[Ragavsr]

Very unfortunate to see your new car get damaged like that by water. We , in Chennai have had similar experience a few years back. Hope the service center does a good job of restoring the car back.

If this is your 3rd or 4th time that your car is getting flooded, its time your apartment folks do something to fix the issue. Raise the floor height or build some kind of structure to prevent water from flooding in the parking area and then build a small ramp to access the parking.

These issues are bound to happen in older homes/apartments. This is why insurers abroad fix different rates based on the address. Over there, your apartment folks would get pulled up with higher rates.

[fiat_tarun]

Originally Posted by momsonlydriver

We had got Kia insurance and they have stated clearly that the insurance can be availed for any electronics parts being replaced. We are still now sure that we will avail or not. If bill exceeds 1L by any chance, might think of availing. The sad part is that my family has barely any love for the SX4. It is right now in a sorry state and Maruti hasn't even opened their service station.

Really sorry to see your car in this state, but on the other hand also glad the damage is limited.

I think you should claim insurance whatever be the estimate. It is a new car and the maximum NCB you will lose next year will be 20% which is frankly peanuts in comparison.

[momsonlydriver]

A dull afternoon at Kia service station, Kalikapur.

Body temperature was checked and was served hand sanitizer. Weirdly enough they sprayed on my feet.


A mini dreamland for all the Seltos' and Carnivals in city.(after their birthplace)

I gave a surprise visit to Kia workshop. What I observed was that there were 3 cars reported for flood that includes me and my neighbor's car.

Two out of three were the 7DCT. Our engine and transmission worked fine whereas the other car (in black (no image)) had failed to start as it had a severe damage due to more water.

My neighbour's red HTK+ which is parked next to mine at home is lying here in the open. I'm sure the car is stinking of dirty water.

My neighbors HTK+ 1.5 Petrol reached them yesterday and they haven't started any work on that car as of yet.

Now coming to my car for which I visited the workshop.

The car is still dirty which was alittle disappointing.

They said that they have left the parts to dry and they haven't completely dried as of yet. I believe the components like amplifier, seats, sensors were all gone for drying in the terrace.

The front console is open and the seats are missing. Notice there are so many wires that connect to so many items?


No rust but yet a very quirky shape at the rear seat area. The plastic seat seems to be more user friendly and waterproof

I couldn't trace any airbag sensors and everything seemed to be stripped off from the floor. There was no underbody damage like rust. It was a very short visit and I did not hammer them with questions as it's just been a few days and only a few workers were present.

Possibly enough I'll visit next week again to see any progress (June 1st week).

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by momsonlydriver

I couldn't trace any airbag sensors and everything seemed to be stripped off from the floor.

Airbag module is located ahead of the gear lever. See the box with wiring in yellow (highlighted the same). That is specific airbags for easier identification.

[akash_v12]

Originally Posted by momsonlydriver

No rust but yet a very quirky shape at the rear seat area. The plastic seat seems to be more user friendly and waterproof.[/center]

Quite Sad to see the number of cars that are being damaged due to the floods in Kolkata. Let’s hope Kia takes care of the car very well and proves their aftersales to everyone. My Family too lives in Kolkata and fortunately none of the cars were affected by the Floods.

P.S The plastic seat is definitely more waterproof and user friendly .

[Chetan_Rao]

Don't cars these days have easily accessible drain plugs in the floor-pan? I remember two of our older cars (Zen and Accent) having them, Accent even had one in the boot. Came handy a couple times water needed to be drained from the cabin.

[vidyanand]

I think the time spent in service station is long.
Is that the reason why in USA cars are called salvaged if water enters in rain or flood? High labor cost like this or because it increase the chances of rust/body panel damage earlier (if it does).

[momsonlydriver]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Don't cars these days have easily accessible drain plugs in the floor-pan? I remember two of our older cars (Zen and Accent) having them, Accent even had one in the boot. Came handy a couple times water needed to be drained from the cabin.

They do have but I haven't noticed in this car or maybe this car wasn't mentally prepared to drink some water

[momsonlydriver]

There is a slight update for the car. The Bose speakers and the ventilated seats have arrived and has been fixed onto the vehicle. The car is still in the workshop as they are testing the car to make sure it's safe.

As mentioned preciously that my brother's friend works in Kia coincidently. The new part that requires changing is the brake vaccum (Rs. 48,000) as it displays an error code on the system.

