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The rains caused flooding to reach mid door level. The car is toast and insurance will without a doubt total it.
Too much was put into this car to restore minor things for insane money like the rubber ducting on the intake pipe where the rubber ring before the throttle body costs $80 for a part that looks like it costs $5 to make; stuff like that. I also loved the simplicity and brilliant design of the JZ engine. This car left me stranded on the road only once in 8 years when the starter went out at 198K miles. It's sad to see it go but I hope to get in the SC game again and will go to a 98+ SC4 when the right sub 90K mile car comes along.
The car has 230K miles on it and looks great but I expect State Farm to give me around $2500-3000 tops. They will probably go nearer to $1500 just because of the age and miles. Is a buy back and resale on this form even worth it for a car that is practically worthless? I just can't stand how so many good parts will be wasted if it sits in a junkyard, people destroy it just to be destructive, and 90%+ of the good parts are crushed at the end after they have been vandalized.
Awe man, that's horrible. Sorry to hear about your SC, and I hope that is the only extent to your personal and family's damages. A car is only a car... How much new stuff is on the car? Would you be able to buy back to part it out to get more back than what the insurance would give you?
Sorry for your loss. As far as insurance payouts go, try finding other 98-00 SC300's for sale in your area and see what a comparable vehicle goes for to try and get a larger payout. Don't let them lump the car into 92-00 pricing. 98+ cars usually go for a little bit more because most of them aren't as beat up.
It's only worth it if the buy back price is in the low hundreds and you want to turn it into some kind of project car. I hate it when people destroy parts in junkyards for no reason. I recently saw a 99-00 SC400 in a junkyard and someone intentionally broke all the desirable parts on the car. They took a screw driver and stabbed all the lights and 97 + upgrades that would have otherwise been fine.
Finding a 98+ SC400 with under 90k is getting harder and harder, but they seem like they're still out there (especially around retirement communities like Palm Springs). There was a 98 with sub 90k miles for sale here recently for $13k.
I'm so sorry, texan_176. ^^ This is indeed painful to read.
What you put into that car to restore it is very hard to replicate again. I tend to agree that if the entire thing was flooded it may not be worth saving most of those parts. It is up to you if anything looks like it can be re-used if you take whatever the payout is with a buy-back. The new OEM intake tube for instance... that may be salvageable once it is cleaned up. Interior parts that can dry out... debatable unless it's the purely ABS plastic parts. It is probably best to just take the payout though. However I would fight for its real market value as much as you can since 1998-2000 SC300's are not priced exactly the same generally as earlier automatic SC300's.
Good luck! It truly is just a car, no matter how much we are dedicated to them here. If you're still set on another SC, keep your eyes and options open and you will find what you are looking for.
Sorry for your loss. They are already posting warnings up north here to be on the look out for flood cars coming from harvey. I'm sure that there are a lot of salvageable parts off your car. Engine may even be good if water didn't get in it. All electronics are toast though, interior parts are hard to dry and remove flood damage from. Take your insurance money and get another one, and park it on top of a big hill the next time it starts to rain. Good luck and hope you find a good one!
I'm sorry for your loss Texan, maybe there is a new car in your future.
Sometime you have to move on with life to new better things that may come your way!!!
Best of wishes to you
Thanks to all in the thread for the encouragement and kind words. I also lost a 2005 LS430 to this flood. That car I had for about a year so there was no emotional attachment. I already found a lower mile identical example I am thinking of buying.
As for the SC3....well maybe all is not lost. I say that because I have a 3000GT that suffered the same fate. The GT I had since I was 22 years old. I bought it when it had 63K miles and it was my daily driver from 2002 to 2016 (when I got the LS430). It is now sitting at 293K miles and practically worthless so buy back was cheap cheap cheap. I did the same sort of attention to detail rolling restoration on this car. Over the years I replaced rubber trim, seals, bushings, ball joints, vac lines, etc....lots of stuff you can't see. It is not a fast car at all by modern standards but riding in it makes me feel young again.
Anyway, Houston was practically shut down last week so while the contractors were working on my house I had some free time. I have a HUGE parts stash of GT stuff so I already had every relay that was submerged, the SRS computer, the ECU, etc. I gutted the interior, sanitized it with disinfectant, washed it with clean water, vacuumed out everything, and let it air dry for 3 days. Then I lifted the nose of the car 2 feet with a floor jack and water came out of the exhaust. I sat on the bare metal floor pan, pushed the clutch, turned the key, and it started on the first try. There are no warning lights and everything works. I will be able to sanitize and save everything inside except the seats because the leather is ruined and the foam has absorbed all of that nasty water and started to mold already. It will just be stored until I can find a dry seat in any condition to use for right now. My long term plan is to find the correct leather seats for it even if it takes years. This is not going to be a daily driver so time is not a factor. I can't tell you how pleased I was when it came back to life. It was almost as much of a win as when I passed a professional examination to get a license.
I am debating doing this with the SC300. To really know what electronics got wet I would need to gut the SC3.
Hey man, sorry to hear about your loss. Like everyone said, cars are replaceable...they are non-living things that can be rebuilt over and over again...humans aren't. Hopefully everyone in your family is safe and sound.
Just remember, whenever you think you have it bad....there is someone else out there who has it even worse:
09-01-17, 02:41 AM
Lost my 1998 SC3 of 8+ years to Hurricane Harvey
