Coparts.com? restoration questions

[TMagda]

I have a couple of questions about restoring a car. I have never done a restoration before but I am somewhat mechanically inclined. For some reason I am thinking a good candidate for a first attempt would be an '40's MG. They are small, look fairly simple mechanically, a good parts availability, etc. My goal would be to get to driver quality, father and son project. I have stumbled across a site called coparts.com that auctions cars with salvage titles. They currently have 3 MG's listed at prices that are low enough (so far, its bidding) that if I totally screwed it up it wouldnt really matter to me. They have "water damage". My question is would a salvage title create future problems registering or selling the car considering it will restored, including rebuilding the engine? What could be destroyed assuming the car was fully submerged that would not be repairable during a restoration? The cars look great in the pictures, and I would take a look in person if the prices were to get too high. They are located in NJ. I know this isnt much info to start, but I'm clueless.

[njsteve]

These are Hurricane Sandy cars. Stay away. This is salt water contamination. All wiring is contaminated and all the sheetmetal will be rustng from the inside out, especially in areas that you could never get to, to repair. Anything metal will be affected. There is nothing that can be done to stop the eventual rust from being submerged in salt water.

The Vehiicle Identification Numbers (VIN) from these cars will be on file with insurance companies forever. Even if you were able to get a salvage title washed through another state's title system and get a "clean" title, you will never be able to get insurance on the car because the car's VIN is redflagged in the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) database as a flood totalled car.

[TMagda]

Thanks Steve, I'm glad I asked. I didn't think about the salt or inner panels.

[firstgenaddict]

I understand the rationale behind not buying a salt water flood damaged vehicle, however insurance companies cover salvage totaled vehicles with full knowledge on a daily basis. I had no idea they wouldn't cover a salvage flood car, is there any particular reason they cover one but not the other?

[John Brown]

My niece had her pickup truck totaled for paint damage? in hurricane Andrew down in Florida a few years back. When she went to renew her full coverage insurance, insurance co. said No Dice. Vehicle was judged a total so full coverage was no longer an option. May have been a specific ins co deal or just a Florida state deal, but I don't doubt that other companies and states are doing the same thing in many instances.

[SuperNovaSS]

I was thinking the same thing. There should not be a problem insuring a flooded car as long as it is a salvage and not a junk title. Would there be any benefit in submerging the car in freshwater? I'm sure it has been too long already but that is what you do to an outboard if it goes in the salt water.


Jason

[njsteve]

Salt water flooding is the worst case scenario. Salt corrodes all wiring and all electronic components. There is no way to stop the process.

There is no way any insurer would take the possible risk (especially in a modern car with airbags, ABS, etc) of a malfunction that could cause an injury/death. For example, after Sandy thay had hundreds of the flooded cars' airbags self-initiating from the electronics slowly corroding.

[firstgenaddict]

I have bought, fully insured, and been paid Blue book for the loss of a vehicle previously titled as salvage. Honestly I did not think it was right did disclose everything prior to insuring. I did not expect to be paid KBB since it was salvage titled... the insurance company had no issues with insuring the salvage titled car nor paying full book on the loss.



As a disclaimer... I have never dealt with anything labeled water damaged salvage so maybe the water is the key not the salvage.

[njsteve]

I believe "WATER" is the magic word that makes them run away. You can imagine the liablility possibility of ABS not working: causing an accident or an airbag deploying out of the blue or not deploying in an accident...