Flood Cars Are Starting to be Advertised For Sale Lately!!! "Pitfalls"?

[hotmtrsports]

I've noticed that C6 (and a few C5) Corvettes are starting to show up quite a bit as flood cars with salvaged titles.

I thought it would be a good discussion to have for our forum members.

If anybody has any insight as to what to watch out for, please let us know!

Fresh Water?
Salt Water?
How high the water gets before bad things really start to happen.

I would think especially with salt water, the electrical "gremlins" would show up for the rest of the car's life.

Some of the asking prices are really tempting, but I've never attempted a flood car repair......
and the registration/titling mess with some states also requiring car inspections before being issued a rebuilt title!!!

Resale value, seems to me once somebody buys a flood Corvette, you kind of own it for life or take a pounding when it's sold. It's all in the initial purchase price, I know, but is there ever a good "initial purchase price" with a flooded Corvette?

Chuck M

 

[i10fwy]

I bought an Aston Martin one time that was a flood car from a good friend that was the insurance adjuster on the case. A Aston Martin that cheap, wow! The biggest mistake I ever made, what a nightmare. The thing I didn't understand was that the whole car had to be rewired because water got inside of the wiring. I ended up selling the car to a collector who had a complete frame off done.

I wouldn't touch a flood car with a 10ft pole :ugh

 

[hotmtrsports]

I bought an Aston Martin one time that was a flood car from a good friend that was the insurance adjuster on the case. A Aston Martin that cheap, wow! The biggest mistake I ever made, what a nightmare. The thing I didn't understand was that the whole car had to be rewired because water got inside of the wiring. I ended up selling the car to a collector who had a complete frame off done.

I wouldn't touch a flood car with a 10ft pole :ugh

If it's an older Aston Martin heck I don't have a problem with that! That's old school wiring.

I've done many nasty complicated C4 wiring fixes and C5 issues.

I'm just wondering what experiences any members have had on C5 and C6 flood cars with where the electronic components and such.

Then again, as I stated in the beginning, it all depends what the initial purchase price is.

Chuck M

 

[LLC5]

I've noticed that C6 (and a few C5) Corvettes are starting to show up quite a bit as flood cars with salvaged titles.

I thought it would be a good discussion to have for our forum members.

If anybody has any insight as to what to watch out for, please let us know!

Fresh Water?
Salt Water?
How high the water gets before bad things really start to happen.

I would think especially with salt water, the electrical "gremlins" would show up for the rest of the car's life.

Some of the asking prices are really tempting, but I've never attempted a flood car repair......
and the registration/titling mess with some states also requiring car inspections before being issued a rebuilt title!!!

Resale value, seems to me once somebody buys a flood Corvette, you kind of own it for life or take a pounding when it's sold. It's all in the initial purchase price, I know, but is there ever a good "initial purchase price" with a flooded Corvette?

Chuck M

No, not that I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of flood vehicles per year. We have to wholesale them or scrap them. There is never a good initial purchase price for a flood vehicle. This is an area in which the insurance companies actually do know what they are talking about. Stay away from them, they are never ending mechanical and electrical nightmares. There is no clean/fresh flood water, so salt water or non-salt water, the vehicle is a loss. Good luck either way....

 

[96gs917]

Stay away from them, they are never ending mechanical and electrical nightmares. There is no clean/fresh flood water, so salt water or non-salt water, the vehicle is a loss. Good luck either way....

I would agree with LLC5. My friend lost a 96 GS convertible, #365 I think, because of Sandy last year. The car was submerged in salt water up to the rear view mirror in his garage.
By the time the insurance company took the car, about 3 weeks later, all 4 wheels were frozen, the crank case was full of water, and the frame and heads had that white powder corrosion we all see when aluminum starts corrode. I'm sure the electrical system was a mess.

That car wound up selling on one of the insurance company's auctions for +-$12,000 so you know the car will be presented for sale soon. Grand sport registry has a complete history
on the car available.

Moral of the story, stay away from flood cars.

 

[67vet]

I know of a guy that bought a flood Porsche Boxster. He had electrical problems from the computer model and lots of other areas. He finally sold the car at quite a loss. :ugh

 

[VetteZr]

If it's a flood car, pass it by

I've had the experience with buying a flood car, a 93 coupe, and everything the other guys have said is true, it had been a never ending problem, and after you figure what you pay for the car, then what you pay for all the problems that arise, and finally the loss you take for the car being a flood car, you actually pay much, much more than if you bought a clean low mileage one instead. Never again, and I do most of my own repairs.

 

[hotmtrsports]

I've had the experience with buying a flood car, a 93 coupe, and everything the other guys have said is true, it had been a never ending problem, and after you figure what you pay for the car, then what you pay for all the problems that arise, and finally the loss you take for the car being a flood car, you actually pay much, much more than if you bought a clean low mileage one instead. Never again, and I do most of my own repairs.

Now that's experience talking!

I don't understand how the sellers of these cars can get the prices they are asking.
The temptation from inexperienced buyers must be too strong for them to look the other way. Saving just a couple thousand dollars doesn't cut it!

Chuck M

 

[Stutterfly]

flood dammage law

whats the flood dammage law in california to buy or have shipped in anyone know!!!

