$32k, and now, the rest of the story:

I'm on way home yesterday from my office to home, a distance of 4+ miles door to door. I'd heard the rain coming down like crazy starting about an hour prior to leaving. I had no idea how much of an adventure one ride could be.

We had 10+ inches of rain, and several tornadoes in 5 hours. I made it nearly all the way home, only to have the car die 300+ ft from my garage. In 40 years of commuting by car in the NYC area, I'd never seen anything like this.

Called Audi roadside assistance and was on the phone 40 minutes with them outside my neighbor's house, only to find out that they were only dispatching to "legitimate" Police 911 requests where safety was an issue. There were bigger fish to fry as the Hospital up the street was evacuating their 1st floor since the pumping system couldn't keep up with the water volume.

Called my dealer in WPB, he called his tow guy. Because of the volume of stranded vehicles, a flatbed didn't get to me until 7:30 that evening, about 5 hours after being stranded. By that time, I'd waded through knee deep high water to get to my house to change and take a valium. I had visions of the water getting into the cabin and/or destroying the electrical system which was still operating, when the engine died.

Anyway, heard from my guys at Braman at 8:30 this morning, car in shop and water had gotten into the air filter (I knew I was screwed at that point)- "We'll call you after we change all the filters, plugs, oil, coolant, etc and start it up".

Four hours later the verdict came down, the restart was an abject failure - You need a new engine and the price, including labor, will be $32,000++ - "Call your insurer".

Called Met Auto & Home. Great guy, he'd been to Delray in '05 for Wilma so knew the area well. Besides, his first call of the day came from a radiologist at the Hospital, whose car was ruined. Adjuster to be called, contact info exchanged, between Dealer/Insurer etc.

Call Chris Feltner back at Braman to give him Insurer info and claim #. He says 'Rick...there's a brand new R8 V10 that was just brought in with the same problem - whaddya think that will cost?"

Any way, engine's in the Fatherland and other needed parts in NJ. Hopes to get it back to me at the end of the month...to which I ask...."What Month"?

 

It looks like you should have stayed at work.

Sorry to hear of your pain - but nice to know you have good auto insurance.

Maybe time to upgrade to an S7?

 

Ouch. That is a tale of WHOA.

 

If I upgrade to anything it'll be an Amphibicar.

 

Do you own or lease? If you own it, the dealer should look for more things that are wrong with it (electrical issues all over the place) - try and get the car totaled, it will never be the same after a repair of this magnitude - engine, electrical, etc. We just went through hurricane Sandy here on the south shore of LI - the insurers are quick to total flooded cars even if the repair costs do not exceed the value, pursue that with your insurer.

 

No electrical damage and no cabin leakage at all. Just drop in a long block from the Fatherland and all is well.

Besides, with a $70+ sticker, the damage would have to be $20k higher.

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles, Rick. Was the water deep enough to reach the air intake or did you create a bow wave?

 

Deerhunter -

The water was insanely deep all around the car, at least a foot or more in some areas. As I said, I made it 4+ miles before breakdown. I'm guessing that a bit of both were going on, the sewers weren't working and the artificial lakes were spilling over their banks and encroaching into 1st floors of the Hospital, stores etc.

Called my dealer to determine effect on resale. Two options, fix and keep (which I've been assured will restore complete functionality OR, fix and get rid of before the CarFax gets posted). Currently mulling over both options.

Waiting to hear result of Adjuster visit which will hopefully occur next week.

 

If you sell before the CarFax is posted, don't you still feel morally responsible to provide the car's history and repair details?

 

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