Katrina Flood Car

[Brad_Cromwell]

A local dealer is selling a VERY nice looking burnt-orange 2002 firehawk for $6000. The car looks like it was taken excellent car of, has lots of little add-ons, and very low mileage. It was found flooded in the aftermath of Katrina, and there is water in the gas tank. The interior and engine bay look great (the smell is horrible though). The dealer does not have the keys.

If I were to buy this car, what kind of repairs should I expect to have to make on this car? I'd like to know what you guys think. Is this a deal or should I hang on to my firebird?

[hockeyman]

I wouldn't buy that car for anymore than $1500, and I'd use it for parts only. You'd have to totally strip the interior and replace everything in order to remove the odor's, the engine would have to be rebuilt from top to bottom, gas tank would have to be removed, cleaned & dried, and then you would most likely have to replace everything that is/was electrical because water in or on a computer is NOT GOOD!
Keep your car and save your money for a quality Firehawk. IMO

[teal99camaro]

who cares, buy it.

Can you get a title for it?

It would be worth it.

[teal99camaro]

Originally posted by hockeyman:
I wouldn't buy that car for anymore than $1500, and I'd use it for parts only. You'd have to totally strip the interior and replace everything in order to remove the odor's, the engine would have to be rebuilt from top to bottom, gas tank would have to be removed, cleaned & dried, and then you would have to probably replace everything that is/was electrical because water in or on a computer is NOT GOOD!
Keep your car and save your money for a quality Firehawk. IMO

Are you sure the engine is blown?? I doubt it is.
electrical isnt bad if you do the work yourself, and stripping the interior is a one day job. See if you can haggle. If you can do the work yourself and the engine isnt blown its totally worth it. and you could get a gastank off of anyone parting a v6 93-02

If you feel like it, you could even use parts off youre firebird like an ignition and stuff.

[hockeyman]

The engine doesn't have to be blown in order to need a rebuild. When it's submersed in water for any more than 5 minutes, it usually requires a rebuild. Electrical isn't bad and the interior only takes you one day to strip and replace??? Go ahead bro, waste your money. It's not coming from my pocket!

[edit] Forgot to add the water that may still be pooling in the trans and rear that may be beginning to rust the inner walls . You may want to think about that too :D

[Brad_Cromwell]

I can get the title, but they don't have the keys, so I haven't been able to test anything yet. The interior isn't really that bad. If you look closely you can see where the water line was on the back seat, and I'd swap everything except the leather with my current firebird.

I could probably do the electrical stuff myself. Are there any ways I can make a more educated guess about the condition of the engine since I can't actually start it? Right now buying the car would be a gamble, but I want so bad. :)

I was thinking about offering him $4500, and selling my firebird for around $6000 after the hawk was up and running. I bought my Firebird(which was a wreck... looks great now) from him, and was able to take him down on the price quite a bit.

[hockeyman]

I'd get a trustable mechanic to check the engine out thoroughly before you go making a deal. Also, have him check out some other parts too like the trans and rear (if possible). I'm SURE the electrical dashboard is going to need replacing if it was submersed, ...and the electrical tach, speedo, etc isn't compatible from V6 to V8. You would have to buy another one from a J-Yard or something. You're going to sell your current car for this, and probably be working on the Firehawk for quite some time before it's driveable, not to mention all of the extra money you're gonna have to dump into it. I'm just saying to think it through a bit more before you jump at it.

[BobbyZ72]

Its been submersed in salt water, the car is gone.

[shenanigans]

I'd use it as parts only...

I mean it may be repairabble but you are looking at ALOT OF WORK.

btw notice it a little convient they don't have the keys for it?

[Brad_Cromwell]

Well, I'm not sure it was completely submersed. The interior electronics are gone. I know this. I'm expecting to have to replace that. But, if it was sumbersed in water, I would expect to find a lot of mud and silt built up in the engine bay and in the dash. In fact, the air filter is still fairly clean.

I think I'll take your advice and have a mechanic check out the engine and tranny... and possibly offer the guy a few thousand for it. Out of curiosity, anybody know how what an engine & tranny rebuild runs? :)

If nothing else, the car would look really good sitting at the end of my driveway haha

thanks for the advise everyone,
Brad

[Brad_Cromwell]

When I bought my 2000 firebird he didn't have the keys either. It only had 10k miles on it, and after the repairs I only spent about $6500 on the car back when it was worth 14 or 15k. Actually when I bought it, I posted pics of it in this messageboard (under a different name) and was told not to waste my money ;) The car is beautiful now, and I could still sell it for what I bought it for.

You guys are doing a good job scaring me out of buying the firehawk though. That's probably for the best... :)

[98DC]

Originally posted by Brad_Cromwell:
Well, I'm not sure it was completely submersed. The interior electronics are gone. I know this. I'm expecting to have to replace that. But, if it was sumbersed in water, I would expect to find a lot of mud and silt built up in the engine bay and in the dash. In fact, the air filter is still fairly clean.

I think I'll take your advice and have a mechanic check out the engine and tranny... and possibly offer the guy a few thousand for it. Out of curiosity, anybody know how what an engine & tranny rebuild runs? :)

If nothing else, the car would look really good sitting at the end of my driveway haha

thanks for the advise everyone,
Brad

If they spent some good time cleaning it, There may not be away of of telling how much water was in it. Just assume the worst to be safe and try to keep in mind that just about everything electrical will need to be replaced in the near future...

[Brad_Cromwell]

They just got the car. In fact, they have some trucks, a 'vette and a porche that are literally filled with mud still. They might have started cleaning this one though.

I'm going to have my mechanic check it out, have a key made for it, and let you guys know if I decide to make him any kind of offer.

I doubt anybody else is dumb enough to consider buying this car, so I'll take my time with it. haha

[terminaldegree]

My firebird has a "water damaged" title.

-My car had already been cleaned and serviced when I first saw it. No odor at all.
-I was able to determine how much water got in it by pulling off the interior door panels and looking at the waterline on the plastic sheeting. It only got near the top of the door speakers [pretty low].
-I checked out everything to make sure it worked, and still dumped all the fluids and filters again even though it had already been done. I didn't hand over a check until EVERYTHING worked to my satisfaction.
-One of the reasons I don't have as many problems is I know the electronics didn't get wet [my car doesn't have power locks or windows]. The only piece of electronics that was mounted low is the air bag module, and that tested out ok. Also the car was in fresh water [originally titled in Ohio], fwiw.
-The only premature failure I've had was my catalytic converter going bad at a very young age and the throw out bearing was noisy. Bought it for $4000 under book.

Personally, I wouldn't touch THAT car you're looking at with a ten foot pole if they're just starting to work on it. Wasn't Katrina like 6 months ago??!!

[ March 05, 2006, 03:14 PM: Message edited by: terminaldegree ]

[David8399]

i was wondering where all the cars from around here were going. i wouldnt pay that much for it. the resale value of a salvage car is 17% percent of its value. and there is a good chance that car went all the way under water. we had a 28 foot tidal surge.

[ March 05, 2006, 03:48 PM: Message edited by: david8399 ]