Mahindra Scorpio And Toyota Innova Pull Out Beached Mercedes Benz E400 Cabriolet [Video]

For some reason, Indians love taking their vehicles to the beach. Driving on the sand with the waves lashing by sure sounds exciting. Over the years, we have seen many over-enthusiastic owners take their favourite vehicles to the beach and end up getting stuck there. The latest of these is from Mumbai's Gorai Beach.

While the vehicles involved in most of the previous incidents were SUVs or MPVs, the latest stars a convertible sedan! A Mercedes Benz E 400 Cabriolet was taken on a beach holiday, and eventually ended up being beached! A video shared on Instagram shows it being pulled to safety. The rescue vehicles here were a Mahindra Scorpio and a Toyota Innova.

The video starts by showing the Mercedes stuck in sand. It looks like the driver took it straight into the water, instead of driving on the sand, maintaining a safe distance from the sea. The waves should have swept off sand from under the wheels, eventually beaching the car.

If you embark on a beach drive, things can be really messy if the vehicle's platform gets beached- if it 'sits' on the sand! The only way out then, is a proper tow-out. In the video, we can see that the stuck Mercedes has gathered a good crowd around it. Locals, supposedly fishermen and visitors, can be seen standing close to the car, and trying their best to pull it out of the water.

Soon they realise that manpower alone cannot take the sedan out. It weighs around 1845 kilograms. They soon call for help. In the scenes that follow, we see the E400 being pulled to safety by an Innova and a Scorpio. Two tow cables can be seen attached to either sides of the sedan's rear. The other ends of these go to the MPV and SUV respectively.

The Scorpio featured here seems to be either the old model or the Classic. It is not the now-popular Scorpio-N. Both the Innova and Scorpio here have Rear Wheel Drive (RWD). They pull the luxury car out effortlessly. This video focusses on the rescue operation and the ease with which the car is pulled out by the duo. It doesn't show the damages that the German's time in seawater could have caused.

In the beginning, we can see that the water level stands parallel to the car's running board. It is very likely that seawater could have seeped into the cabin. More likely is for it to have entered the engine. Even normal water entering it, can harm a car's engine. Seawater can be extra corrosive due to its high salt content.

The E 400 Cabriolet seen in this video, has a 3.0L V6 petrol engine that churns out 329 bhp and 480 Nm of torque. It comes mated to a 7-speed automatic transmission. With a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 5.3 seconds, this car is indeed fast. Its close call with seawater would require this engine to be put to a thorough clean-up and expensive maintenance before it can be safely operated again.

Most people are likely unaware of the corrosive nature of seawater and the winds there. Prolonged exposure can damage the vehicle's metal parts.

If you are still determined to take your vehicle to the beach, keep a close watch on the tides. Low tide can get the sand firm, while high tides make it wet and soft. There are higher chances of getting beached during high tides. Also, never forget to deflate your tyres before hitting the sand. The ideal tyre pressure for beach-runs is 10-15 PSI.