Sister's brand new car got flooded. What are the options?
Looking for some advice for my sister (Texas).
TLDR; Sister was driving and got caught in a flash flood, and car got flooded. She didn't purchase insurance yet, and her old car only had collision insurance. Does she have any options?
First time poster here. I have been trying to do research but I am having a hard time finding other people in the same situation.
My sister purchased a brand new Lexus this month (less than 30 days ago). It is being financed. She was driving home and it was raining, and there was a flash flood. She got stuck in the water and the engine died. Unfortunately, she panicked and attempted to start the car again (BIG mistake). She also panicked and briefly opened the door, allowing about 3 inches of water into the car. The car got towed and is now at a lot, and they will be picking it up tonight. Insurance is giving her the runaround right now, maybe rightfully so.
There have been a series of very unfortunate mistakes, both before and after the incident, and I fear that she may be stuck with a very expensive car loan without the expensive car. Here are the facts:
- My sister did not purchase insurance for the car before the accident
- Her current insurance has a 30 day grace period for new vehicles, but her old car only has collision coverage. EDIT: Liability, not collision. My bad
- She did not purchase gap insurance
- Lexus processed the loan. I am not sure what this means for the loan or how that compares to the typical bank / credit union auto loan
As stated before, insurance is giving her the runaround, and it sounds like they might not even cover it since her old car did not have comprehensive coverage. Sister is going to call the Lexus dealership next for options. Is there anything else we can do? Being stuck with that loan is going to be devastating and I simply cannot imagine being in that situation myself. Any relevant help or advice is appreciated.
EDIT: Thanks everyone who has replied so far. The general consensus is that she will probably be sore out of luck. For those hurling insults, I get it, it was stupid. But I'm not going to tell her that yet. She's not your sister so you don't have an emotional stake in the situation. But believe me when I say that once this passes, she will never, ever live this down
EDIT 2: I'm getting a lot of comments about "How did she drive off the lot without proof of insurance," and "How did she get the lender to agree without proof of comp insurance?"
I'm not an expert on insurance, but some Google searches have shown me that for her temp tags, in the state of Texas, all she needs is proof of liability insurance, not necessarily comp or collision.
As for the loan, I have no idea. I wasn't there for any of this and I am located in a completely different state, so I'm relaying second hand info from my parents. I am waiting to hear back from everyone about how it goes with the dealership.
Lastly, this isn't fake lol.
Update 1: This will probably be the only update. Insurance denied the claim (shocker, I know). I am not sure what the lender has said, but given that her current insurance didn't cover it, I highly doubt they can do anything.
Thank you for all the serious replies, and even for some of the funnier ones. My sister doesn't even know that I made this post, nor has she asked me or anyone else for money. It's a crappy situation and I just felt bad and hoped to find an solution. That being said, this is coming to a tragically predictable end.
Unless some kind of miracle happens, or I find out some kind of relevant information that helps her from the lender, there will be no further updates or edits.