Advice on Car / Bad day :(

[f17th]

Hi All

I was hoping someone might be able to offer some advice.
I got caught out crossing a rather large puddle in Horsham yesterday and have managed to Hydrolock my Leon TDI.
Had been to a friends garage and he said it's the worst he's seen in a long while. All 4 Cylinders full of water and no movement with the glow plugs out. (Bent something proper)

I'm wondering whether I might be able to claim from someone? i.e the Council
This is an article relating to where the flood was.
There was no diversion or road closure signs in place.

Before you say it, yes I shouldn't have gone through it.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing :unsure:

http://www.wscountytimes.co.uk/news/loc ... -1-5790398

I am fully comp but would rather not have another claim on my policy as it hikes the premiums for years to come. Whether it's even possible to claim as well ?

Not really sure whether anything is salvageable at the moment as it looks like water has gone through the inlet, turbo, injectors etc
Cars worth about 3k (130 tdi Leon 04 plate)

Not sure whether to try replacing the engine with a second hand unit or cut my losses and spend the repair money elsewhere.
A friend does have a low mileage ST170 for sale in a month for about a grand.
So thinking of just jumping on the train for the commute until then.

[Sleepy]

This happened to my wife some years ago, and she did make a successful claim on her own insurance, can't see how the council would except liability...

[bull]

don't know about the council, but have a mechanic look at it, see what the damage is,

you can always drop a second hand engine into it, probably pick one up for around £500 or so,

[f17th]

Hi Bull

Thanks, I have had a mechanic look at it.
Only spent a couple of hours tearing into it as I didn't want to throw too much money at it.

They said it's the worst they have seen.
Water in all 4 Cylinders and gone through Inlet, Injectors, and probably the Turbo too.
Engine wont turn over at all with the glow plugs / injectors out.

[f17th]

Hi Sleepy.

I'll have to look into whether it's worth claiming on my insurance.
Wanted to query whether it might be possible that someone else accepts liability with damage to the culvert.

[Mike101]

You could claim off the counil but it would take years to get any money from them and they would fight like hell.

You are far better to use your insurance..yess you will loose your NCB but at least you will get your car working quickly again.

Mike

[hotbulb]

I don't think you'd get any joy trying to claim against the council: the flooding was a result of the weather - hardly the council's fault!
Claim on your insurance, put it down to experience, and don't be tempted to drive through deep water again (unless you use a Land Rover with the wading plugs in place )

[utaka]

I don't think you'd get any joy trying to claim against the council: the flooding was a result of the weather - hardly the council's fault!

If it was a drain that has not been cleaned, and yes there are plenty of those, it is the resposibility of the council, just as its down to them to sort out the fookin potholes, we pay more than enough Vehicle excise duty and council tax, so they need to do some work.

[Richard Simpson]

I once had a car crash which the police said was down to the damaged road surface.

They suggested that I complained to the council.

The council said legally, that unless I could prove it had previously been brought to their attention, they were not liable and they 'regularly inspected' (ha ha) all road surfaces.

Apply the same to the flood and you get an interesting philosophical conundrum.

The council aren't liable unless you've reported it...but if you reported it and were aware of the depth of the water it would be your fault for driving through it.


Count yourself lucky...mate of mine with a small business drove a leased Saab through a deep puddle.

He didn't know it, but the air intake was right down under the front bumper.

The turbo vacuumed up the contents of the puddle and compressed it into the engine...writing off both components.

The lease company demanded that he pay for a brand-new engine and a brand new turbo and the fitting thereof, all at main dealer rates.

Luckily, you cant buy Saabs new any more.

[Redmurty]

you will have to prove that it had been reported to the council and they then had reasonable time to fix the problem then you will have to prove that they failed to do so
there also has been numerous warnings on the news and weather about flood water and taking care when driving they will throw that at you

good luck

cheers Spud