OUR AUDI WAS CAUGHT IN A FLOOD – WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

QWhen we went to use our 2017 Audi recently, we found it sitting in a flood caused by a burst water main. The water was muddy and had risen to about 2in above the bottom of the doors. The water subsided and we were able to get to the car the following day. Fortunately, water had not leaked into the inside and we were able to start and drive it without any problems. I am concerned though that the silty flood water may have caused some damage we can’t see. What do you think?

– JW

A

Given that you left the car for a day or so to dry out, I would imagine you’ve probably got away without any serious damage, especially if water didn’t enter the passenger cabin.

However, you can never be sure, and given water would have found its way down the exhaust pipe, there’s a chance some of that silty residue may have ended up inside your catalytic converter (though this may burn off in time given the high temperatures of the exhaust system).

The engine is unlikely to be damaged, given it wasn’t running at the time, and most of the major electrical components are mounted high up, so wouldn’t have been submerged. It is possible that one or two of the electrical connectors for low-mounted sensors and the like would have been underwater, but if the car is functioning well at the moment, I suspect you’re in the clear.

Having said that, there’s an outside chance that moisture that’s accrued where it shouldn’t be could cause problems later on. With that in mind, if your insurance is fully comprehensive, it might be worth a call to your insurance company to make them aware of the situation and request their advice.

They may advise you to do nothing, given there’s no obvious damage now. On the other hand, they may suggest putting in a claim regardless, so that the car can be inspected to make sure.

Either way, there’s no harm in making them aware – if their advice is indeed to do nothing, and you do then find a component fails further down the line as a result of the flood damage, there’ll be a record of your contact with them, and you may have a better case for a claim if and when the time comes.