What to do with a totaled (in flood) Sprinter SMB with pop top?

[yanamal]

Hi all,

Short story:

I am looking for advice on what to do with my totaled 2017 Sportsmobile, which was caught in a flood 2 years ago in my driveway and now suddenly my neighbors reported it as "derelict"/"abandoned" and the city wants it gone (or magically no longer "derelict") in two weeks.




Longer story:

I'm in the St. Louis, MO area (University City, to be precise)

I had a Sprinter Sportsmobile custom built for me by SMB West back in 2017. Back then I was a moderately-wealthy software engineer.

A couple years ago, our street flooded completely (my house is juuuust inside a 100-year flood zone so it was mostly unexpected). The Sportsmobile was standing in my driveway at the time, and there it has remained to this day.

The insurance company declared it a total loss without even sending anyone out to look at it - just based on my pictures of how high the waterline got. Which was just about up to the inside of the hood. (I just made an album called "Drowned Sprinter" with the pictures).

I felt like there was a high enough chance that the van is salvageable that it was at least worth someone taking a look at it. So I requested to keep it as "owner-retained salvage". The insurance company agreed, though in exchange for a fairly large subtraction from the payout. Maybe too large, but still, you know, sentimental value and stuff.

This is where I hit a snag, and why the van has been standing around for two years - apparently it's really hard to find a mechanic who is willing to work on (a) a Sprinter which (b) has water damage. (Especially when you are an overwhelmed grad student with anywhere from 2-7 rescue/foster dogs depending on the exact moment in time, recovering from your house also being flooded... I have excuses!)

Suddenly, I get a letter from the city police department telling me that the van (which, again, is in my driveway) is "derelict" and/or "abandoned" because the neighbors reported that its tags are expired and it hasn't moved in a while. It has to be fixed by October 8th (and that's after I got an extension) or they'll tow it and charge me daily for storage and make me jump through hoops to get it back.

I'm still having trouble finding someone who would even take a look at it; I found one local mechanic who is known to have rebuilt flooded vehicles, but he said he couldn't work on a Sprinter.

Here's what I know about the state of the van:

• Both of its batteries happened to be dead at the time of the flood, which I think is good because there wouldn't be any shorts caused by the flood then?
• The water only went to its highest point (just about above the engine) for a short amount of time; the flood started in the middle of the night and the water had drained by the morning
• There were no water droplets on the oil dipstick, so as I understand it that prooobably means that the water didn't get into the engine?
• As far as the interior, I did my best to dry it out with a strong fan right after the flood and then ran an ozone machine. It seems to be in OK shape. Certainly would be acceptable for me if the rest of the van worked!
• With a fresh battery, the key turns part of the way in the ignition, but the van refuses to even try to start. It shows a "Brake force distribution error", which seems to be an error that prevents ignition in these vans. There are a couple of other errors, too: ESP/ABS/SRS error; tail lamp left; aux lamp active; check engine light on, low tire pressure light on.
• I plugged in an OBD2 scanner (Autophix 7770, it specifically has a Sprinter mode). There are error codes in 4 systems: N15/3 (2 errors), ESP(8 errors), SRS(13 errors), and SAM(3 errors). Most of the error codes seem to be complaining about CAN bus/communication issues.

That's all I've been able to figure out so far on my own. I do not know what I am doing. It seems plausible that the water has damaged the modules that are giving communication errors. It also seems plausible that the brakes might have real issues after standing around for 2 years?..


Any thoughts or advice on what I should do?

I would still be ecstatic if I could somehow keep it and get it running and get a rebuilt title for it. However, this seems vanishingly unlikely, between the new deadline, the lack of willing mechanics, and my current budget of "grad student with expensive dogs who keep needing complicated surgeries".

I feel like even if the van doesn't run, it should be worth something to someone. The pop top in particular should still be perfectly fine (and the solar panels on top of that, I imagine). The second best case scenario would be if someone knowledgeable buys it off me and is able to do something sensible with it. But not entirely sure where to start with that either - for starters, I'd still like to be able to assess what is wrong with it. But even then how do I decide how much it's worth?

