Reminds of a V70 I went to see a few months back. There was water in the centre console cubby hole, and a large pool in the spare wheel well. The interior was damp and misted up, showing water marks over most of the interior.
I didn't linger long over that one!
Amazingly, this was at a Volvo franchised dealer...
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A good few years ago now but there was a big water main burst in Southampton Row. Huge flood ensued, much of it flowing into the underground car park of a hotel.
Several days later they were pulling the cars out. I watched a newish Saab emerge, water flowing from every orifice. Even though the original flow was drinking water it had picked up a good deal of silt and filth. Goodness knows what result would have been if it was foul water.
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Surely a car that has been affected by flood conditions should be written orf, the story of the AA man who had his arm broken by an air-bag is a tad frightening :(
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I'm surprised there aren't people on the various car forums with flood damaged cars. Maybe they just have more to worry about than forums I suppose.
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Probably embarrassed. I know I was when it happened to me, and that was fifteen years ago; there have been lots of well-publicized warnings about the dangers of floodwater since then.
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>> Surely a car that has been affected by flood conditions should be written orf
Generally the insurance companies do, but not everyone goes through their insurance and just tarts the car up to make it look good and then sells it on to some poor victim.
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Probably because they may have a ridiculously high excess and fully expect a silly valuation from the insurance company. A suspicion that's entirely justified!
I don't agree with it, but I can see why they'd try their luck.
I'd hate to be the poor mug getting one of these.
I seem to remember the tale of someone who bought a flood damaged X5 that soon turned out to need a complete rewire or some such at some hideous cost. Possibly regaled on here at some time by somebody else?
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A lot of damage must be self-inlicted as cars charge through floods at high speeds, which must force water higher up the cars (theirs and any they encounter) than a more gentle pace. Having assessed that the water level is resonably shallow, I drive through slowly while slipping the clutch to ensure high revs and hence a hot engine and rapid evaporation of moisture.
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Its the engine air intake you have to worry about, and the unseen deep hole where the flood has washed away the road surface or kicked open the manholes
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A friend of Mrs B has totaled the engine in her 3 year old Focus through atempting to go through what she thought was a puddle - turned out to be a bit deeper than she thought.
I thought possible write off, but garage bill is estimated at £1500 - not sure what they are doing for that though
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I seem to recall a diesel people-carrier (?Galaxy/Sharan or maybe an Espace) that had a fairly low air intake that led to a number of 'hydraulic-ed' engines after only going through 10 inches or so of water.
I'm guessing the engine doesn't do to well trying to compress the incompressible.
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My 'owner's manual' states:
Avoid driving through flooded areas unless you are sure the water is no higher than the bottom of the wheel rims. Drive through any water slowly.
But who RTFM nowadays?
A local radio consumer program highlighted the case of a driver who's breakdown recovery refused to turn out for them after they drove through water. The driver stated they 'had to drive through the water as there was a car coming on the other side of the road'.
I sincerely hope their insurance doesn't cover them either. We could all be paying for these idiots.
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Think its the shalaxy trio. Never a problem in ours, but then, I would drive through standing water not knowing how deep it was
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>> I thought possible write off, but garage bill is estimated at £1500 - not sure
>> what they are doing for that though
Thats a new engine. Water in engine = new engine ( bent con rods )
Not a new one tho I doubt at that price.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 29 Nov 12 at 19:21
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>> >> I thought possible write off, but garage bill is estimated at £1500 - not
>> sure
>> >> what they are doing for that though
>>
>> Thats a new engine. Water in engine = new engine ( bent con rods )
>>
Yeah, I assumed the engine was u/s but thought £1500 was a little cheap for a new engine in a 3 year old car. Its petrol, 1.6.
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>>but thought £1500 was a little cheap for a new engine in a 3 year old car
It would be, but its not a whole engine.
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As I said, unlikely to be a new one.
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I've driven through three lots of 12"-deep water in the last week in a 7.5 tonner - each time only after watching someone else make it through first. The possibility of lifted drain lids hadn't occurred to me :/
The fire engine in the first picture in this DT article had overtaken me just before reaching the flooded stretch of road: bit.ly/UO18mx
I did wonder what the chap with the camera and tripod was up to as I drove past. Just after the water were a Polo with its hazard lights flashing weakly and a Picasso being attended to by the RAC...
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Does fully comp insurance typically cover engine damage due to water ingress then? The thought had never occurred to me that people claim on their insurance for this, would have thought it would be an exclusion. Must read the small print and see what it says.
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In the late 1990s I knew of a number of colleagues who'd written off their company cars (a Saab and two Vecras IIRC) when attempting fords after heavy rain. In all cases it was the fact that water came over the door sills which was considered terminal as it meant a new wiring loom which was deemed uneconomic even on relatively new cars at that time.
Another acquaintance's wife toasted the DCi engine in their Renault Grand Scenic, the low air intake ingested water when traversing a ford and 'hydraulic-ed' the engine.
I don't drive through fords.....
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I sold a Lada to a customer who was looking for a cheap knock-about car. It was the old shape 1200 and in not bad condition......1981 model, I think.
She braved a trip to Porthmadog in it for a break. I got a plaintive call at home to say she'd parked on the slipway or beach and the tide had come in. The car was bobbing around like a dinghy ! I said there wasn't much I could do at such a distance and to try and get it pulled out onto dry land.
She was quite pretty so this didn't turn out to be a problem. I'd told her it was likely to be a write off, but the AA got it started and, after baling out the interior, she drove it home. to Manchester.
I serviced it and checked it over, it seemed ok and in fact it ran well for a couple more years until she got something else.
Good cars in a crisis !
Ted
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Amazing story Teddy, obviously the water hadn't got into the air filter housing, although it's surprising just how robust these ole motors were, back then.
I went to tune an old Simca 1501 once upon a time, I removed the rocker cover to adjust the tappets and I couldn't believe the amount of black sludge all over the valve gear with absolutely no sign of oil.
The valve clearances were so so large I could get the whole feeler gauge in them :(
I adjusted em up and the engine sounded quite sweet, for a Simca!
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>> Its the engine air intake you have to worry about, and the unseen deep hole
>> where the flood has washed away the road surface or kicked open the manholes
Like this? www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20552241
although I guess you would probably spot that one
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>> although I guess you would probably spot that one
>>
>>
Even if it was full to the brim with water ? :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 30 Nov 12 at 12:38
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>>Like this? www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20552241<<
That's scary! - I wouldn't fancy living in any area where extensive mining had taken place in days gorn by.
o-o
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>> >> Surely a car that has been affected by flood conditions should be written orf
>>
>> Generally the insurance companies do, but not everyone goes through their insurance and just tarts
>> the car up to make it look good and then sells it on to some
>> poor victim.
>>
Eiether that or the Insurance company writes it off on grounds of it being beyond economic repair (Cat C or D) and then sells it on. The buyer then, rather than scrapping it, tarts it up and puts it back into service.
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>> Eiether that or the Insurance company writes it off on grounds of it being beyond
>> economic repair (Cat C or D) and then sells it on.
Flood damaged should get classed as Cat B or Cat A, depending on the scale of the damage.
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Warning over flood-damaged cars - oilburner
