Flooded 355 hilarious description

I agree.

 

I hope they get 40k makes my car worth more

 

Please keep what I report back here.
and full disclaimer - I'm no appraiser, just a 355 owner who does some DIY.

Summary : this car was unloved and had reasonable signs of normal wear-n-tear for a '97. I question the odometer when looking at bolster wear. For $35K and no salvage - it might be worth it after a PPI. with the salvage...no way.

That said, I went to see the car by the river in Paterson. This fellow was extremely nice and open about all the cars he has. He buys insurance cars, primarily flood, and flips them back to auction houses.
an F12 that had water in the engine (god-awful colors - think Ronald McDonald) was there having been completely under water, a rolled 488GTB which will go straight back to the auction house, and an eclectic collection of vintage, mods, and electric cars. He tells me write-offs are valued at 70% market. And this car he said is mint (it isn't) and he figures would have been worth $70K+. In this case, he thought rather than an auction house making money, somebody could own it for a reasonable price. He tells me he does not deal with the public. And clearly he's familiar with high end exotics.

Then there was the 355 sitting outside with all the other cars
He told me he had gone for a ride and it sounds phenomenal & handles well. One problem - you had to force the car into gear. It was almost a two-handed effort to get it from 1st to 2nd and to 3rd. something is seriously wrong. He thought another instance of the shift cable rusting/freezing in the tube.
The throttle also got stuck. he figured out the throttle cable is probably rusted in the underbody tube & ordered a new one, but he did free it up.
I did not test drive it nor even start it. (they didn't know where the battery was to replace it). But he did know the local Ferrari Parts manager by 1st name He did offer both to start & go for a quick ride. I declined.
Somebody ripped out the stereo. the tool kit was gone, even the one by the e-brake.
the body looked pretty good with seams lining up. The top does not go down, it just clicks. of course the Tonneau is gone (I'll bet all the parts show up on EBay) and the side window to top alignment is WAY off. The top almost seemed a little saggy to me.
He thought the water rose rather high, over the engine. The engine lid release mechanism was missing and the lift pneumatics are blown. Lots of bolts/screws were missing or the wrong type. I saw no sign of aluminum pitting from salt water.
I saw no signs of undercarriage damage from fork lifts moving the car about. The front cargo area had been damaged as they ripped out the stereo. screws to hold down the ABS/ A/C mechanics were missing and it looks as though the tub had "sunk" as nothing lined up. the PO used std silver machine screws in some parts of the tub.
Except for chips on the front bumper & side skirts - it didn't look bad. The lower side door skirt had a chip showing white body filler, and the metal door frame skirts looked rippled like somebody improperly removed them. I'm thinking non-Ferrari body shop. I also saw some cracking/splitting on the lower part of the left front fender - I'm guess it was previously patched & a fork lift got to close to it and flexed it. Minimal curb-rash on the rims, the rotors weren't rusted.

The interior:
I could not tell where the water was up to on the black interior or anywhere else on the car. I was expecting to find silt in the car, but nothing. He told me he did broom the car down, but nothing close to a detail and I'd have to agree as there was dust/dirt on things like the seat belt locks. It did not smell, the seats did not smell. As mentioned, normal bolster wear. I didn't see any dashboard cracking or the std pulling back from the windshield. The stereo parts were missing. there were god-awful metal speakers bolted onto the firewall. Probably a kick-a$@ system at one time. The center console plastic behind the shifter was significantly damaged - like somebody hit it or possibly knelt on it while ripping things out. it will have to be replaced. I looked at the passenger footwell fuse area - the access door wasn't attached. All looked OK, no sign of water damage. but there were clumps of what was long grey hair like you would find in an unloved car with a large dog that was transported regularly.
The carpet was dirty, but I didn't see mold. the car was sitting on a dirt/rock base so I presume the dirt on the carpet was from folks boots/shoes as they climbed in & out of the cabin. The remnants of the stereo included a GPS? or command console mounted to the center console. The front driver seat wobbled loose on its tracks, but moved.

That's all I can think of. If anybody is interested & wants more details, let me know. I'm not far from the shop. The auction ends in a day & I'll be he sells it.

 

Good info! ^ Fwiw there are no shift cables on the F355, just a direct shift rod so the issue of needing to force it into gear could be an expensive one.

 

I'd say at least. figure $10K for a major, $1K for a leak-down/compression test as there is no documentation plus the usual "While your in there".
and you'll want to pull the carpets & seats to clean the fabric & foam...this aint a cheap fix. and as a spyder, it's not a good track car candidate, IMHO

I told him that. He didn't quite believe. But he did concede that they use fork lifts on these cars to shuffle them around & one of them could have damaged the car in the transit from Texas to NJ.

 

One should pass on that car !

 

It does not sound like a flooded car at all, with no signs in the interior etc.
Only thing that is weird and could have its cause in the flooding, is the gearbox. But with water/rust in the gearbox, I would think that it would make one hell of a noise, and not just go a little heavy.He probably knows.

 

Don't feel bad not knowing that one, Robbe. I'm a native English speaker and I was getting ready to look up "baller" when you asked for the definition. I've heard of high roller before though.

We're getting all manner of education on FChat these days.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ferrari-355/222707721174?hash=item33da6a23d6:g:8YYAAOSw7z1Z9Imt&vxp=mtr

It's Baaayyaaacckkk

 

yes, but that is logical as the reserve was not met.
What do you guys consider a real value in this case, taking the info from ClydeM into account?
30k max?

 

Agreed Brad. Pricey for a flood car. I'd consider it in the 20's, then gut it for a custom stripped street racer model. Would be a nice Stooge project. Race seats, fixed shocks/springs, delete unnecessary electronics, then start shucking weight and adding performance. In short, a street legal Challenge conversion.

 

and the flood salvage 355 sold for $36,500.00.