I am happy to provide more details if needed!

[1der]

Are these pics representative of what it looks like today?

[yanamal]

Originally Posted by 1der

Are these pics representative of what it looks like today?

Yes, I would say so. It's a lot less muddy on the inside, but otherwise about the same to my eyes. I can take new pictures if there are specific parts you want to see?..
It doesn't look like a "derelict", anyway - but it doesn't have to, according to the city.

[boywonder]

Besides pressure washing engine bay etc....I would start by looking at all of the connectors that were submerged inside/outside/under van......and I'm sure there are loads of them.....

Pull connector apart, inspect for corrosion, re-connect if clean. If corroded....next move needs to be based on how corroded the terminals are.

Did the waterline stop short of the dash?

[1der]

Rear window is missing for two years ? Rain / weather intrusion?

No room to move it back off the driveway and create a cover?

If no one is willing to come get this for near zero, I would consider a donation or contact salvage yards nearby that might be willing to give you something for it. If there is even one Sprinter upfitter within 100 miles of you I would call them and see if they want it for parts. In any event, I would have a bulletproof plan to have it gone by Oct 8. Storage fees will kill you. Have you been on the Sprinter Forum? Might find some interest there but you are in fire sale mode and in a part of the country where there is little knowledge/interest around these vans.

It is near impossible to find people to work on a functioning Sprinter, and only certain dealers really have the expertise to know Sprinters properly.

You need to have this gone and move on with your life. You do not have the skill set, location, money nor time to deal with this. Cut it lose.

[Fitz]

I agree with Ray, post this same message up on the Sprinter Forum and see what results you get.

It might be worth making a call to Dennis at Linden Automotive. He is in Golden CO (800+ miles from you) but he and his shop know Sprinters and they might be able to offer some real-world advice. 720-344-1877.

[boywonder]

...forgot to mention drain/replace all the fluids......including fuel tank...

.....and yes, it appears that the scope of this project will be very large and involve $$......hopefully it gets back to operational by someone.

[1der]

to add - I do understand and acknowledge the loss, disappointment, frustration and emotional ties you are undoubtedly experiencing, those are very real and draining. It was a bad twist of fate that your van was partially submerged and extensively damaged.

Fortunately, it is all material and financial impact. Those you can recover from with a little time and good decisions.

Time to concentrate on efforts, rewards and opportunities of your grad school program. Your energies focused there will have you back on track.

BUT - TIME - THAT is the most precious of all the "resources" we have in life. There is no way to get THAT back - EVER.. Properly utilized and respected, TIME is the great synergy moving through life.

[Twoxentrix]

Could consider having it towed to some sort of RV storage just to get it off your property, at least until you finalize your plans.
Personally, I’m with the others…you’re already faced with a considerable financial burden just tracking down resolves for the issues you’re aware of, but you’ll also be addressing many in the future (especially electrical).

[yanamal]

Thanks, everyone, for the advice! I will post in the Sprinter forum and see what else I can follow up on.



And in particular thanks, Ray, for the reality check + pep talk. I think you are right. I do plan on graduating in the near future and hopefully becoming moderately-wealthy again, and then maybe I can worry about van builds again. My current set of dogs probably needs a different build anyway!


A couple of miscellaneous follow-ups for completeness:

• That window is not actually broken, it's a sliding window and I had opened it for ventilation. I did close it since then!
• I am like 99% sure the water did not reach the dash, based on extrapolating the waterline from where it was visible (which was surprisingly few places). The seats weren't soaked, in any case (and they are fabric), so that's an upper bound.
• The notice preemptively said "(cover would not abate issue)", and they told me that it would have to be fully enclosed and locked away (and it is not going to fit into my backyard through the gate)

(edit: ) Oh, and I do have a last-resort plan in the (likely) case I don't figure anything else out, which is to donate it to Best Friends Animal Society through CARS.