Wolfman

We were caught in very heavy rain last Friday with visibility less than 10 feet. Got off the highway for safety but then the car died on us just a block away right at an intersection.

I heard some noises and then had a strong electrical smell. Called roadside assistance and after a "mere" 4 hours the tow truck came to tow to the car to the dealer. Not a fun experience, to be sure.

Today I called to find out what the status of the car is just to hear that the engine needs to be replaced at minimum. $62,000 for the engine plus at least 40 hours labor!

Apparently the engine must have sucked in water and literally bend the pistons, etc

At this point I am wondering if the car is going to be totaled or repaired. Are there any rules/percentages at which point in time a car is totaled? 3 month old, 4000 + miles $121k sticker.

Could use some advice here!

I have had a lot of MB's before, but this crazy. Never seen this before.

California John

Unbelievable! $62K for the engine itself! Plus a week's labor at some high rate per hour!

Wolfman

Engine was hydrolocked. Talk about bent pistons etc!
MB also said there is not a single engine around in the US or Germany.
Apparently there is no stock and would be built to order.

Go figure...

MercPlease

Wow, what crappy luck! At least you're alright.

BenzV12

That's beyond incredible . I am glad you are alright but have never heard of anything like this before . It must be as bad damage as bent pistons from cracking timing belt
So, you need a new engine ,must be worse than flooded cars because those cars engines are not running when that calamity strikes but in your case your engine was running
I think, considering price of the engine - it's more than %50 window sticker price of the car - you should be able to get a brand new car .
Holy moly , you can buy a W212 as brand new for that engine cost as well

Worth the wait

I'm sorry a bit confused....

Is the 2013 SL in your sig?
A brand new mb hydro locked? How much water did you drive through?

Your insurance won't cover this?

A new engine is roughly 60% of the msrp of the whole car?

This is a very strange situation.

Good luck!

Wolfman

Yes, it's a 2013 SL. 3 months old
The price for the engine is crazy; more than a V12 TT if I recall.

The insurance definitely covers the damage, but given the costs I look for the car to get totaled. We'll see...

In regards to the water, I really can't say. It was coming down so hard and there was a lot of water on the road, but it didn't reach the body of the car. Maybe a few inches? The assumption is that when driving, water was pushed up (like a boat) there was a wake that pushed water up the intake.

This didn't appear extreme. I just expected some electrical short and a quick fix...

WHTEVO

/\ An old buddy of mine with a W211 went through several large "puddles" during a heavy rainstorm and the water would splash up towards the intake tubes like you described and not long after the car shut off, we had to wait for a tow truck, and in the end MB paid ~30k for a new engine (or rebuilt) under warranty. This was in a E320. Several rods were bent in his. Good luck getting it worked out in your favor.

Germancar1

Had to be more more than a few inches of water. A Mercedes normally doesn't have a problem with plowing through a few inches of water unless they're cut back on durability and/or engineering/design.

M

Daytona-flyer

On my last trip to the Smokies, I had blinding rain and standing water for an hour. At one point, I was down to 20 mph on the interstate. Needless to say we came through unscathed, or I would have posted it here.

Any news from the insurance company regarding totaling to car?

gyzmo123

Wow... bummer! Good luck with the situation. I would almost hope the insurance company totals the car and you can get a new one.

I never drive the SL in rain... That's what the SUV's are for.

Wolfman

The insurance company totaled the car after I got annoyed with their continued requests to confirm that the engine really was bad. But I can understand that as the car was completely dry. There are simply no signs of what is normally expected on a flooded car.

That said, they offered me the totaled car for $49k+ which I declined; no need or time to fix the thing up.

Interestingly enough, gap coverage wasn't needed as the cash value exceeded the payoff amount

Finding another car was not as easy as expected as this time around I wanted to make sure we get a car with ABC; virtually no cars could be found in irridium silver and ABC and the options I wanted.

We did find a car in Kentucky with all options minus the B&O sound system, which I find unnecessary when driving top down. Plus with Burmesters on the way, these blow B&O out of the water anyway, that will be a choice for the next one...

Now we are waiting for the new one to show up. Beautiful weather here finally and no drop top! Still fighting with the dealer to get the pre-paid maintenance back. What a scam. They consider this non-refundable

Daytona-flyer

Good news, bad news.

You can always dream about a European delivery of the car you spec out.

Uhhhh, why dream?

Wolfman

Agreed. Am thinking Euro delivery for the S-class.
Funny thing is that this car costs us less while being $5k more. Sticker was close to $126k.

BigHat

Prices on the '13s fell out the bottom here in NoVa. If the databases can be trusted, my $125,385 car has an average sale price of $114.5K now. That's $2K less than I paid on 24 April when I picked it up, but the car was still pretty popular when I ordered it in Jan and made the deal. I guess most are waiting for '14s at this point in the year.

Wolfman

You are right. Most will wait for the '14 model but I am not really sure why. Most people lease these days and there is virtually nothing in the '14 model that's worth the upcharge.

For me it was about availability. Summers are too short in Minnesota!

BenzV12

Good news , now you can pick up a brand new car , your car was mint though . European delivery sounds fun and good experience but I would also kinda prefer buying a car inside the US thru a MB dealer , you can go to Europe for holiday lol
I think you will have to wait for your car to arrive that's bad part but assuming you waited for your ex SL then it should not be a problem at all
Best of luck with your new pick

pdjv

For U.S. customers, European Delivery must be done through an authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer. You have to put in an order (typical lead time is four or five months), and pay for the car up front. Last time I checked you get a 7% discount off MSRP on certain models. You pick the car up at the factory, drive it around, turn it in at a designated shipping point (E.L. Harms IIRC) and the car is then delivered to your selling dealer - takes four or five weeks and there's no cost for shipping. It's one of the best ways to buy a new Mercedes-Benz and have a European holiday - the 7% discount can cover a lot of expenses.

mikey94025

That's pretty surprising... I thought most leases were "under water" for at least the first half of the lease period and that's why gap coverage is always a good thing to have.