Flood recovery vehicles... good only for parts?

I would be interested in responses, too. From what I've read, the biggest problems are electrical, as various components tend to corrode after having been flooded. You would think that you could find all connectors (takes a lot of time) and disassemble and clean everything.

 

Need more details , like was it totally immersed in water or partially or what ever. How long was it in the water and did you get anything else in the car besides water. The big problem is electrical and specificily the computers. Any car pre-CPU is less of a problem . Those require either repair or replace of your connectors. The gages can be dried out and cleaned up , then resealed and should last. The engine and gear box will need to be assessed to see if they need to be taken apart and this depends if the car was under water instead of half drowned. So if you are handy and get a car for $10k and dump another $10k in it you'll be OK . My 2 cents

 

As an ex salvage dealer I bought many of them and sold them for half of retail with full disclosure. the only bad thing was the electronics, but for the most part everything worked fine, Now a year or two down the road who knows, but as I financed quite a few no one really brought them back for electronics problems. I think it is car by car thing. You never quite get used to the smell though.

As a side note when I would buy these, After a big flood, the bigger dealerships were always there purchasing the newer ones, bmw's, lexus's, tahoes, you name it. I wonder if they disclosed the fact they were in floods.

 

I would think that of all the salvage types of damage (crash, fire...etc) flood would be one of the best to try to fix. Most likely the structual integrity of the car was not comprimised and the car should overall be pretty straight. In the case of a Ferrari, electrics are suspect to begin with and would think that having to totaly redo the system would be the best way to go anyway.
I've fought enough with my 308's electronics and all the crap people have added in previous ownership that given the choice I would rip it out and start over with something more updated.

 

Interesting topic that I've done some tracking on. I found a 308 that looked great (in photos) that the owner said had a "flood damaged" title. He assured me that his knowledgable mechanic friends had looked it over and that it had not been wrecked. Using the serial number, I tracked the car backwards to a previous state and according to their records, the title was checked "collision damage" or "previous damage" (I can't remember which.) I can't help but wonder why a car that has a "flood damaged" title in one state would have a title with "collision damage" indicated on a previous title. Did somebody check the wrong box on the previous's states title, or was it also in an accident BEFORE the flood? Unfortunately for me, the insurance company in the "collision damage" state had consolidated several offices and I could not track down any damage reports to verify exactly what had happened.

Bottom line: your car in question may very well have been in a flood. It ALSO may very well have been in a major collision years earlier. Don't let a "flood damaged" title prevent you from being aware of other worse things that could have happened years BEFORE the flood.

I'm still thinking about the 308 that I found. Wish it were closer and I would drive and see it for myself.

 

It greatly depends on the amount of damage, and the value of the car (in perfect condition). That 308 would not be worth it, even if it were free. Will cost WAY more to bring back to any semblence of presentability.

A 360 or 550 you might make out with your skin intact.

 

The engine will not turn over is not something you want to hear when buying a ferrari, so I would say, stay away from that one, had it started right up or it got flooded in the front I would go for it and they would of posted that if it did.

And besides, It must of been a pretty bad flood cause it took the red paint off!

 

I've heard that readytofix.com posts ads of cars that have sold years ago. The list they give you is really nothing you can't find on Google. I found someone who paid for the list and I've seen most of the dealers on that list before. Here's the forum with the list, middle of the page: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=325203

 

I second that. Heard that place is out to get peoples money and works by referrals. They've had those same cars for the past 2 years.

 

This actually happened to me - search the archives here. It wasn't my Ferrari but my 1980 Scirocco. LONG story but basically it was in for a R&R on the engine (upgrade to a 2.0 16V). The shop flooded in a major flashflood and my car went totally under. I mean the flood water rose about 2 feet above the roof. Now I am not just talking about dunking it down below nice clean tapwater, this was sewer, mud, oily shop crud water from hell. I pulled it out as soon as we were allowed back in and started the clean up job. It's finished and I have been driving it for 2 years now but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that wasn't keeping the car forever and REALLY wanted to fix it. You have to love it like a child to do it.
Cleaning it up and selling it is one thing but restoring it and keeping it as a daily driver for yourself is another thing altogether.

It can be done.

 

Good luck to you then. Like they say, there's one born everyday...

 

can anybody get the chassis # for that car?

 

last year around april or so that same white 308 gts was for sale near Cavallino Motors in Miami. i called Martin and he said run away from it. i dont mind the beater cars, but a used 308 engine is EXPENSIVE, and you dont know what else is bad. i would pay $3k to $5k for it. no more.

 

So let's follow the common Ferrari line of logic. "That car will cost too much to repair because the engine is beyond hope. Therefore, the car is only good for parts." So I'll make somebody a deal. Whenever somebody, anybody, buys the car just for the parts, they can ship me the "worthless" engine. I'll gladly pay a few hundred for the freight charges. Sounds like a deal for me. I'll pay a few hundred and take my chances because everybody else thinks the engine is worthless. Ehhhh?????

 

This website service shows ads of cars that are long gone. I have subscribed to it because it is only like $15 for life. However, what it is is just a list of links for companies that deal in salvage vehicles. There is a few Ferraris available currently and a few Vipers but the rest of the companies deal in junk. They do have a newer Vanquish that only has a couple thousand miles that was a theft recovery. The car is back to showroom condition, it didn't say it's condition after the theft, but they only want $160,000.

 

There is a website for dealers-only where you can buy salvage cars, including Ferraris. Their inventory currently shows 4 Ferraris (3 360s and a TR). www.iaai.com If you don't have a dealer's license, you can't do much, but there are some auctions for the public.

 

I always thought that a flood damaged car would be the perfect candidate for conversion to a track car. It will need a full strip out and roll cage. The engine will need to come apart for upgrades and mods anyway.

Buy one still wet for 5k, throw a supercharger on it and go have fun.

 

exactly. a track car would be a good life for a car like this. but as a road / street car i would rather buy one wrecked that ran and fix it as i did with GTS *23785*.

 

Get yourself a copy of the spare parts catalog for the prospective model, and then start listing all the things that would be damaged by dunking.

Electronics, obviously.

Connectors -- under the dash, in the engine bay, around all the firewalls, across the lights up front, in the back, on the sides ... everywhere.

Seats -- the foam pads inside.

Rugs. Wall liners. Roof liners (behind the plastic top).

Dash board, center console, door panels, kick panels, etc.

Gaskets -- around air ducts, heater ducts, even around the battery cover.

Acoustic and thermal insulation -- it's amazing how much there is in cars. You need to see this in the parts catalog to really grok the scope of the padding used around the car.

So you're looking at a frame-off restoration, here. If it's a 250 it might be worth it, but such a restoration will usually cost well over the value of a 308, even if you do the labor yourself.

And that's not even talking about the engine -- stripping an engine down to the block is easy, compared to stripping a car down to the frame ... and putting it back together again.

But on the bright side, if you get down to the frame and just can't see going the rest of the route, at least you have all the parts ready to sell. Or you could opt for the "race car" approach, and leave all that insulation out (and corner lights, radio wiring, etc.).
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This man is clearly carsick.

Great Story.

 

He and Carreaper need to get together.

 

Agreed. Thats what frame racks are for. If you have the specs and a guy is talented there is no reason why a damaged car can't repaired to "nearly new" condition.

All it takes is time and money.