 

[minifridge1138]

Flood cars aren't really cars.
They are 3300 pound piles of parts that may occasionally run.

I have spent enough time fixing engines with bent rods caused by a head gasket that I can just imagine what the inside of the motor looks like.

I've also chased crazy sensor, flickering lights, etc from electrical systems that were just old to know to avoid something that's been under water.

Also the seats, carpet, behind the dash, ventilation ducts are going to be full of crap (literally, flood water is nasty).

That would make me stay away.
There are only a few situations I'd even consider:
1) it was cheap. $2,000 or less cheap.
2) I was planning to do a frame off restoration. This really applies more to older cars.
3) I was going to use it as a parts car and sell what I didn't need.

Good luck!!!

 

[Stutterfly]

Hi, thx minifridge but the question was about california,n law as i see it all those corvette,s water dammaged were insured so the insurance co payes out on them, now the ins co dosin,t want a pile of dammaged cars sitting on there lawn so like all companies they try to recoupe there losses ?

what did the insurance co sell them as

what was recorded in the D M V

is there a record at chevrollet with those vin #

anyone out there holding paperwork on an flood dammaged car they can photo and show on a thread

it may just save someone from makeing a verry bad purchase ad

 

[minifridge1138]

Actually, the question the OP asked was about pitfalls you encounter with flood damaged cars.

No, Chevrolet and GM do not keep track of VINs and title status.

If an insurance company calls a car totaled and pays the owner, then the title would show that.
Most would go up for auction as-is with salvage titles.
Then 2nd hand dealers would buy them, clean/restore them as much as they like, and then sell them to consumers with the salvaged title.

No matter who does what work, you can not unsalvage a title.

 

[VetteZr]

It isn't the insurance companies you need to worry about.

Any car that has been part of an insurance claim is reported to a central information agency, it contains all information in regards to that claim, but it is the unscrupulous buyers of those cars as well as the people that had no coverage, so they do not do a damage report to any state DMV's, so there would be no record of that loss, then they get the car to run & sell it to some poor sucker, obviously because they don't want to take the loss in value. I hope I didn't confuse the issue, but it's the best way I can explain it.

 

[VetteZr]

I have to disagree about unsalvaging a title

Actually, the question the OP asked was about pitfalls you encounter with flood damaged cars.

No, Chevrolet and GM do not keep track of VINs and title status.

If an insurance company calls a car totaled and pays the owner, then the title would show that.
Most would go up for auction as-is with salvage titles.
Then 2nd hand dealers would buy them, clean/restore them as much as they like, and then sell them to consumers with the salvaged title.

No matter who does what work, you can not unsalvage a title.

I have purchased an 84 from New York & the state police examined the finished car, they then issued a clear title for that car, I also recently bought a car on a bill of sale, again from New York, this time I took that bill of sale to South Carolina, where I now live, I have no idea of what the car had been through & they issued me a clean title.

 

[hotmtrsports]

I have purchased an 84 from New York & the state police examined the finished car, they then issued a clear title for that car, I also recently bought a car on a bill of sale, again from New York, this time I took that bill of sale to South Carolina, where I now live, I have no idea of what the car had been through & they issued me a clean title.

That's probably why Carfax got to be so popular.

Chuck M

 

[VetteZr]

Even Carfax fails at times

That's probably why Carfax got to be so popular.

Chuck M

Carfax is only as good as the people who make out the paperwork.

 

[hotmtrsports]

Carfax is only as good as the people who make out the paperwork.

Yeah, your right. I would think most of the people doing that paperwork have nothing in it for them. Insurance Co's, Motor Vehicle Registration, etc. I can see how somebody that does not have ins and wants to get away with something would not report it. But at least there is a fighting chance if you get a Carfax wouldn't you think?

I've been to a few auctions that have damaged cars and clear titles ... some re-sellers are all over those compared to disclosed salvage title cars!

Chuck M

 

[VetteZr]

Even Carfax admits it isn't perfect

Yeah, your right. I would think most of the people doing that paperwork have nothing in it for them. Insurance Co's, Motor Vehicle Registration, etc. I can see how somebody that does not have ins and wants to get away with something would not report it. But at least there is a fighting chance if you get a Carfax wouldn't you think?

I've been to a few auctions that have damaged cars and clear titles ... some re-sellers are all over those compared to disclosed salvage title cars!

Chuck M

If you've seen the most recent Carfax ads, they now say that they don't always have all the info, also if you go online you can find title service companies that will wash the title for you, at a cost of course.

 

[hotmtrsports]

If you've seen the most recent Carfax ads, they now say that they don't always have all the info, also if you go online you can find title service companies that will wash the title for you, at a cost of course.

I'd like to know where those title "wash" companies are and send them to the authorities. That's unlawful and they should be called out on it. There are some dirty titles and cheating sellers. You win!

Carfax has to help along with personal inspections and such, the key is to get as much ammunition as you can as a buyer like any other purchase. Nothing is perfect!...now lets move on ok.

Chuck M

 

[VetteZr]

Please don't misinterpret my replies

Chuck, My replies to your posts were meant to be informative to the group, I am a retired Deputy Sheriff, as a result I am very much aware of the games that many car dealers continue to play, this was my only intent, to warn that nothing or no agency can guarantee that you will not buy a problem.