So, I've been thinking about buying a used BMW Z4 or Nissan 350z/370z or just some beautiful 2 door looking coupe or just any 4 door sports car that's obviously super fast and beautiful for a cheap wallet/happy price. I just found out I have a neighbor who's been buying cars from auctions for years now and he has found a few Z4's and 350Z's for me to choose from, with no actual collision, but they are listed as flood damage. The bidding hasn't started for a few of them that I am interested in, so I don't know what price we're looking at. He says he's bought a few flood damaged vehicles he's sold to friends and family members, and they are all working great. I was wondering if any of you guys have bought any flood damaged vehicles from an auction and not really had much repair costs? Or just any information you could give me about this topic, I would appreciate it!
Sorry but that's not how it works. You know, driving a sports car on the cheap. Let me begin by saying the BMW's are out of your options. Mainly because if you are looking to buy salvage/flooded its because you probably cant afford to buy pre-owned/new. BMW's are NOT cheap in any form or fashion. The maintenance on them is expensive if you want to keep the car running clean and efficient. Buying a BMW is easy, keeping a BMW is hard.... Not to mention the fact that BMW's have extremely complicated and costly computers that you want nowhere near water. Buying a flooded BMW is like throwing money away. Its not going to work. 350z/370z...... These cars not expensive used. I'm sorry but its pointless to buy them flooded. I rather buy a salvaged car where I can see the damage and I can replace the damaged parts and area. Still thou there is no point because Z's are not expensive. Fast sporty 4 door sedan? Looks like your going into Subaru/Mitsubishi territory. I wouldn't recommend getting anything flooded. There are folks out there selling these for cheap with a clean title... Look around and just know you have to pay to play.... All these cars are going to require $$$ in maintenance. None of these cars are civics or corollas.... They require love and attention. Spanish dude selling his for cheap considering mileage and clean title... 350Z for $6,000 http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/5208367564.html
My dad had a car that was flood damaged and rather than pay to fix it, State Farm totaled it and gave my dad the case. He used about 25% of that to buy the car back as there was essentially nothing wrong with it that changing the fluids and replacing the floor mats didn't fix. So, I assume you can find some really good deals. I also assume that you can find the clunker.
Other than good pristine required oil changes. Fluid flushes etc, why is a modern BMW such as a Z4 going to be expensive to maintain? I don't get it.
The reason flood cars are totaled is because the electrical system corrodes from the inside out. Unless you re-wire and replace all the computers (ECM/BCM) in the entire car then be prepared for electrical gremlins with no end.
Had a Vette stolen, then driven into a ditch. Just a little water penetration resulted in it being totaled. American cars (even classics in this case) are cheap to maintain yet it was still totaled. The itemized list of repairs, mold remediation, electrical, rust remediation... it's so much. If you like Nissan Z's get one used in good condition. There's a reason why car insurance companies resell water damaged vehicles for pennies on the dollar. If you're on a budget avoid the Z4. If you're mechanically inclined and can assess the damage yourself and can work and troubleshoot problems with the car yourself then it might make sense.
What is there to get? Maintenance on a car is more than fluids.... You are making the assumption absolutely nothing is going to break on a used car. That's never going to happen regardless of the brand. Things will break and in order to keep the car running you will have to fix those things. Only difference is that a battery for a BMW is not going to run you $120 bucks at autozone. I just had to change the headlight bulbs on my car a couple of days ago. Guess how much a single D2s bulb is? $100 a piece if you want to get something name brand and local. Yup $200 bucks to replace the old worn down D2s bulbs on my BMW... Had it been a Toyota $30 bucks would have taken care of it. Suspension parts and mechanical parts such as door locks and window actuators can go bad yeah those are expensive too. Not even going to get into engine management and emissions. Point is BMW's are pain in the butt if it is used no matter how clean it is. Some can afford the costly repairs and some cant. You cant buy a used car and expect for nothing to break. Toyota, Nissan, Honda and or BMW things will break if the car is not new. Part of owning a car is being able to handle those repairs when they are needed. Simple...
A couple years back when I went to go pick up some NGK iridiums (spark plugs) for my Sienna I found that they would also be compatible with certain 3 series BMWs. Onsale I got them for about $4.89. I have no idea why aftermarket products would not be cheap for BMW. There's enough people that drive the old ones to make them as available as Japanese cars.
Like someone else said...at least with physically damaged cars, you can see what needs to be fixed, most of the time anyway....with flooded cars, you're risking a lot. I know someone who's bought salvaged cars that mostly turned out fine, but it takes some experience to know which ones to gamble on. some just have a broken tailight and some scratches and that's it. Flooded cars are harder to eyeball though. i wouldn't risk it.
This is an older article but relevant to the discussion: buyer beware... Dried Out and Title-Scrubbed, Flooded Cars Lure the Unwary BORDENTOWN, N.J. — At the far end of an enormous hangar, used cars rolled up one by one to the auction block. They had been buffed to a shine, but some carried telltale signs of damage. Puckered leather seats, a hint of mildew, headlights beaded with condensation. Just over two months ago, they had filled with seawater during Hurricane Sandy. One buyer at the Manheim car auction last Wednesday, Hakim ****tu, kept his hands in his pockets. He was looking for totaled vehicles to export to Nigeria, where they would be fixed up and resold; but these, he said, were too far gone. Saltwater destroys cars, he explained, and even when rebuilt they can be unsafe. “I never buy the flooded ones,” he said. But all around him, other buyers showed no such compunction. The flooded cars sold briskly, for prices like $2,600, $5,300, $3,000. Some were to be dismantled into salvageable parts, like wheels and fenders; some were to be melted down for their rubber and steel. And yet, while all have titles branding them flood cars, not all were destined for the scrap heap. Many were headed to out-of-state resale markets where, because of inconsistencies in state laws, buyers will have no inkling that the vehicles were so damaged by floodwater that insurance companies deemed them a total loss. “People masquerade those things as perfectly good vehicles without any hint that they had been flooded or exposed to water,” said Frank Scafidi of the National Insurance Crime Bureau, an industry-financed nonprofit organization that investigates insurance fraud and vehicle theft. “There is a market for these vehicles, even though we might never want to see them on the road again.” Though this practice provoked outrage in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and other major storms, dealers and industry experts said the brisk trade in flood-damaged cars since Hurricane Sandy had highlighted how legislative efforts at the state and federal levels have failed to stem the resale market. [read the rest at the link]
You could easily find a 350z for an affordable price. Its either buy a salvaged car for $2,000 and put another 2 or 3 thousand into repairs, or just paying $9,000 for a used one that does not need the work and you know would be reliable. Definitely do not go for a BMW as others have said.
