ways depending on the body style. All of this should be covered in the shop manual btw (GREAT thing to have around for any car).

If you want to disassemble the seats, go ahead. I personally don't like to deal with trying to make the covers fit again, so I'd leave those on if possible. That or get them reupholstered (good time to use damage to the seats to a possible advantage?).

The entire center console, armrest and shifter cover are pretty self explanatory. Just screws are holding all those parts in. Manual shift ***** twist off.

There will be a few more side panels left in the car to remove before you can remove the carpet. I know there's clips holding the plastic piece in the door jambs down. A few clips under the dash. I can't recall the rest.

Ask the detailing section about advice on what products might be best for cleaning the carpet and seats and making sure mold is removed/killed or prevented.