Have been watching the hurricanes (probably like everybody else), and after seeing all the submerged cars, was wondering if anybody ever had a car underwater at least up to the windows, then dried it out, changed all the plugs, filters, and fluids, then drove it for thousands of miles. And do you think all those underwater cars are going to the junkyard, or are they going to end up at auctions and shylock used-car dealers?? And how do you tell if a car has been under water? (Bet I get some humerous replies to the last question)
Submerged Cars
- Thread starter jimbeamalki
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Not cars, but a couple of military vehicles that were completely under water. The were under water for less than an hour and in fresh water, not that salty coastal yuk in N.O. LA and SE Texas recently.
The usuual mechanical stuff like engines, tranmissions, bearings etc were fairly straight forward to drain and refill. Mininimal upholstry and other interior soft stuff in military vehciles made that a lot easier to deal with than it would be in a car. The big long term problem that never gets fixed right is electrical. Everything from wiring harnesses to instruments will give you problems over the long haul, some problems won't show up for a couple of years or more.
Considering the ethics of used car dealers, partcularly in places like Louisiana, I can assure you no one would ever try to sell a car that had been submerged.
The cars that were underwater in N.O. for days are probably too messed up to try and sell, but the cars that were just underwater for an hour or so along the coast may show up on the market. They were in salt water, so the electrical gremlins will proved endless entertainment for their buyers.
Look for barnicles?
Before you buy a car, run a carfax, or look at the title, if it was a salvaged flood vehicle the title will say so. I bought a car a few years back with a salvage title and crap I had to go through to get the paperwork on that thing straight is enough to make you want to shoot yourself. Believe me, if you bought a car that was totaled you will soon know it.
My 2000 Firebird has a water-damaged title brand.
I bought it 15 months ago for $3800 under the book value. Have put 16,000 miles on it since then. Even though all the fluids had been changed, I changed them again. Only other repairs were: catalytic converter replaced, 2 ignition coils replaced, muffler replaced, front speakers replaced.
Of course, I've done other maintenance, but those things were unrelated to getting wet. The car has been very reliable for me.
The downside was getting it financed-- I had to call in a few favors with friends who worked at the bank.
Generally, I wouldn't recommend going this route. In my case, I knew that the flood was a fresh-water incident, and I could tell how high the water got in the vehicle by pulling off some interior trim. It flooded maybe 4-6" into the interior. The ECU and most of the important wiring connections are mounted higher on the car than that, and this car didn't have power windows or locks.
It ran really well, and the dealer had everything in good working order. I had to ask myself what I would accept [monetarily and time-wise] in additional repairs with this car versus how much money I'd save over a non-damaged car. Got luck this time-- I invested about $600 in water-damage related repairs and saved a total of $3200. BTW, the car doesn't smell at all...
I bought it 15 months ago for $3800 under the book value. Have put 16,000 miles on it since then. Even though all the fluids had been changed, I changed them again. Only other repairs were: catalytic converter replaced, 2 ignition coils replaced, muffler replaced, front speakers replaced.
Of course, I've done other maintenance, but those things were unrelated to getting wet. The car has been very reliable for me.
The downside was getting it financed-- I had to call in a few favors with friends who worked at the bank.
Generally, I wouldn't recommend going this route. In my case, I knew that the flood was a fresh-water incident, and I could tell how high the water got in the vehicle by pulling off some interior trim. It flooded maybe 4-6" into the interior. The ECU and most of the important wiring connections are mounted higher on the car than that, and this car didn't have power windows or locks.
It ran really well, and the dealer had everything in good working order. I had to ask myself what I would accept [monetarily and time-wise] in additional repairs with this car versus how much money I'd save over a non-damaged car. Got luck this time-- I invested about $600 in water-damage related repairs and saved a total of $3200. BTW, the car doesn't smell at all...
There will always be some that slip through, the ones that are insured and get settlements on will end up with damaged titles, some will get re-poed by the "we tote the note" places that will clean them up and ship them out to other areas of the country.
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Sure. There are those who drive cars that they can't afford to insure. They aren't financed through favorable/common sources. The thing is late model enough to be insured for a total loss/collision ..but it has lapsed and the repo man just hasn't gotten around to picking it up. Now the "you may not be rich ..but you can drive like one" used car dealer is sitting on a repo'd sunken treasure that he can't recover his loss on (assuming that he's got anything extended in real cash at all- but it is a "loss" so to speak) ..so he cleans it up and sends it down the line.