The process is being delayed due to insurance claim. The entire serving and damage cost is being paid by the insurance company. This week I'm supposed to be collecting the car. I will highlight Kia's work on the car and the cost incurred. The bill has crossed over a lakh and it shows that the spare parts are not cheap.

Never leave a Kia in water. It is not economical.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by momsonlydriver

Never leave a Kia in water. It is not economical.

Thanks for the update. Have been keenly following your thread. Do update us when your car is back about the exact repairs and costs involved. Good to know insurance is covering everything. I was apprehensive about it as insurance companies often cite some BS reason to get out of paying the claims.

Also, Never leave any car in water. It screws your wallet.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Don't cars these days have easily accessible drain plugs in the floor-pan?

The only reason I can think of them not being provided is that there is this damping provided on the floor; damping can be seen in @momsonlydriver's car pics.

My Grand Vitara has drain plugs only in two troughs in the boot floor pan - and I've seen water collect there when a 5 liter can of water tilted and water had leaked out onto the carpet; no drain plugs in the footwells.

Originally Posted by momsonlydriver

Never leave a Kia in water. It is not economical.

As a "Varada raju" ( King of floods), let me tell everyone here - never leave ANY modern car in more than 1.5 feet of water unless the floorpan is much higher( eg. Fortune / Pajero Sport) ; when there are pre-warnings of floods or heavy rain, move the car to safety, at least OUT of the basement parking. Disconnect the battery.

Forget the money part, it is painful to see a car get damaged like this.

[momsonlydriver]

Carried my mask and handsantizer to take the car with alot of doubts. I hate returning back to solve another issue.

Hand Sanitizer served at the table! A customer wasn't allowed to enter when his temperature recorded was 105°F. Scary!

I have recieved my car today, sparkling clean in and out. They sanitized the car with the quirky machine (left the car interior sticky due to that procedure had to be cleaned at home. I don't mind)

Not clean for long! It was raining outside...

The car works great but have given 2 months of warranty. Any faults spotted during these 2 months will be repaired free of cost. The bill of the entire repair was Rs. 1,50,000. The cost was paid by the Insurance. We had to pay only Rs. 3,000.

Sanitization left the gloss panels to fade with a sticky feel

What kept me disappointed? I understand that they opened the car interior trims and thats where the problem lied. The panel between the door had scratchs. The front doors have some scratches too at the bottom on the speaker grill. It's visible in the black door. I can live with it (kicks in my OCD) It also shows that the plastics are just very scratchy in material.

I just returned from 2 test drives. I tested driving it as well as being a passenger to pick faults. So far I found two-

• Arm rest in front makes squeeky noises when opened and closed or when you rest hands. (Can some owner confirm me)
• Android Auto USB port not charging or functioning. Not fault in cable (tested in other outlets inside the car)

I was very disappointed with the Android Auto USB port. I think it's the fuse or the connectivity (Can someone confirm? Please)

I personally love the red lighting as a passenger.

[Sreesh1009]

I'm not sure if you can reply to this thread but it's great to see your Seltos back maybe not in all it's glory but those are minor grouses.
Take care man!

[Emanuel]

Hi,

I am truly sorry to hear your experience. My Honda City 2015 VMT too drowned in the rains in Mumbai last year. The water ingress into the cabin was till the bottom of the seats.

Got the work done from Solitaire Honda workshop in Andheri West. Towed the car to the workshop on my own expense. Did not start the car at all (obviously)

Insurance covered the cost of around 1.10 lacs. However, the time taken for all the paperwork to be done was quite a lot and the workshop would not commence the work without claim approval (cant blame them)

In my experience, the longer the workshop takes to start the work, the worse it is, because water starts to damage the parts.

Got the car back after more than 3 weeks. Was working fine, however, I expected problems to crop up later as is usually the case with water damage to any mechanical/electrical/electronic equipment.

Predictably, after a couple of months, had a problem with the handbrake - wouldn't hold the car on a slope when engaged. Gave it for repairs to Supermechanic who identified that the handbrake cable was rusted and not moving. Had the same replaced.

Also both the rear power windows were rolling up and down jerkily. We don't use the rear windows too often as there are two of us and a 5 year old.

Finally this year in April, the rear RH window gave up and would not roll up. This was during the lockdown, so got a local mechanic to hold up the window glass in the fully closed position with a piece of metal wire. :(

Now I will have to get both the rear power window mechanisms replaced/repaired.

My biggest problem is that I have now doubt the reliability of the car; which is a shame as the one thing worse than not having a car is having an unreliable one.