Can anyone chime in on the risk or cost of repairing this car ?
I take it that only a Porsche dealer could possibly repair this ?

 

Gut it and make it into a track rat. Price?

 

Didn't find the car at the link you posted so I don't know the details.

Does the car have a "salvage" title?

Generally flood damaged/water damaged cars are to be avoided.

A private buyer can repair one but he needs deep pockets, patience, and the realization the car is likely to be his forever unless he is willing to let it go for a song.

Water and cars do not get along.

All wiring, all soft material items (carpets, sound deadening, seats, etc.) will likely need to be replaced (or live with the odor, and mold and mildew). And electrical gremlins forever.

Wiring harnesses are a real job. At the dealers I visit I've spotted Cayenne vehicles in for a suspected wiring harness problem and the cars are stripped down to the sheet metal -- at least in the cabin/cargo area -- to get at this. Wiring harnesses are buried. And the time to get to, remove, replace, put everything back and check out and get all the bugs/kinks out represents a huge amount of labor and money.

About similar to what it takes to bring a car back from rodent infestation. In the cases I've come upon the owner had to resort to homeowner insurance to cover the substantial cost.

If the water damage was due to be submerged -- vs. just (just) a leaking window or door or top seal -- all the running gear is suspect. Certainly the engine, transmission, differential, brakes, wheel bearings.

If the water was deep enough the instrument cluster, A/C and heater system, dash electronics and so on.

Really, the short answer in a situation like this if you have to ask the car is not for you.

For a track car you are better of finding a car with say a sick engine -- but otherwise a good platform -- and replacing or fixing the engine and working from there.

Sometimes a car is destined to spend the rest of its existence slowly giving up parts to help keep other cars on the road. Flood damaged car fall into this category.

 

Thanks for the responses. That wiring harness issue is certainly a big one...I've got to think about that one.

The car is definitely salvage title...but I've had great luck with these cars in the past. I just wrecked my Mazda Miata which was salvage (and a great car for 5 years !) and now I'm moving up to a Porsche. No more "Poor Man's Porsches" for me...LOL !

This 2014 boxster's retail price was $55k, and it has all of the options. It runs and drives. Has the beautiful burgundy metallic paint and 20" wheels. 9k original miles !!

I'm having an inspector review it in detail tomorrow.
I've budgeted 100 hours of labor @ $100/hr at a local shop who specializes in these cars. I'm adding $5000 on top of that for parts....modules, wiring, etc.

The bid is on Friday...I'm going up to $12,000...it ain't worth a nickel above that price. However, to some high-end salvage yards, it may be worth that much or more....just in parts.

Stay tuned !!

 

Indeed, the online pre-auction bid is already at $16,000 !!
This car will definitely need at least $10,000 in repairs....so is it worth it to bid around $20,000 ?
It's a high-risk beauty. It's got PDK...looks to be loaded with lots of options.
But as we know, if the electronics don't work, many of these options are worthless.
Only 9k miles on it....wow !

 

In some ways a wrecked car is an easier car to resurrect. An older car it may not take much damage to render the car a "total" loss and someone with the skills/connections can get the car back on the road for not much money. The stigma of a salvage car doesn't bother him and if the price is right there are others who feel the same way. (I know a guy who bought a salvaged Chevy something or other that was resurrected. The dash sits a little crooked but I guess the car runs ok. He got the car very cheaply and he likes that.)

You had better double the parts cost numbers. Wiring harnesses are super expensive. As is everything else.

As some kind of frame of reference I needed a new cluster for my 2002 Boxster and priced one at the local dealer parts department. List was $3460. My cost with discounts and such still had the new cluster costing around $2389. With tax $2610.

I found a used cluster for $350 and labor to have the old one removed and the "new" one installed added a bit over $100.

But not every wrecked car makes it back on the road.

Back in 2009 I sold my 2008 Cayman S with just 2200 miles on it as a salvage vehicle. The car was hit -- at the driver side front wheel/a-pillar area -- and declared a total loss. Both airbags went off. Sold at salvage auction for over $20K. (The insurance company allowed me $17K for the car's salvage value and when I offered the car to Oklahoma Foreign it offered me the same amount.)

