Taking a pass on 2013 S600 in my "backyard" flooded 2013

By saying "above dash flooded", does that mean the water was literally above the dash board?? I don't see how that could possibly be repairable.
 
By saying "above dash flooded", does that mean the water was literally above the dash board?? I don't see how that could possibly be repairable.
Here is a post from a guy on Facebook that has his "up to the bottom of the headrests" S550 running after rebuilding. I saw some pictures, he had to pull everything in the interior apart, the complete dash, steering column, etc. it all came out and back in. He reports the car is running good. His first flood vehicle repair ever. I was intrigued. His vehicle had under 35k miles, and a "clean" title. Maybe see it for sale at Carvana in the near future:(.

""Hello i am new to this group.. i have some questions about a 2013 s550.. its a 4.6 tt.. any way the car was flooded up to the bottom of the head rests.. so i bought it as is.. it had 34000 miles.. so i was wondering can i use the body electronics and comptuers from a 2007 s550 .. and has anyone ever done something like this?? Also how do i get the car out of park. With no power ..""
 
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My speculation- it is fall with leaves falling off of trees. A clogged drain full of leaves, twigs, an dirt- allowed water to flow from the firewall into the interior under the carpet.
It appears that in NY state, to get a "flood" vehicle title, it was damaged extensively enough that the insurance company wrote it off as a (total) loss, just like if it was in an accident. Not a clogged sunroof drain....

Don't get me wrong, if someone wants to buy one of these for themselves, go for it ! If they sell it in the future, I'd hope every prospective buyer is made fully aware that it has a flood title and what that means (and walks away ... though the low-ball price would be too tempting for many).
 
Auction completed earlier this morning. Selling price of $11,575. No bids places, so pre-bid was the high bid. With fees likely about $13,250.

No bids during the auction suggests the high pre-bid was a retail buyer, who got into a pre-bid pricing battle. There is a reserve on the car so not sure the reserve was met.....
 
Probably flooded due to the recent floods in NYC.

The S class has too many electronics to deal with. Anything else would probably be decent to fix up and ride. These modules are not cheap, and being the V12 I’m sure there are some features that are specific to the 600.
 
Probably flooded due to the recent floods in NYC.

The S class has too many electronics to deal with. Anything else would probably be decent to fix up and ride. These modules are not cheap, and being the V12 I’m sure there are some features that are specific to the 600.
Possibly, but this car was in South Carolina, so does not match well with being a victim of Hurricane Ida. I have seen dozen of S-class Hurricane Ida victims, and this car did not visually match the cars totaled from Hurricane Ida. South Carolina did have steady rain the week before this car arrived at the auction lot.

You are correct, buying new modules from the dealer are not cheap. On Ebay- they are practically giving the modules away. Ask me how I know.

If the S600 does not have engine or hydraulic suspension problems- very inexpensive for a DIYer with some basic skills to bring back to the condition before the "flood" (I don't believe it was in a flood ever- but had water enter the interior from the firewall to the underneath of the carpet).

To me the water damage is no issue at all. The concern here is the condition the car was in prior to the water damage, which I suspect was likely not good.....
 
Sometimes I wonder if a one owner non-submerged flood vehicle is possibly a better choice than a clean title used car. A clean title used car may be in need of many things, a flood vehicle may be well maintained prior to the flood.
This logic is swell if it's true.
But the exact same logic can be applied in reverse.
The danger is that with these types of purchases, you never know which way it will fall until you've bought the vehicle.
 
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Possibly, but this car was in South Carolina, so does not match well with being a victim of Hurricane Ida. I have seen dozen of S-class Hurricane Ida victims, and this car did not visually match the cars totaled from Hurricane Ida. South Carolina did have steady rain the week before this car arrived at the auction lot.

You are correct, buying new modules from the dealer are not cheap. On Ebay- they are practically giving the modules away. Ask me how I know.

There are people on IAAI/Copart who will move cars all around the country within the network to where they think it’ll sell better.

So if a reserve isn’t met they rerun it the following week or send it to another city. My local copart has lots of half fixed late model range rovers. They moved a modified M4 from Boston to upstate NY in hopes it’ll bring more money. Same with a 2012 Lamborghini Gallardo. IMO copart business is dirty. Did a few cars from them won’t do it again.

You can get modules pretty cheap on eBay. But it’s always that one module that’s specific to the year or package that ends up costing an arm and a leg. The W221s are pretty solid cars compared to the W220 but idk. Only time will tell at this point.
 
There are people on IAAI/Copart who will move cars all around the country within the network to where they think it’ll sell better.

So if a reserve isn’t met they rerun it the following week or send it to another city. My local copart has lots of half fixed late model range rovers. They moved a modified M4 from Boston to upstate NY in hopes it’ll bring more money. Same with a 2012 Lamborghini Gallardo. IMO copart business is dirty. Did a few cars from them won’t do it again.

You can get modules pretty cheap on eBay. But it’s always that one module that’s specific to the year or package that ends up costing an arm and a leg. The W221s are pretty solid cars compared to the W220 but idk. Only time will tell at this point.
It costs a lot of money to move vehicles that do not run, can't be pushed, pulled, have bio hazard, etc. Only certain carriers will transport vehicles that can't be pushed, pulled, stop on its own, etc. Can the movement of unrepaired salvage vehicles to certain markets happen- sure. Do I think it is a common practice, not so sure. If someone wanted to sell a V12 Mercedes, not sure I would transport it from NYC to Columbia, SC of all places. Kind of think it would have a much bigger pool of buyers in NYC area.

I have seen used car dealers in Arizona buy large quantities of used pickup trucks in states like Wisconsin for resale in Arizona, but that is not relevant to this thread.

For a very exotic vehicle that is somehow in Fargo, ND, maybe sending it to Miami might bring more money as it is easier to export. Yet if you are targeting a salvaged exotic high priced vehicle, likely location is not a prohibitor to purchase.
 
It appears that in NY state, to get a "flood" vehicle title, it was damaged extensively enough that the insurance company wrote it off as a (total) loss, just like if it was in an accident. Not a clogged sunroof drain....

Don't get me wrong, if someone wants to buy one of these for themselves, go for it ! If they sell it in the future, I'd hope every prospective buyer is made fully aware that it has a flood title and what that means (and walks away ... though the low-ball price would be too tempting for many).
He wasn’t talking about a sunroof drain.

This is the climate control intake box. If the drain for that box gets clogged, water gets into the cabin, where extensive wiring and computer modules are damaged.

Diagnosis and repair of all those modules can easily exceed $10,000

So, yep, a Mercedes S class is often totaled for a water intrusion problem.

Insurance companies aren’t stupid, they know that chasing down corrosion and module failure can take years and big bucks. Cheaper, simpler, to total the car.
 
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Clogged sunroof drain (in many cars), clogged climate control related drain - who cares. Same result.

Insurance companies aren’t stupid, they know that chasing down corrosion and module failure can take years and big bucks. Cheaper, simpler, to total the car.
Exactly and in this case, this is something I agree 100% with insurance companies. Interesting that Canada forbids selling flood-damaged vehicles. Then you have states in the US that allow people to "wash" away their salvage / totalled / flood titles and come out with a clean title and some unsuspecting buyer can end up with a potential never-ending nightmare.
 
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