Water damage title on a 1999 explorer sport?

[bilzy7]

I seen a really nice explorer sport with 74k miles and I test drove it. It drove really nice besides a squeak from front suspension which is either a ball joint or shock I assume. It does have a water damage title from 2005. Besides not having a good title all electrical works without a problem. All wipers move, water sprays, radio sounds awesome, no weird sounds from speakers. It is evident the water did not get inside the vehicle. I took it from city streets to the highway and it ran perfect. They wanted 3,777.00 but I said I'd pay 3,500.00 to drive off with it. Think this is a bad idea?

 

[06RangerXLT]

Stay far away... water damage, big no. fire damage, amother big no. accident, can be ok.




Skip to 6:30. i wouldnt touch any vehicle in that area.

 

[Captain Ledd]

It depends on the flooding. if it just got above the door jam, annoying, can cause problems, but usually careful cleaning can clear it up.

Completely submerged, it'll never be the same again.

Ask if you can check under the carpets. Also VERY closely check the smell from the HVAC system when you turn the fan on. Also for any noises in the HVAC system.

Edit: personally I'd offer him $2500 tops for it. closer to $2000 the better. It is a flood car after all.

 

[bilzy7]

Ya, I turned on heat I didn't notice a smell but my wife said she did. I did notice it smelled like some of the explorers I rip parts out of at the junkyard... I'm probably not gonna get back my $300.00 to hold the vehicle haha... I will wish I could see a vision in my mind of what this vehicle was in... I got 3,600.00 to work with after my transmission went on my ranger. I wanted to switch to an explorer... They threw an exhaust on it apparently because it's loud as hell. I only checked the basic things like shackles at the time... I wasn't informed of title issue until I wanted to pay for it. He said he told many people but must of forgot to tell me.
I didn't smell anything from the HVAC system and I turned ac and heat on. I had heat on the whole time as it was a little cold out.
Seat belts, would those be an indication? Both back seat belts have issues. One will pull enough to barely click and other won't lock when pulled. He said these would be fixed before it was sold.

http://boston.craigslist.org/nwb/ctd/2694826657.html

There it is. It was cleaned up so much... I kind of think it was badly flooded and they just covered up the smell real good. Sold in MA so it seems like rock salt rust.

 

[bilzy7]

I forgot to pop the hood as my wife was rushing me because it was almost my sons lunch time. If I go there and it's been cleaned perfectly, I'm gonna be so mad. I expect to see some oil and dirt... Then I'll trust it. If it's perfectly cleaned, it was obviously under water...

 

[bilzy7]

I fell in love with this truck... So I really want to go and check it out but I can only use my mother in laws vehicle now and then. I hate to put miles on her car. But I hate worse to have a 3k+ investment go downhill in 3 months in the form of a dead tranny or engine or fighting electrical issues.

 

[bilzy7]

Ohh and it's missing a foglight. I was very upset that it has 1 fog light, it looks like a person with a black eye... All they have are ugly explorers out there... No 4.0 transmissions for a ranger. My trucks sitting there staring at me daily begging me to fix it... I can hear it cry at night saying "c'mon, winters almost here, well have so much fun...".

 

[straycat]

Sorry, Bro. Stay away from it. It may end up costing you a lot to fix anything that goes wrong with it. Look for something else. There are a lot of other vehicals waiting for a new home...adopt one.

 

[Captain Ledd]

Yeah, after some time to think about it, if it managed to get a flood title it was underwater enough to require work to get it runnable again. Otherwise the owner would have dried it out, cleaned a little, and either kept on driving or just sold it. Don't have to deal with flood recovery and all the re-titling drama then.

Unfortunately, it'd be best to turn away.

 

[bilzy7]

Alright... I called deposits refundable. They haven't taken the money from my checking yet so I'm thinking of just emptying my checking to my savings and changing my number haha... Plus my wifes really mad, but more so because I'm getting something she doesn't like... She would rather some Hyundai with 110k miles that has a 4cyl...

That's true though... It can't be given a flood damage title without the water damage causing enough damage to cause it to need repairs beyond value...

 

[baddis]

here to get titled as flood all that has to happen is for the computer be under water. seen a brand new dodge the computer was in the left front corner. computer under water and the insurance totaled it.

 

[adsm08]

It doesn't take a lot around here either.

I think I've purposefully driven my truck through water high enough to get a flood title.

 

[Ozwynn]

if he didn't disclose the flood title before you left the deposit then you can get your deposit back......... have somebody from the licensing bureau give him a call..... or offer him salvage value and go through it completely.

 

[jcd302]

Buy your wife what she wants and fix your Ranger. If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

 

[Ozwynn]

I don't give in that way .... I tell her to buy for f***ing car.