I had a half cup of coffee in the cup holder and to brake a little hard.
The cup fell forward and the coffee went down into the console and fried the control circuit board. Of course this in not covered by warranty.

If find it hard to believe that there would be something like that unprotected in an area where there are cup holders.

Seems like a design flaw to me.


Has anyone else had this happen or know of anyone?

 

Do you mean the AC control console with the CD slot? I've taken a couple apart when replacing sticky buttons and there is some effort to protect against water/dust ingress but it is not completely water proof. As the console is leaning back slightly any water that gets through the front will get to the circuit board and run down it. The ICs have a conformal coating but not all the components do.

As you need to pay for the repair yourself it would be worth taking the old one apart and checking for repairable water damage. They are not hard to disassembly, but there are dozens of small springs and rubber buffers that are easily lost so take your time doing it.

Or do you mean the gear shift and surrounding buttons? I've no idea how resistant to water they are.

 

Yes it happened to me, these new bitch sized eco water bottles are too small for the cup holders. HARD braking and it shot forward drenching the A/C controls. Let it dry in the heat for a few days, brought it in and it was covered under warranty.