My Dad drove his E250 through some deep water....
Discussion
.... and it conked out! Stupidly he drove across a flooded car park on Monday (about 4" of water) and then it suddenly got a lot deeper, up to the front of the bonnet for a few seconds (like a bow wave) 
He put it in reverse and tried to back out, but it went a couple of feet and conked out. Had to be towed out and recovered to the garage.
It's in at Mercedes at the moment undergoing evaluation. It's a 2011 E250 CDI Avantgarde estate with 65k miles on the clock.
What do you reckon the outcome will be? Water ingress to the engine must be a certainty. Write off?
What a silly old codger!!
He put it in reverse and tried to back out, but it went a couple of feet and conked out. Had to be towed out and recovered to the garage.
It's in at Mercedes at the moment undergoing evaluation. It's a 2011 E250 CDI Avantgarde estate with 65k miles on the clock.
What do you reckon the outcome will be? Water ingress to the engine must be a certainty. Write off?
What a silly old codger!!
Edited by Rosscow on Wednesday 30th March 22:33
Monkeylegend said:
You have a good bargaining base to work from now, knock him down a few more grand.
Trouble is, even if it is fixed it could be storing up longer term issues.
Nah, don't think it's worth the risk. Like you say, hopefully they'll write it off. Waiting to hear back from the garage this afternoon.Trouble is, even if it is fixed it could be storing up longer term issues.
Monkeylegend said:
Shame because it probably had many more miles life in it, mine has done 286k, same year, and still going strong.
That's 1100 miles a week, every week, for 5 years! I'm assuming you drive for a living, otherwise that's one hell of a commute!When I buy a car I always look to see how many are around with interstellar mileage and use it as a metric for longevity. I.e. if I see lots with 200+k miles, I know that a 50k mile one should be barely run in with lots of life left in it.
harrykul said:
Monkeylegend said:
Shame because it probably had many more miles life in it, mine has done 286k, same year, and still going strong.
Cool, have you a thread on this?That is nothing compared to some I know, 500k is not unusual in these.
Rosscow said:
Update: They've managed to turn the engine by hand (water came out when they did!).
They've done a compression test and it all seems OK (slight variance across all 4 cylinders). They're going to put it back together and try and start it tomorrow.
I would be worried about water, rust and electrics.They've done a compression test and it all seems OK (slight variance across all 4 cylinders). They're going to put it back together and try and start it tomorrow.
If the engine cut out you could be lucky.
Removing heater plugs and cranking the engine may let the water escape if it's trapped in the cylinders. Also get the gearbox oil flused a few times water will have entered there too if it was that deep.
I done the same a few years ago on my CLS but stupidly I restarted it after conking out and after a split second there was an almighty rattle, destroyed the engine. It was a wrote off.
Bought it back very cheap from insurance company and had a Mercedes specialist stick in a 'new' engine for me. After I had bought the car back from insurance company and new engine fitted I had it back on the road for 50% market value, although it is now a CAT D.
Removing heater plugs and cranking the engine may let the water escape if it's trapped in the cylinders. Also get the gearbox oil flused a few times water will have entered there too if it was that deep.
I done the same a few years ago on my CLS but stupidly I restarted it after conking out and after a split second there was an almighty rattle, destroyed the engine. It was a wrote off.
Bought it back very cheap from insurance company and had a Mercedes specialist stick in a 'new' engine for me. After I had bought the car back from insurance company and new engine fitted I had it back on the road for 50% market value, although it is now a CAT D.
The insurer may ask if the water came above the sills. If yes, they will write the car off. No = repair.
This is coming from personal experience when I drove my parent's 520D through a Ford about 4 years ago and the same thing happened. Water didn't come above the sills so they repaired the car (circa £9k bill that the insurance company picked up for a new engine). But apparently water above the sills would have lead to it being a write off (due to potential damage to electrics etc.)
My dad still has the car and it's probably done about 70k miles since the repair - been fine since.
This is coming from personal experience when I drove my parent's 520D through a Ford about 4 years ago and the same thing happened. Water didn't come above the sills so they repaired the car (circa £9k bill that the insurance company picked up for a new engine). But apparently water above the sills would have lead to it being a write off (due to potential damage to electrics etc.)
My dad still has the car and it's probably done about 70k miles since the repair - been fine since.
Thankyou4calling said:
Is this covered by insurance?
Mate of mine hydraulically locked his C class by going in deep water - that wrote the engine off and his insurance did cover it.Sounds like the OPs dad may have been lucky - do it properly and you're looking at bent conrods and the like; it sure wouldn't be turning over, not by hand or any other way.
mackay45 said:
The insurer may ask if the water came above the sills. If yes, they will write the car off. No = repair.
That might be more about whether the water could be contaminated than anything else. Floodwater often has sewage in it and if there's any suggestion that it's got into the car then the car is supposed to be destroyed.I'm impressed by how quickly this has all been dealt with - especially getting the dealer to do quite a bit of work and in a short week too!
A poster popped up on the Merc forums who somehow managed to buy a flooded, but hadn't been run, new Merc from the floods in the SW a few years ago. He disappeared after some months of trying to get it going.
A poster popped up on the Merc forums who somehow managed to buy a flooded, but hadn't been run, new Merc from the floods in the SW a few years ago. He disappeared after some months of trying to get it going.
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