Hyderabad: The heavy rains, since August 31 till date, have not only disrupted day-to-day life in the the twin cities, but also damaged a number of vehicles that include expensive high-end cars. Heavy bouts of rains showed no mercy to whether it’s an autorikshaw or luxury car such as BMW and Mercedes Benz.

Disappointed with the condition of the vehicles, owners of high-end cars have put up the damaged ones for sale at dirt cheap. The main reason for disposing them off at low prices is high cost of repairs; for worst-damaged cars, the cost of repairs is almost nearing the price of a new car. Hence, owners of damaged cars are preferring to offload them at half the price or even lower.

Several high-end cars are landing up at car resale centers and being offered at throwaway prices. It’s estimated that over 17,000 vehicles were damaged in Hyderabad.

An owner of a local used car center said that they are receiving more number of used cars during these rainy days. “Yesterday and today there’s no rain. So owners are bringing their damaged cars to our center in good number. Price range is between Rs1 lakh to over Rs 4 lakh depending upon the brand and model.”

Rainy days have turned out to be good business day for mechanics and automobile garages in the city. A garage owner said that there’s 800 percent rise in number of cars landing up for resale. According to rough estimates, over 16,000 vehicles submerged during the past one month as heavy rains lashed entire State. If the car engine is under water for sometime, then it doesn’t make sense to get it repaired as it involves huge spending. So better to go for new one, opines a mechanic.

Thousands of cars were inundated in Kukatpalli, Nizampet and other low-lying areas in the city.