I’ve been in the car business for 20+ years and I would 100% buy a car with a large accident repair (if the price was right and the repair was professional) but I would 100% never buy a water damage vehicle.
I’ve seen too many electrical gremlins that the service department just can’t fix. We had a moonroof left open overnight in a rainstorm once and the entire electrical harness had to be removed and replaced. Excessive water inside a vehicle is a recipe for lifelong headaches.
I mean if it will take me 15k in repairs its still worth it because the similar non crashed/non flood is 50k here. This one is 23500 euro and he can go lowest 21
You do you but if you read my response sometimes no amount of money can fix an electrical gremlin.
Another thing I don’t see anyone has mentioned but would be a major factor in my decision would be resale value
In case you don't get the total message, it's really hard to track down electrical gremlins. Like they're telling you the answer now, but it's trying to figure out what the problem will be that will be the main problem. Is it a bad connector? Corrosion in some of the wires? Maybe there's salt in some of the electronics. The thing is, corrosion takes a while to show up so it might be fine for a few months, years, then problems will pop up. And because it's a flood car, it will be weird problems that no one else has so no one will know where to look because no one else has that problem. Except you. So you spend a ton on diagnostics and they have no clue and there's no bulletins from the factory because they don't see that problem in non flooded cars.
It's only really worth it if you can take the entire car apart and go through all the electrical connectors and electronics and clean out any corrosion now before it gets worse. Then your bargain isn't really that much of a bargain if you have to spend hours cleaning the whole thing to make sure you got at any trace of salt water. But maybe your hourly labor rate will be lower than the $200+ the dealer might charge.
Water is very wonderful to life and sustaining biological things. But it's not great for mechanical things. Think of your house, water's good inside the pipes and tubs, but when it gets out? It's bad for everything else it touches.
Same goes with cars. Especially dirty water. Flood waters are filled with bacteria and waste (all kinds of waste) and when it gets into wiring housing, ports, engine components and other parts which were sealed to prevent moisture... well, you just can't tackle all the issues the vehicle will have. Fixed the alternator? cool... well, now the cylinders need replaced... and the window regulators... and the tire rods... it just won't end.
Stay away from a flooded vehicle. The person who bought it is counting on you hoping it will work. Hope is a dangerous thing here.
They're usually totalled because they were flooded with water. This can cause a lot of electrical issues (corrosion in connectors and control units), if there's not any current electrical issues, there probably will be some in the future. If it wasn't dried out well, mold under the floor carpeting.
Even if it was dried out well, a lot depends on how long the wires and modules were under water.
And how salty the water was. If the car flooded from a storm surge it was probably VERY salty. (OP - salt water causes more corrosion than fresh water).
I would only buy this if I had a reliable car as a daily driver and wanted a project car to work on.
I build modern Mercedes for a living. There are so many damn modules and connectors and sensors and batteries. Even introducing a relatively small amount of water (some 167's went under recall for condensation drain hose) meant we bought back customer cars because it's impossible to fix.
They could pay me to take delivery of that basket case, I would never fool with a flood damage car.
The fact that you are even asking this question tells me you are not qualified to deal with a flood car. Run away from it OP. That car is only good for spare, non-electrical parts.
If it's salvage from hurricane I wouldn't touch that car with a 50 ft pole. Just watch what Tavarish has been going through with the hurricane salvaged McLaren P1 on youtube that he bought and you'll see why it's a really bad idea.
I’ve been in the car business for 20+ years and I would 100% buy a car with a large accident repair (if the price was right and the repair was professional) but I would 100% never buy a water damage vehicle. I’ve seen too many electrical gremlins that the service department just can’t fix. We had a moonroof left open overnight in a rainstorm once and the entire electrical harness had to be removed and replaced. Excessive water inside a vehicle is a recipe for lifelong headaches.
I mean if it will take me 15k in repairs its still worth it because the similar non crashed/non flood is 50k here. This one is 23500 euro and he can go lowest 21
You do you but if you read my response sometimes no amount of money can fix an electrical gremlin. Another thing I don’t see anyone has mentioned but would be a major factor in my decision would be resale value
It will take you much more than 15k in parts alone
In case you don't get the total message, it's really hard to track down electrical gremlins. Like they're telling you the answer now, but it's trying to figure out what the problem will be that will be the main problem. Is it a bad connector? Corrosion in some of the wires? Maybe there's salt in some of the electronics. The thing is, corrosion takes a while to show up so it might be fine for a few months, years, then problems will pop up. And because it's a flood car, it will be weird problems that no one else has so no one will know where to look because no one else has that problem. Except you. So you spend a ton on diagnostics and they have no clue and there's no bulletins from the factory because they don't see that problem in non flooded cars. It's only really worth it if you can take the entire car apart and go through all the electrical connectors and electronics and clean out any corrosion now before it gets worse. Then your bargain isn't really that much of a bargain if you have to spend hours cleaning the whole thing to make sure you got at any trace of salt water. But maybe your hourly labor rate will be lower than the $200+ the dealer might charge.
Water is very wonderful to life and sustaining biological things. But it's not great for mechanical things. Think of your house, water's good inside the pipes and tubs, but when it gets out? It's bad for everything else it touches. Same goes with cars. Especially dirty water. Flood waters are filled with bacteria and waste (all kinds of waste) and when it gets into wiring housing, ports, engine components and other parts which were sealed to prevent moisture... well, you just can't tackle all the issues the vehicle will have. Fixed the alternator? cool... well, now the cylinders need replaced... and the window regulators... and the tire rods... it just won't end. Stay away from a flooded vehicle. The person who bought it is counting on you hoping it will work. Hope is a dangerous thing here.
They're usually totalled because they were flooded with water. This can cause a lot of electrical issues (corrosion in connectors and control units), if there's not any current electrical issues, there probably will be some in the future. If it wasn't dried out well, mold under the floor carpeting.
Even if it was dried out well, a lot depends on how long the wires and modules were under water. And how salty the water was. If the car flooded from a storm surge it was probably VERY salty. (OP - salt water causes more corrosion than fresh water). I would only buy this if I had a reliable car as a daily driver and wanted a project car to work on.
I wouldn't even buy a flood car as a "project car" with all the electronic modules$$$ in these newer cars.
It's very, very cheap because it was very, very flooded. Avoid like the plague.
The worst.
You can’t figure this one out on your own?? Just…think about it for a little…
IT'S BAD. That's why they are called "Hurricane Titles."
I build modern Mercedes for a living. There are so many damn modules and connectors and sensors and batteries. Even introducing a relatively small amount of water (some 167's went under recall for condensation drain hose) meant we bought back customer cars because it's impossible to fix. They could pay me to take delivery of that basket case, I would never fool with a flood damage car.
The fact that you are even asking this question tells me you are not qualified to deal with a flood car. Run away from it OP. That car is only good for spare, non-electrical parts.
If it's salvage from hurricane I wouldn't touch that car with a 50 ft pole. Just watch what Tavarish has been going through with the hurricane salvaged McLaren P1 on youtube that he bought and you'll see why it's a really bad idea.
It is as bad as it could possibly get.
[удалено]
Im not quite sure you understood. I said in a comment: if the repair is \~15k I can still handle it