As a general rule I'd avoid any car from the northeast (north of about New Jersey and east of about Ohio). Even if it's not flood damage, the terrible weather and road conditions accelerate the wear, tear and destruction of vehicles to the point where no sane person would ever consider buying one that had spent time in this area.

I don't know, there are alot of really rusty cars in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Chicago area.

Comments like that are why I stopped selling cars. I had some absolute cream puff cars that had spent time in the NE and would occasionally get that nonsense. Sure was a rough life sitting in a garage in the Hamptons and only being driven summers......

I've had a salvage title truck and considered several others over the years. Knowing the repairs goes a long way but isn't always practical. As usual a PPI is your best bet to discover hidden fault codes, a tweaked unibody, etc. A friend of mine rebuilds cars as a side gig when his shop is slow, then he typically drives them for a few years and sells them. He loves flood cars because the actual repair work is typically pretty simple. He totally guts the interior, cleans everything, replaces every ECU that gets wet, cleans the connectors, flushes everything with fluid in it, then puts it back together. It's mostly labor and not difficult work and it typically yields a good reliable vehicle. His current driver is a newer Jeep that was totally submerged, he even a had to drain the hard top panels.

My 911 came from Hoboken and was mint...purchased a few months after the WTC attack fwiw. Judge every car on it's own merits imo...

Exactly. People generalize themselves into paralysis. "Sorry but I was looking for a one owner Southern California never been to an auction car."

My 85' Mercedes 300TD Estate wagon has a salvage title. Carfax states flood damage in 99' I had the whole car apart for paint and the entire interior out for replacement and found no evidence of water inside of the car or doors. Motor is not original, so I bet the motor got water in it and was totaled due to engine damage. I would think if it was going to have any electric issues, they would have surfaced by now! I don't think the value is any less on a car this old, and don't plan on selling, so its a no issue for me.

This car had a salvage title. I say "had" because the car is in Germany now. That title probably got washed real good. See that big 3/4 in spacer in the rear? That was necessary to center the rear wheels. No spacer on the left side. The car drove fine. A PCA instructor drove it in anger and said he couldn't tell that car car had any issues.
I sold it for $22k, exactly what I paid for it. Had I kept it, I could probably get a lot more for it. 1st picture as I bought it. 2nd, not long before I sold it.

http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/a...a/IMG_0778.jpg
http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse530c123.jpg

I currently own a Cayman S with a Salvage/Rebuilt title. Why? It was my car and was rear-ended in an accident that caused only cosmetic damage and the insurance company insisted on totaling it. I had a hard time justifying totaling a perfectly-good Porsche, and the payout allowed me to pay off the remaining payments on the car, so I bought it back and had it repaired. It drives great and has zero issues. I realize that I will take a hit on resale if I ever decide to sell it, but whatever; I still have a great car and no car payments during my first year of home ownership.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1473179432.jpg

I went through something similar with my M3. When I sold the car I was very clear that the title would most likely come back branded, Welp, it didn't.

It sounds like a lot of stories like this out there. I know that the Porsche shop that did my repair (Automotive Associates in Canton, CT) were very meticulous, took literally hundreds of photos of the repair process, and gave me receipts/invoices for every replaced part. If I encountered another car with similar circumstances -- especially if its records were as complete as mine -- I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. Sure, the inspection process was a pain, but as far as I can tell, you only need to do that once* (right?).

*unless you live in Massachusetts. Poor bastards.

Sorry for the generality Matt but when you've seen as many junk heaps as I have that all have rust on the rockers, blown-out suspensions from the potholes, ruts, heaves and pavement patch lips you get a little jaded. It gets worse when you deal with every snake-oil salesman trying to convince you that their northeast car is somehow "cherry". Bull. 99% of the vehicles that get driven here are in worse shape than even the clunkers I used to see in AZ, CA, NM, NV and the PNW. The climate and conditions simply destroy them. Add to that a fairly pervasive "anti-car" culture here and it doesn't help much. Most owners view their cars as disposable simply because they can't be bothered with constantly fighting the effects of rapid entropy.

Sure, there will always be exceptions but speaking for myself I'd never consider buying another vehicle that was from this part of the world unless it was an absolute steal and / or I was going to immediately flip it (or perhaps drive it in 24 Hours of Lemons or something).

There are so many better specimens that can be picked up elsewhere if someone is willing to take a short airplane trip. I don't know why anyone would drop their money on cars from here. I really don't. If I was in the market for a vehicle I'd be looking at GA, FL, the Carolinas, etc. and take a trip down to pick it up. Plus a nice long trip is a good way to get acquainted with a new vehicle.

My last E36 M3 had been in an accident and the repairs were so high, it should have been totaled.
It took a long time to sell and I took a bath on it.

Works both ways...I'd been looking for a mint G50 for six months, checking RL, here, lots of PCA sites, etc. daily...missed out on a nice Commemorative Edition locally. One day...bam, there was the ad for MY car..
Talked to the owner, flew up to NJ, and found a garage queen with 46k pampered miles. Smiled for 500 miles driving her home and haven't stopped since :)

My worry would be shortcuts or shoddy work when replacing air bags that were deployed. That can lead to a car that may have compromised safety equipment, meaning you think you have airbags, but you really don't ...

I really don't see the upside in buying a salvage car. Usually they are not dirt cheap. Usually they are 70% of a clean title / no stories car. I.e if I can afford a 20k car, I definitely can afford a 30k car etc.

G

^
This. I would only consider an accident repaired salvage if I could see the receipts for all the parts used. I've been told that a lot of the small independent local body guys don't replace the airbag: too expensive. How much attention did he put getting it straight on the frame machine? Did they replace bent suspension parts or just heat them up and bend them back?

I am thinking about this $9k Cayman...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1473270407.jpg

Is that 9k as it sits - with a branded title? A good Cayman S in my neck of the woods can be had for 25k. By the time you fix that 9k car, you'll be in the high teens. Makes little sense, unless you can do the body work / paint work yourself.

G

Yes, as it sits. Salvage. I can fix it for $5k. I would drive it until it died.