No one ever totals it. It's not insured.
My uncle bought a flood truck, back in the early 90's. It was an '89 Dodge Ram that had been in the midwest floods and he wasn't aware of it until later. It ran very sluggishly and the engine showed signs of having been hydrolocked. Carfax, nor the dealer, never mentioned anything about it.
He was succesfully able to track down the original owner who confirmed it had been lost in the flood and written off as totaled. She couldn't believe "her baby" was still out there somewhere, alive and (not so) well. My uncle still has the truck.
He was succesfully able to track down the original owner who confirmed it had been lost in the flood and written off as totaled. She couldn't believe "her baby" was still out there somewhere, alive and (not so) well. My uncle still has the truck.
Carfax can only report what is reported to them. If some one does some collision repair or flood cleanup work without filing an insurance claim carfax would not have a record of it.
Admittedly downunder, but a workmate bought a used Saab over three years old, and as it turned out had problems with the fuel system.
The car looked and drove very well, but every now and then would have a fit, and require some other part of the fuel system pulled to bits.
On her third dealer (over 200 miles squared, she chanced on this one), a mechanic told her that it was a local car that had been sunk into a salt water lake and recovered.
The car looked and drove very well, but every now and then would have a fit, and require some other part of the fuel system pulled to bits.
On her third dealer (over 200 miles squared, she chanced on this one), a mechanic told her that it was a local car that had been sunk into a salt water lake and recovered.
A word of warning: Most US states require that a flooded, wrecked, etc., vehicle that has been totaled indicate this on the vehicle title when the car is junked (a "salvage title"). The problem is that a some states do not have such provisions, so that the title doesn't indicate that the vehicle was junked. An unscrupulous dealer can take a flooded car and retitle it in one of those states, thereby laundering the title for some unsuspecting buyer.
To me the fix would be to require a uniform standard nationwide for all vehicle titles and to require that vehicles that were flooded be crushed immediately upon being totaled.
To me the fix would be to require a uniform standard nationwide for all vehicle titles and to require that vehicles that were flooded be crushed immediately upon being totaled.
I had an '88 Mazda 626 that was submerged over the hood in New Orleans in 1995.
The electrical system was completely fried.
The insurance company totaled it. As far as I know, it never ran again.
The electrical system was completely fried.
The insurance company totaled it. As far as I know, it never ran again.
I watched on the news the insurance industry is going to bat for us. They are developing a website that will be up in a few weeks containing the VIN's of all flooded cars (not sure if current or if history available) according to each of their losses.
Nice way not to pay CARFAX for information they may miss.
Also from a data prespective an incredibly simply effective but easy to implement tool. The only required storage field is the VIN # as this is a unique key and contains a pleathora of information in itself. Also for a relational database an insignificant amount of records.
Nice way not to pay CARFAX for information they may miss.
Also from a data prespective an incredibly simply effective but easy to implement tool. The only required storage field is the VIN # as this is a unique key and contains a pleathora of information in itself. Also for a relational database an insignificant amount of records.
A bit OT, but I'll add it anyway. It's pretty amazing driving around New Orleans (where I'm stationed, so I'm here M-F) and seeing how many flooded cars are just sitting around. Toyota of New Orleans (one of maybe six T dealers in the city) took it the worst of perhaps the worst of all the dealerships -- they still have acres of "new" cars still sitting there with hazy gray coats of mud up and over their roofs! And suddenly, it seems like every third car on the road is new. Yep, flooded cars are going to be a scourge in the used car market for a long time to come. Beware.
I have a friend who owns an auto body shop. He pulled an older (mid 80s) Jeep Cherokee out of a river once. The insurance company totalled it and left it sitting at his shop for about 6 months. He called them and reminded them that it was still there. Usually, they will eventually pick up the vehicles and pay the storage fee even if it is more that the vehicle is worth. In this case, they didn't pay the fee and h was stuck with the vehicle. Anyway, he did a small amount of work to this initially and gave it to his son. Over the next year he had to replace some electrical connectors and the transmission, but otherwise it has been very reliable.
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