my 2006 mazda 6 tiptronic was parked on roadside and caught in a flash flood water level above bottom of car. carpets soaked. i tried to move to higher ground only 10m away but car died/stalled 4 times. finally got there. today (5 days later) carpets still soaked and car turns on but it wouldnt move, felt same as when you try take off with handbrake on but the handbrake was off. an hour alter i tried again and was the same but then a big crank/crack sort of sound and it moved i was able to drive forward and reverse. what could this be?? would it be due to water damage? would it be severe damage? would it be enough to have insurance write it off? Thankyou

 

Might of been the brakes rusted on. Does it drive ok now?

 

Would it rust that fast? Was about 5 days. Yes it drives but i only reversed it out of driveway to put onto tow truck to take to service centre. If it was rust die to water damage etc would i surance call it a write off? Cause if they didnt and fixed it wouldbt there be high risk of rust and corrosion issues in the future?

 

Your brake rotors are solid steel. They can start to develop surface rust after a matter of hours from getting wet in the rain. A couple of applications of the brake pedal cleans them up again.