Dodge Durango Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

2021 Durango R/T - Hemi water damage

Tags
flood hemi hydrolocked
Jump to Latest
1 - 20 of 37 Posts

SOlenik54

· Registered
Joined
·
9 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
I have a 2021 Dodge Durango R/T, and I just toasted my Hemi.

Never posted on here before and I did look for a later model thread about engine replacement and didn't see anything. So if I shouldn't have created this, my bad and I'll add onto whatever thread you think this is best fit for.

Anyway, I thought I would contribute in case anyone scoured the net looking to validate what I was just quoted. I got trapped in a flash flood in St Pete Florida last week, and it was compounded by the moron that flew past me and created a wake that went over my hood. You see where this is going, right? Yes, I shouldn't have been in any depth of water, and I should have shut it down when it got deeper than I had expected it to. So feel free to criticize the decisions that were made by the driver, you're totally right about it!

It was towed to Dayton Andrews Dodge in St Pete and I just received the quote of $19k for the replacement of the entire engine. I know for a fact that most dealerships have anywhere from 30 to 100 flood cars right now, and I'm willing to bet that they found water and didn't look any further and immediately checked the box for replacement engine... which is probably the right move, but it just kills me to see the entire engine with all of the components just scrapped.

Anyway, $19k seems a little ridiculous to me, but who am I to argue? But I am curious if this is what others have seen. I just hope it's not high enough to total it. If they don't total it, then I don't give a crap what it costs as I just have to pay the deductible. If they total it, I guarantee they're going to try and screw me on the ACV, because that's what they do!
 
#2 · (Edited)
SO54:
That's a sad story for sure. Unless your D has a gazillion miles on it, I doubt it would be totaled unless the water was inside the passenger compartment to any extent. We had been hearing $11-$13k for a new dealer installed 5.7, and a couple of grand more for the 6.4. I think pricing has gone up a bit in the mean time though.

Were there outward signs of serious engine damage after the event? Once in a while, someone gets lucky in that they can pull the plugs, eject the water, do an oil change and send you on your way. That is very much the exception and not the rule though.

Please keep us updated. If you have decent insurance, maybe you'll come out ok.

Don
 
  • Like
Reactions: carm.scaffidi
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#3 ·
Why not get a second opinion at a trusted independent shop? That might get the result that Don mentioned. I'd be surprised if insurance would cover it since it was driver-inflicted. If that ends up being the result then you could just rebuild the motor you have.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Intrepidacious and Don Fox
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#4 ·
Did you verify your engine is hydro locked? 20k is a bit expensive unless they are replacing electronics and plastics.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
Discussion starter · #5 ·
Don Fox said:
SO54:
That's a sad story for sure. Unless your D has a gazillion miles on it, I doubt it would be totaled unless the water was inside the passenger compartment to any extent. We had been hearing $11-$13k for a new dealer installed 5.7, and a couple of grand more for the 6.4. I think pricing has gone up a bit in the mean time though.

Were there outward signs of serious engine damage after the event? Once in a while, someone gets lucky in that they can pull the plugs, eject the water, do an oil change and send you on your way. That is very much the exception and not the rule though.

Please keep us updated. If you have decent insurance, maybe you'll come out ok.

Don
Click to expand...
Well, since I made this post, they finally sent me the actual quote and it's a hair under the $19k he quoted me over the phone. But I think it's absurd that the parts are marked up 100%. I just did some general searching and picked the most expensive option on the part numbers available. The block can be found for $4100, but they're charging me $8268? The Labor isn't there due to his spreadsheet formatting, but it's $6,720. So $10,348 for parts. Considering that I can find the parts from Mopar distributors for around $5k, you can take the parts markup and their labor cost and I'm paying around $11k for labor above the cost of the parts.

And to your questions, only 62k miles and yeah, there were some bad signs. The sound it made resembled what a motor might sound like if you forgot to actually mount it to the frame and started it! The banging it made was horrific. I couldn't shut it off fast enough... and then I thought it was still running even the though the banging had stopped, and this was just due to the chaos of the flood, the storm, adrenaline, whatever, and I hit the start button to kill it and I accidentally restarted it to hear 2 or 3 more loud bangs. I'll refer back to my previous acknowledgement of my errors here! A couple hours later I pulled the radiator cap and there was a significant amount of oil under the cap. No water entered the cab.
Image
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Tin Foil Hat said:
Why not get a second opinion at a trusted independent shop? That might get the result that Don mentioned. I'd be surprised if insurance would cover it since it was driver-inflicted. If that ends up being the result then you could just rebuild the motor you have.
Click to expand...
So this is a good point, but they are covering it because it just falls under flood damage.
 
#8 ·
Just a thought:
It's possible they expect that the insurance folks will come back and want to negotiate. If so, of course they would pad it to protect against being lowballed out of the gate.

Don
 
  • Like
Reactions: AHBguru
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
Discussion starter · #9 ·
Don Fox said:
Just a thought:
It's possible they expect that the insurance folks will come back and want to negotiate. If so, of course they would pad it to protect against being lowballed out of the gate.

Don
Click to expand...
That makes sense. Do you think I'm going to have "flood vehicle" tied to my car after this, in the scenario that it's not totaled out and they actually replace the motor?
 
#15 ·
Mopar.com is NOT wholesale it is retail. Most states have laws against resellers of equipment selling >20 percent over cost but sadly it is rarely challenged.
8k for a 4k engine. Is that the dealer or some other place giving you that quote?
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#17 ·
SOlenik54 said:
That makes sense. Do you think I'm going to have "flood vehicle" tied to my car after this, in the scenario that it's not totaled out and they actually replace the motor?
Click to expand...
It would only get a branded title if the insurance carrier totals it out. They might, especially if they see the estimate. That type of obvious overcharging will raise red flags for sure. When brand new 5.7 service replacement assemblies were still available, list price when I last checked, maybe a year ago, were about $6500. With additional new parts, fluids, and labor, total costs for squads getting new engines was running about $10-12,000.

The insurance carrier can certainly access the same parts cost information independently of the dealer, no different from any of us here. My guess is the insurance adjuster will - at the very least - require more than one estimate. The reason they will probably total it, is something you've already hit upon - they will try to make up for it under the ACV provisions.
 
#18 ·
I do not like the fact they are not giving part numbers for oil, the filter and thermostat. Seems like another way to cheat you out of quality parts in favor of putting money in the pocket of the dealership.
Seems like they are charging you labor for everything which is total bullshit. They need to take into account the truck will be on and off the lift numerous times and that there is a new engine going in. They have the balls to charge you 110 bucks to spin on a $15 filter and add 40 bucks worth of oil on a bad day.
 
#19 ·
My thought here is they really don't want the job to begin with, but IF they get it, they want double time pay!
What a clusterfrock! If the insurance folks are to be involved, I'd step back and let them deal with this mess.
Otherwise, as mentioned, another dealer is is not so much a "stealership."

Don
 
  • Like
Reactions: StuckOnDurango
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
1 - 20 of 37 Posts
About this Discussion
36 Replies
13 Participants
Last post:
eZAK
Dodge Durango Forum
posts
509K
members
60K
Since
2004
Welcome to the best Dodge Durango Forum around, where you can find a great Dodge Durango Wiki and discuss the reliability of the different trim levels including the GT and SRT!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Durango Discussions 2014+ Durango Discussions 1998-03 Durango Discussions Dodge Durango 2018+ SRT and Hellcat Durango Purchasing