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I am going to fly over to Texas to inspect the car and I will have a Lexus dealer look at it as well. I found the insurance auction page here: https://www.copart.com/lot/40709057
It looks like the water only went a few inches above the floorboards. As a potential IS350C owner, I'm curious as to what you current IS owners think. Based on the water level shown in the auction photos on https://www.copart.com/lot/40709057, do you think the flood damage to this car could be catastrophic?
I'll be honest. Never in a million years would I ever buy a car with flood damage. There is a real chance there is damage to the entire drive train. Everything from engine, transmission, and rear end. Not mention any wiring that's under the car is going to be trash now. And I haven't even talked about mold, mildew, or rust and corrosion.
that water line is pretty low, so I wouldn't consider it a lost cause- actually a VERY good deal provided the car had an appropriate underbody wash before major corrosion had set in. After getting it, I would put it on a lift and do a fairly extensive visual inspection to see how it is under there. Chances are things should be fine, and at worst, a few parts can be added from the salvage lot to bring it up to decent condition.
Thank you for the information and opinions. The water does not look like it got past the bottom of the door, but I am still leery. I can fly for next to nothing (flight attendant relative), so I am headed to Dallas next Monday to inspect it. The seller (who has 100% feedback and has been selling these "flood cars" for years) says that if I want to back out, he will refund my deposit. According to past feedback, the few people that have had issues with his flood cars have been taken care of. The only thing I stand to lose is some time, and I don't look at it that way because I have fun doing this stuff.
I will be looking for water lines, odors, corrosion, electrical components/lines that may have been below the water line, moisture, "crunchy" moving parts/seats, etc... If it passes MY tests, I will take it to a local and reputable service shop that I found about 16 minutes away to do a pre-purchase inspection. Assuming everything checks out 100% OK during the PPI, I will go ahead and buy the car.
I am not relying on it to be a daily driver; it will be a "fun" car to replace my SL500. While there may be some gremlins that raise their ugly heads, I am willing to save $10k in exchange for scratching my head a few times and determining why X won't do Y. Mechanical physics are not my forte, but I am good at diagnosing and resolving electrical related issues.
If it does turn out to be a disaster, I will let you guys know, so you y'all can tell me "I told you so" ;-)
See if you can lift a corner of the carpet and see what it smells like. I think that the electric motors for the seats were in water and may have problems with the brushes sticking or something. I don't think any of the computer modules are low enough to have been in water.So if you are getting the car cheap enough, go ahead.
Well, I'm back from Texas and I couldn't be happier about my purchase. The car is in fantastic shape, with no issues. For under $10k, I feel like I got a LOT of car for not a lot of money. I took it to the dealer to do a PPI before I paid. They had a three page list of things to inspect, and all items checked out GOOD except for the windshield wipers that need to be replaced.
I drove it 1,400 miles from Dallas, TX to San Clemente, CA, and the only issue I encountered was an improperly seated radio fuse, which worked fine after I reseated it. I didn't even need to replace the fuse.
The dealer that I bought it from did a full carpet pull/dry, and there is no moisture, odors, or any corrosion to be found anywhere on the car. I couldn't find a single bolt or piece of metal with corrosion on it. The seats all work great with no signs of sediment or corrosion, and EVERYTHING on the car works perfectly. There was a piece of paper at the bottom of the spare-wheel compartment in the trunk that showed no signs of getting wet. The underside of the car showed no corrosion and I could not find any signs of flooding.
Today I drove it on my local curvy mountain highway to really get a feel for it. Man, this thing drives GREAT. The car even has almost brand new Michelin Pilot Sport tires on them, which proved to have insanely good handling on dry and wet roads. Anyways, until I'm back on the forums, happy driving :-)
congratulations! looks like you got a hell of a deal for reference, i paid about 3x more for a 2013 is350c with 33k miles. i am in laguna niguel, and i know we have a few more people in the irvine/tustin area. it would be amazing if we all agreed to show up at a CL meet and unexpectedly make the -c the best represented car there :P
03-12-18, 11:48 PM
Flood Damaged IS350C - Thoughts?
for reference, i paid about 3x more for a 2013 is350c with 33k miles. i am in laguna niguel, and i know we have a few more people in the irvine/tustin area. it would be amazing if we all agreed to show up at a CL meet and unexpectedly make the -c the best represented car there :P
