How much water would a VW hold if a VW could hold water?

SlowToady · 09-23-2006, 12:57 PM

A lot, as it turns out. Last night it rained really hard and the storm drains backed up I guess, I heard on the news this morning there was flooding all over Lexington. Everything seemed nice and try when I woke up and did my thing for Hall Government, so I wasn't really worried. But then I decided I'd like to go to the mall and get some new hunting gear, so I went across campus to get my car, and that's when I noticed something funny.

AHAHAHAHAHA!!! I opened my door and WATER CAME OUT! Ahhhaha...it turns out that the storm drain that was within a few feet of my car backed up, flooded the parking lot, and my car was its victim. The entire passenger compartment was filled with standing water, enough of it that the ass cushions on the seats are completely soaked.

Well, I figured, I can handle this. A friend had given me a ride to my car, and lent me a frisbee to bail the water out with. If you've never bailed a VW out with a frisbee, let me tell you, it takes awhile. For a little car it sure holds a lot of water. I finally got that done, and made some calls for a wet-vac, but no one answered. I called my brother, who works at a VW dealership (the one I bought the car from) a few times and finally got him on the phone, and talked over my options with him. I still have a warranty, so maybe that will cover it. And I have insurance, but they're useless as tits on a bull, so I won't count on them paying for it. We have another storm front coming in, so per dealer advice I tried to start it; it ran for a few seconds, maybe 30, then shut-off. Waited a minute or two and tried again. This time the ABS and brake lights are going nuts, and the airbag light is on. I'm not too sure, but none of those seem like very good signs.

I'm back at my dorm, and about to call a tow truck to take it to the dealer. If I end up paying for this, I'm going to loose my mind completely. I seem to have really bad luck with cars...

masraum · 09-23-2006, 01:38 PM

I wouldn't start it until it's dry. Move it yes, start it no. It won't be cheap. Then I'd sell it and get something that didn't have flood damage. My sister in law bought a car from Cali that apparently had come from FL and was a flood victim. It ran for a while before the electronics corroded and she had to have the wiring harness mostly replaced.

SlowToady · 09-24-2006, 11:25 AM

I guess my chances of getting the wiring harness replaced on the insurance companies dime is probably not too high.

This puts me in a bad spot because I had to take a loan out to pay for it, so if I end up selling it I have to pay whatever I am upside down on the loan for, then buy a new car, pay all the taxes and title and ****...And being in college puts me not in a financially good position.

If it ain't one thing...it's another.

SlowToady · 09-26-2006, 06:43 AM

The insurance company said that becaue the damage was caused by a flood, if the cost-to-fix exceeds $2500 they are going to write it on because of ongoing electrial problems. So, it looks like I might be getting a new car, if I can pay off what I owe VW, and then pay the tax monies and what not on a new car.

I wish I had pictures, it was actually somewhat amusing.

Christien · Christien's Garage

You might have a case against whomever is responsible for upkeep on the storm drain, if it was improperly maintained. A car in a parking lot should not be at risk of a flood, I would think.

Danskman · 09-26-2006, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Christien
You might have a case against whomever is responsible for upkeep on the storm drain, if it was improperly maintained. A car in a parking lot should not be at risk of a flood, I would think.

You're living in the wrong country. You'd fit right in in the USA.

Then, of course, you could blame the rain on global warming... which, of course, is Bush's fault. Sue him too.

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

You want to see water in a VW? Years ago, I had a '56 sunroof bus. It sat in the back yard with a tarp over it, with the sunroof assembly removed. After several rainstorms, the tarp filled with water and stretched down to the flor of the bus, essentially creating a swimming pool inside the car.

Milu · 09-27-2006, 12:24 AM

My father's solution to a Ferrari that was always full of water in the cabin was to drill holes in the floorpan to let the water drain out as it came in. I don't know if it had carpets when he got it, he used to use it with a couple of rubber mats on top of some sound deadening insulating felt. Happy days before Ferraris became investments that are too precious to use properly.

Moses · 09-27-2006, 06:32 AM

I know a guy who ran an old BMW M3 over a fire hydrant and FILLED the car with water. No insurance and no money to replace the car. He pulled the ENTIRE interior including carpets. Big pain in the butt. After drying and reinstalling everything, the car still smelled bad and he still has electrical gremlins. Some days it won't even start. The paint got shot-blasted by the hydrant so it looks like crap. He won't sell the car to some poor sucker so he's parting it out. Water is a disaster to cars. Get a new one if you can.

svandamme · svandamme's Garage

why not drill a couple of holes to let the water out , instead of a frisbee ????
you can always plug em with some rubber

Full Tilt · 09-27-2006, 08:02 AM

Im sorry to hear about your bad luck. Where there other cars around that were flooded too? Hope it all works out for you.

SlowToady · 09-27-2006, 08:21 AM

Quote:

My father's solution to a Ferrari that was always full of water in the cabin was to drill holes in the floorpan to let the water drain out as it came in. I don't know if it had carpets when he got it, he used to use it with a couple of rubber mats on top of some sound deadening insulating felt. Happy days before Ferraris became investments that are too precious to use properly.

Moses, I was thinking along the same lines. Everyone around here says, "Well, why not dry it out and stuff, pull the carpets?" The water was backup from a storm drain, I have bugs and **** all in the car now, and the water smelled terrible. I figured it wouldn't get me too far.

Besides that I don't have any tools, at all, or anywhere to work on it.

Full Tilt, I think I was the only car at this particular parking lot to get flooded, but I just might not have heard about others.

Insurance company said the price ceiling for fixing it is $2500, otherwise they'll write it off. I'm going to assume it's more than that (will call dealer though), so how do I figure out how much to expect from them? KBB value is around $8700, and I just put on new tires and front rotors and pads.

I'm sure it'll all work out, but what bad timing..I'm supposed to drive home to Chicago this weekend for my sister's wedding.

Time to call the dealer!

911boost · 911boost's Garage

This exact same thing happened to our 1995 Honda Accord. My wife went to a restaurant for a business meeting and it absolutely poured rain. The storm drain in the parking lot filled up with water up to about mid door. By the time it drained, there was a couple of inches of standing water in the interior. It started real briefly than failed to run, and like you said, all kinds of warning lights came on.

I get there to arrange and tow, and the manager of the restaurant tell me "We really should paint those spots in diagonal lines so no one parks there. It floods every time it rains hard". I couldn't believe he told me that.

Long story short, Allstate covered all the repairs (to the tune of $7,500), due to what the manager told me, the restaurant covered a rental, the tow, and my $500 deductible. Since all of the work done for Allstate at the time was guaranteed for the life of the car, I wasn't worried. Honda replaced all the computers in it, the carpet, floor mats, a ton of stuff.

We had it for 4 more years, and never experienced a single problem.

Good luck and hope your situation works out as well.

Bill