nickchop

Was very bummed, my car was flooded with a storm surge here in Jax. There was about 5 inches of standing stank water! I cleaned out as much as I could and had it flatbedded to Acura this morning. By the way Acura TLC is great. Problems are: engine warning light on, car engine sputters, car seat memory not working, VSA light is lit constantly. Navi and radio works fine.

Acura pulled out the seats and carpeting and is drying it out.

Has anyone dealt with their water damaged car? I'm most concerned with wiring problems 6 mos. to 2 years down the road. I'll say this, Acura is confident there will be no problems. They said they will be responsible down the road for any problems related to this if not fixed correctly. Comments?

liutang

Get what the say in writing.

AKRY

Make sure they check all the nuts and bolts, change all the wire connectors, re-tape wires(if it's taped up with those black taps), and check ground wires... taking out interior parts and let them dry... make sure they take off as many parts from the interior as possible....

Sorry to hear it, hope you get your car back soon....

Andy Kuo

djsteve

Nickchop,

just a quick note to say sorry to hear about your water damage, and that hopefully it will be quickly and permanently fixed!

-djsteve

Road Rage

Was that salt water??

We wrote an article after Hurricane Andrew on cars that were totalled due to flooding in FL showing up in the North. Many of these cars had infuriating driveability problems.

The main issue we detected was due to corrosion of the connections and wiring - the low voltage that most computerized components operate with is very sensitive to the increased resistance caused by corrosive salts and rust.

Sensors can give false readings, grounds can go intermittent, it is a real mess, costly to diagnose, and expensive to repair.

I agree - get it in writing.

If it was fresh water, the picture is less dim.

TL4Mo

Our Q45 was flooded with Storm Allison this June. We also had, I guess, about 5 inches of standing water in our car...and it was totalled. Infiniti said it would cost something like $5,000 to fix but would be fine. I knew there would be more series of problems with such a high-tech car. We thought we would be in a long battle with our insurance co. to total the car (GEICO). However, the insurance came and confiscated the car from Infiniti and took it to a salvage yard. Before we knew it GEICO was evaluating our car and gave us the value of the car....and that's how we now have our TL-S. Anyway, since your car is brand new maybe the percentages are not working in your favor. However, with so many electronic components and that much water.......it is a scarey situation. Did water get into your engine or exhaust pipes? Did you have any burning smells while drying the car out? If ACURA feels there will be no problems and they will be responsible for the vehicle...get it in WRITING and the term of their responsibility (how many years). Does your car smell differently? Are there any chances that mold had a chance to accumulate? It did in our Q even though we were in there as soon as it stopped raining (the next day) and started drying it out.

How much did ACURA estimate for the repairs?

thephantom

Can't you get your insurance company to total the car? Tell them that it is a brand new car and this is not acceptable. Can't hurt to try... I did when I got into an accident back in June. All they can do is say no, and they did in my case, but they were good about it.

nickchop

Thanks for your responses! I stopped by Acura this morning. They have everything out and things are looking up. The water that was in the car was brackish (sp?) meaning it's a mix of fresh and salt waters. Probably 90/10 fresh to salt. TL4Mo: Water did not get into the engine, but did go deep into exhaust pipes. It appears engine is working fine.

If this happens to anyone else, be hands on. I was a pest around the service department. I didn't leave until they started to pull out the carpeting/seats. I was there this morning and will stop by again this afternoon. I insisted they wiped down with fresh water all areas. Any connections taken apart and checked for water intrusion. But most importantly, with the suggestions here, I will get there guarantee/assurances in writing. Staying dry - nickchop