A driver whose car was destroyed in the floods at a Heathrow car park has described the horror of seeing his Tesla go berserk while on holiday—then informing the company from America.
The Incident
Stuart Ingleby, 40, was in America when he received a notification that his Tesla's alarm had gone off last Wednesday. When it then indicated that all the doors were open while the vehicle remained in the same spot he had left it at the airport, the Global Sales Manager realised something had gone wrong. Upon checking the cameras, he was shocked to see his car submerged in water.
Footage shared last week revealed a Heathrow car park and an adjacent road covered in floodwaters due to a 'localised water issue', which was fixed the same day. Mr Ingleby, from Kettering in Northampton, said he was told it was a '1.2-metre diameter water main that burst'. Heathrow at the time advised affected drivers to 'contact their parking operator and, if necessary, their motor insurer'.
Vehicle Damage
Mr Ingleby's car has completely died, he claimed, and said his 'looked like one of the worst' that he could see through his cameras. 'The worst affected had water all the way up to the headlights and it was definitely up to the door crease in the car next to mine,' he told the Daily Mail. He believes he was the first to learn of the flooding, as when he phoned the car park authorities, the man on the phone seemed unaware that cars were becoming submerged.
He recounted: 'When I first got the notifications but saw that it was still in the same spot, I thought nothing of it. Then when the front door first said it was open, I presumed it was because they were moving our car to be ready to be picked up by us the next day as we were returning from holiday. 10, 15 minutes later, it said all the doors were open and that was when I checked the camera and could see all the water around the car. I could see the alarms of all the other cars were going off, the wipers were going crazy. The water was rippling so it must have still been rising. I must have alerted them to it because the guy I spoke to had no clue and he went to check.'
Aftermath and Recovery
Mr Ingleby said that his house keys and his wife's work laptop had been left in the car, but they were not allowed to access them upon their return. Three days after the couple touched down, the items were delivered, but not before Mr Ingleby's wife, Katie, had to do a day's work from her phone. 'Luckily my mother-in-law was staying in the house with the kids, so at least we were able to get back home,' he added.
A courtesy car had been provided for the couple on their return, and Mr Ingleby said he had contacted his insurance company, who were trying to arrange a collection of his Tesla. However, he added that Maple Parking, which runs the car park where the flood took place, have not been 'massively helpful' and they 'only sent an email yesterday about the disaster in the car park'. It is also unclear how long this situation will take to resolve, nor the extent of damage to his car, as he has not been given access, he claimed.
Social Media Reaction
A video circulating on social media last week was captioned 'imagine landing at Heathrow today only to find your car like this', to which one person responded: 'Imagine the post-holiday depression already starting to kick in then you come back to this jeez.' Mr Ingleby said the situation reminded him of the devastating fire in Luton Airport's multi-storey car park three years ago, where a Range Rover burst into flames, causing an inferno that destroyed 1,300 vehicles.
Maple Parking has been contacted for comment, as has Heathrow. A Heathrow spokesperson told the Mail last Thursday: 'Yesterday morning, a localised water issue affected a Heathrow car park, operated by a third-party parking provider. The issue has since been resolved. We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused and advise that passengers who believe their vehicle may have been affected should contact their parking operator and, if necessary, their motor insurer.'
