City liability - damage to car

You need to consult an attorney in your area who is experienced with suing governmental entities. After reviewing all the facts of your case, the attorney can advise you of your legal options.

In California where I have practiced for the last twenty five years, you must first file a claim against the governmental entity that you believe was responsible. If it is a street it could be the state which is Caltrans, the county or the city or something else. If you do not file the claim then you cannot file a lawsuit. You have 6 months to file your claim, and you have another 6 months to file a late claim but that involves some other steps which is beyond what I will discuss here. Once the claim has been denied you then have 6 months to file your lawsuit. If the entity doesn't act on your claim you can deem it rejected and file suit without waiting for a rejection. HOWEVER YOU MUST FILE A CLAIM FIRST IN ORDER TO FILE A LAWSUIT.

Now to the merits of your claim which you really haven't told me enough about other than it flooded. Well would have to hire a civil engineer who had expertise in public works projects to tell you whether or not the Governmental Entity either designed something wrong, built it wrong or were some how else negligent. This is going to cost you bunch of money, probably a couple grand at least. Most attorney’s who sue for this type of incident are personal injury attorneys who advance costs and take a percentage when there is a recovery. I doubt though that any would be willing to advance the costs on this claim because I is probably small relatively speaking.

So the real question is how much is the engine rebuild going to cost and is it worth it to hire an expert to get the opinion you need to proceed forward. My guess is not, unless you have a Rolls Royce or some other expensive car. My best advice is to give it to your insurance which I hope you had. You would make a claim under the comprehensive portion of your policy.

Good luck and hope that helps.

Practical advise on California Law from an attorney actually licensed in California.