water damage

[jungle_surfer]

Hi all!

I'm considering a water-damaged, written-off 2000 model Prado GXL at the auctions. I've learnt a lot from what has already been posted on this forum, but I need some more advice! Has anyone worked on a drowned vehicle this new before? At this stage I don't know anything about the extent of the damage, but I'll have a look at it tomorrow.

Assuming it is fresh-water damaged, I suppose at least I'd need to:
- Change all fluids,
- Clean / dry interior, maybe replace carpets, dry firewall...
- Clean / dry electrical contacts
- Re-pack wheel bearings

What are the chances that I'd need to work on:
- engine rebuild - con rods, rings, bore, rebalancing maybe;
- ECU and electrical sensors checking / replacement;
- Radiator, Starter motor, alternator, etc...
- Replace instrument panel?
What signs would indicate the extent of the damage?

Depending on the condition, I'd roughly (I'm not very good at this yet!) guess this might go for $10,000 plus or minus a few.

Thanks in advance!

[guerd87]

it all depends on how much water it was under and for how long

if the motor was running when it sucked water in then theres a good change of at least doing some internal damage

again, would be better if we know the extend first up, if the electrical is shagged i dont think it would be worth the stuffing around

[Dak]

Don't touch it, mates have been down that road before. Things start showing up and stuffing out even years later.

Cheers, Jeff.

[jtraf]

you sure it isn't a stat right off........most water effected cars are and can't be re-registered anywhere in Australia once on the register....

[360 scout]

Run, don't walk ,away from it right now
If it's still got water anywhere In the diffs,tranny or electrics for any length of time it's gunna give you trouble, sooner and/or later.

[G_loomis]

Its been said before...but I'll say it again.

DONT TOUCH IT!

After the 74 floods in Brisbane, many flood damged cars were repaired and everyone was happy...until the problems started appearing, and kept appearing...again and again and again.

Thats one of main reasons now that any submerged vehicle is an automatic write-off (in the insurance companies view anyway).

Too many things can go wrong...Do yourself a favour and go do a fart, because holding in farts causes sh!tty ideas....like buying submerged vehicles.

[dirtyGQ]

Many fresh water damaged 4wds are actually salt water damaged and no warranty is implied to whether it was salt or fresh.

[RUFF]

Its been said before...but I'll say it again.

DONT TOUCH IT!

After the 74 floods in Brisbane, many flood damged cars were repaired and everyone was happy...until the problems started appearing, and kept appearing...again and again and again.

Thats one of main reasons now that any submerged vehicle is an automatic write-off (in the insurance companies view anyway).

Too many things can go wrong...Do yourself a favour and go do a fart, because holding in farts causes sh!tty ideas....like buying submerged vehicles.

Ive actually bought lots of Fresh water damaged vehicles and am yet to have a single problem. Short or long term. Both New and Old Cars.

If it was true that every vehicle has issues after being submerged then maybe most of the guys here should think again when driving through water.

If the vehicle has been submerged in fresh water it is a Repairable Write off.

If they even slightly think it may have been salt water its a Statuatory Write off and can never be registered again.

[RUFF]

Many fresh water damaged 4wds are actually salt water damaged and no warranty is implied to whether it was salt or fresh.

Im really not sure what your trying to say here?

[andrew e]

If the vehicle has been submerged in fresh water it is a Repairable Write off.

Fresh water for less than 24 hours is repairable write off, + 24h and its a stat write off but every case is different depending on other damage.

I'm with tony, its repairable, but strip lots of stuff and re lubricate it, ie accelerator cables, speedo cables steering column, brake pedal linkages etc. everything that was greased from factory. Pull the seats and carpet out and let them dry completely. Pull the injectors/plugs out and turn the motor over first, observe what comes out, if any water comes out take the head off and measure the piston height, and inspect the bores.

If you have a bit of time to muck around this would be worthwhile way of getting to know your car.

BTW if you are buying it from the auctions, repairable writeoff is now printed on your rego papers, making resale values less.

Andy

[RUFF]

BTW if you are buying it from the auctions, repairable writeoff is now printed on your rego papers, making resale values less.

Andy

Not the case in QLD. Ive registered 2 in the past fortnight.

[andrew e]

BTW if you are buying it from the auctions, repairable writeoff is now printed on your rego papers, making resale values less.

Andy

Not the case in QLD. Ive registered 2 in the past fortnight.

Lucky buggers............. i wont be buying cars from qld again then.

Are they still on the written off vehicle register (WOVR) then?

[RUFF]

Lucky buggers............. i wont be buying cars from qld again then.

Are they still on the written off vehicle register (WOVR) then?

If you do a V-Check yes they come up as a repairable write off. Worse still is that after clearing a repairable write off it doesnt show its been cleared on a V-Check.