Hi Guys what is the danger when i wash the Vantage ?the opening vents on the bonnet let water into the engine bay, do we need to dry it before storage. and what about you guys who get rain and even worse snow... i have never seen snow and hope to keep it like that till the day i die it seems to me that if you were to drive it in the rain water will go into the engine bay/ does this mean we can wash it with water and a mild cleaner??

you're fine, the water won't hurt anything.

some cars are much more exposed, and some even spray water into the engine bay (my STi had water nozzles to spray water onto the top-mounted intercooler to help keep it cooler).

I drive mine in the rain all the time. No problem. After all it's a British car and they get lots of rain there

I even wash the engine bay a couple of times a year. Just make sure to first wrap the alternator & electrical connectors with foil or plastic wrap and don't use a high pressure hose.

Water is fine...no problem...you can drive a modern car without a hood thru rain if you want no issue. All that's up there is plastic engine covers, trim, and exposed intake manifold.

The water won't hurt anything but, I place two trash bags under the hood which catch the bulk of the water so I don't have to spend as much time drying the engine compartment.

Can't believe you're asking if a British car can survive rain !

Pour all you want in those vents, fill them with snow, the car won't notice. There are cars over here that live out on the street, get rained on 150 days per year, it doesn't make any difference to anything.

ok just when I wash it the belts make huge noise till they dry out! British cars are not known foe their reliability down here

Surprisingly enough though...an old 1965 Jag XKE convertible I drove for many many years as a kid would let rain water in through the bonnet vents when parked (while at work for 9 hours), which would conveniently travel towards the distributor and require a good drying off before engine starting was possible. It was never really a struggle though (and I recall fond memories of someone coming to my aid to hold an umbrella) But now...i'm making even better memories with a beautiful DB9! And... have the benefit of quite a few engineering improvements!

Yes, I suppose it does take a long time for a reputation like that to go, but these do seem like very reliable cars that can take all the water you want to throw at them

I know I'm prolly over the top on this one but, lay a couple of old bath towels under the hood vents and close the hood.... problem solved. Engine bay stays cleaner too.

happens in my Turbo but very minimal now since using a leaf blower to get rid of the excess water; also no more squeaky noise with the use of the blower.