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The rain in Spain ------
bobinspain - 14/6/12 at 11:56 AM

Just so you know, it's a myth that it falls on the plain, (mainly).
About 20cm of runoff from the motorrway pooled in and underpass my daughter decided to drive her Citroen C3 1.4 turbo diesel through at speed.
Having passed her test a year ago, how was she to know it'd result in new shells, valve regrinding, new con rod and piston, injector, various gaskets and an electrical engine diagnostic? (more fault lights than you can shake a stick at).
So far it's cost 1,200 euros and we're not finished yet.
Expensive lesson !

[Edited on 14/6/12 by bobinspain]

adithorp - 14/6/12 at 12:12 PM

The rain in Spain....

....is proably going to be in SanSebastian and the mountain this weekend... 'cos thats where I'll be.

wylliezx9r - 14/6/12 at 12:30 PM

.....and the water in Majorca dont taste like it oughta

mangogrooveworkshop - 14/6/12 at 01:39 PM

The french picassa used to have a snorkel that was famous for doing that installed in the bumper 12 " from the ground.....
The dispatch vans got totaled if you went through deep water

[Edited on 14-6-12 by mangogrooveworkshop]

James - 14/6/12 at 02:17 PM

A version of the diesel Mk4 Golf had it's air intake down low somewhere too.

Car designers are such total f#cktards at times!!!

James

MikeFellows - 14/6/12 at 02:44 PM

my old 306 dturbo had a low air intake too

I found that out that hard way

mcerd1 - 14/6/12 at 02:59 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mangogrooveworkshop
The french picassa used to have a snorkel that was famous for doing that installed in the bumper 12 " from the ground.....
The dispatch vans got totaled if you went through deep water


XR4x4's are really bad too, they are really low down on the N/S

Agriv8 - 14/6/12 at 03:50 PM

Add to the list.

Bother in law, 2 week old vauxall zaffera a few years ago

ATB agriv8

jollygreengiant - 14/6/12 at 04:29 PM

Vauxhall corsa's dont like deep water either, swapped the engine on one after lady customer tried going through water that a Disco owner rejected. Three pistons down, one up.

bobinspain - 14/6/12 at 06:05 PM

The 'rough running' necessitated trailering the car home 20km away and since we'd had no rain here, and my daughter wasn't forthcoming regarding her sub-aqua excursions, it was head scratching time as to what the problem was.
The main clue presented itself with the removal of the air filter weighing around 30lbs, sodden wet through.
Careful questioning elicited the admission, "well I may have driven through some water."
The Guardia drew up alongside the stricken car and were most gallant in offering assistance.

Simon - 14/6/12 at 07:44 PM

If it had happened in the UK, you could've claimed off your (comp) insurance as it is covered as an accident.

Chap I know did it in a Rover 820 turbo vitesse, ins claim was around £7k

ATB

Simon

bobinspain - 14/6/12 at 08:28 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Simon
If it had happened in the UK, you could've claimed off your (comp) insurance as it is covered as an accident.

Chap I know did it in a Rover 820 turbo vitesse, ins claim was around £7k

ATB

Simon



Rang the broker Simon, it's a non starter. Since the car is only worth 3k and it's insured for a 21yr old, we elected to go for third party. Bummer eh?
In 43 yrs of driving, I reckon I'm out by a factor of 20:1 in their favour.

hillbillyracer - 14/6/12 at 08:32 PM

A few years ago a lad I know bumped his Dad's Xantia TD, nowt serious just moved the bumper a bit, headlight & end of the wing. A couple of days before it was due to go in for repair he then drove through a "puddle" & the earlier bump had bust the air intake & it sucked enough up to bend 3 rods! It got sorted as two seprate claims & had it been one big claim it'd have been wrote off.

Simon - 14/6/12 at 11:12 PM

Bob,

I suspected you may have tried claiming but guessing your daughter still youngish given driving just the year and reckoned on value of car discounting comp policy.

Still, info maybe useful suggestion to someone else in the future given how flooded we now are in the UK

ATB

Simon

bobinspain - 15/6/12 at 08:03 AM

Simon,

Yep, you're right re' claims. It's a balancing act as to whether the claim is worth the damage it'll do to the NCB. Here in Spain, it's not the driver that's insured, but the vehicle. The owner simply stipulates who he wishes to be covered to drive it. 'Standard cover' includes any driver over 25yrs old on most policies.

My MK is with the same broker as the Citroen C3 and our family Picasso. The C3 , like the other cars has full but unprotected NCD, so it's a question of simply paying up for any bumps/mishaps. The third party liability is the 'nuclear option' should it be required in an accident.

Last year, (daughter 20), left the C3 parked on a well lit side-road and came back to it later in the evening to find someone had taken the 90 degree bend into the road at speed and slid into it. Steering arm, wheel, tyre and steering geometry all knacked. (along with windscreen cracked? and a distorted wheel arch). Winscreen was replaced foc, but the rest of the repair was 600e. So far we aren't having much luck with it !

The really bad news is that my 17 year old lad is chomping at the bit to 'get mobile'. I bought him a top-spec mountain-bike a year ago, but that's beginning to lose his attention.

Peteff - 16/6/12 at 09:28 AM

quote:
Originally posted by wylliezx9r
.....and the water in Majorca dont taste like it oughta


You should learn to talk proper like wot we do, " the water in Majorca don't taste like wot it orter"
There was actually a warning in my diesel Clio handbook about the depth of water it was safe to drive through before it became a problem with the intake but I never actually jumped out and checked with a dipstick or anything.