Drain plug flood- HELP!!!!

[markpw73]

Hello all,
I recently suffered a major flood of water into the passenger side of my A4 Avant. The water was about 6 inches deep in both the front and rear footwells. Needless to say th electrics suffered and I had to take it to the nearest garage to have a look!
This was the TT centre in Bedford. They confirmed my fears of a damaged central control unit and had to strip the interior to get the carpet out to fully dry. Thank god for the recent hot weather.
Anyway an invoice for £600 and my car is all good again.
According to audi there was no recall for the drain plugs on my chassis number (53 plate 1.9tdi se avant) so little chance of a goodwill payout etc.
Has anyone experienced a similar problem and have u had any joy/reimbursement from Audi?
If the car has had a full audi service history surely they would check the faulty blocked drain plugs?
Any help or advice would be welcomed.

 

[swarcup]

Prior to me buying mine, it to suffered the same as you and i have the previuos invoice for the new convienience module etc, mine was due the recall and audi then unblocked the drain holes as a seperate job (free of charge), i would have thought that as they changed the module they would have unblocked/did the drain plug mod at the same time!

 

[markpw73]

The Garage that carried out the work did modify the drain Plugs (remove) however as it wasn't Audi themselves who carried out the work and they are stating it isn't a common failure there is little chance of any goodwill.
But surely the plugs should be checked at each service as for water to leak into the vehicle via the pollen filter causing untold damage is a major worry.
Will persevere!

 

[Broken Byzan]

I cant understand what you are asking for?

You want Audi to pay towards your flood damaged car because there was a recall for blocked scuttle panel drain holes that did occasionaly cause damage to central electrics and servos? Or did the water come in through the scuttle panel blockage?

I am not being dumb, but want to understand

 

[markpw73]

Sorry for not explaining myself clearly.
I have been informed that the water got into the car via the plenum chamber beneath the battery due to blocked drain plugs.
I have spoken to audi and although some Cars were recalled to have this problem fixed, mine was not one of the lucky ones. So Audi have told me that there is little chance of any compensation due to the expired warranty etc.
I just find it strange how they can recall certain chassis numbers but not all if the design is poor/faulty.
This is the last thing I would expect from a car of this build quality.

 

[Broken Byzan]

gotcha

There have been people that have persued it to get a good will payment,and some that have not made any headway. What do you have to lose?

 

[swarcup]

Sorry for not explaining myself clearly.

This is the last thing I would expect from a car of this build quality.

im hearing this a lot

 

[Mike B]

I had this in a 99 avant afew years ago and sorted the drains before any damage .I now have an 03 avant and always check for water build up by using a torch to see if the plugs are free because my drive is under a tree overhang and a lot of debris means there is a constant risk of fine material getting in that area.It would help if the design had made the drains more accessible or as others have said the plugs can be removed because they do not tolerate a lot of debris before clogging.There seems to be a case for audi taking responsibility for ignoring the problem by not redesigning the plugs .I have never had this problem with other makes of car parked in the same place

 

[scott b]

i just poked the plug out when i bought mine, problem sorted