Apparently the car never made it back on the road. I googled its VIN about a year or so ago and found the chassis/body in grey primer for sale for $300. I'm sure the low miles engine and 6-speed and other running gear were sold, along with the heater/AC and stereo and dash/cluster, seats, and so on.

 

Well Guys, this beautiful black 2014 boxster went off in auction at Copart.com today at Houston, TX.
9 k original miles.
No major electrical damage.....HOWEVER, there was a problem with the ENGINE. Someone had driven this before the water was removed from the engine.
It appears the water entered from the exhaust.
My inspector said the engine made "loud noises"....otherwise it was solid.

No Codes were thrown....which is strange.
It should have thrown the code for "catastrophic problem to the engine".

The final winning bidder was $22,800.

Car is worth $35k max with a salvage title.
An engine replacement would have cost $20k !!!

That is why I did not bid on it.

 

Unlikely the water made it into the engine. If it had the engine probably not have started may not have even cranked as the water would have hydraulically locked the engine.

That the engine fired up and ran and generated no error codes -- not even misfires -- suggests that while the exhaust had some water in it the "loud noises" was probably exhaust noise arising from probably trying to expel the water. 'course, I offer the above without the benefit of hearing the noises.

 

Thanks Macster...and incredibly this car is back on the blocks....apparently the "reserve" was not met.
They are looking for $32,500 "Buy it now" pricing.
That means the reserve is likely to be in the area of $28,000 or so...
Again, I wonder how the water entered....and if it did much damage ?

Given the sophisticated electronics, it is surprising there are no fault/error codes being thrown. I just wonder if the engine and tranny just need to be drained and "aired-out"....and plugs and wiring replaced ?

The damage to the interior is minimal....even the carpet may be salvageable. However, the seat motors need to be replaced.

Let's keep in mind, this car is like brand-new with only 9k miles on it !

 

Let's also keep in mind the car is being offered at a substantial discount from its market price due to water damage. I mean someone decided that the car was beyond repair and slapped a salvage title on the car.

If water got into the engine or transmission the water must have got in the cabin/interior of the car.

If water got into the engine or transmission (and interior of the car) the longer the car sits the worse it gets. It is bad enough the water got that deep for any length of time.

If the carpets got wet the security module got wet. This needs to be replaced. Expensive.

If water got into the rear trunk the DME is back there and it is very sensitive to moisture. This is even more expensive to replace than the security module. And you have to be concerned about not only the controller its pins and the circuit board but all the connections which are part of the wiring harness.

Search for pics of security modules that have been exposed to water. There are a number of these as water in the cabin is a too frequent occurance even without the benefit of a flood. The module looks horrible.

It reads like you are trying to talk yourself into this car. My advice is don't. There's a reason a low miles late model car is being offered at such a discount. The car is only a parts car and without knowing the extent of its exposure to water the big items: engine, tranmission, running gear, interior pieces, may not have that much value as a parts car if the big items were submerged.

 

Well Macster, it's been thru TWICE now and STILL has not sold !! They keep bring down the "buy it now price".

re: "I mean someone decided that the car was beyond repair and slapped a salvage title on the car."
That statement haunts me....as it begs the question:
How extensive of an inspection did the insurance company do here...I mean, did they take it to a dealer or independent repair shop for an opinion on the engine ? Obviously, they are the "someone"...right ? Or could this be a case of the owner saying "I don't want the car" and the insurance company was stuck.

No codes are being thrown, and that has got me wondering as well.
If the security modules were shot, I believe a P-code would be thrown, no ?
My inspector said everything worked except the power seats....as the water level appeared to be only to the bottom of the seats.

Yes, you are right...I am talking myself into this beauty.

 

After speaking with the local Porsche dealer's parts and service department, I decided not to bid. They estimated repairs for the interior and electronics at over $10,000.

 

With my smashed 2008 Cayman S -- see attached pic -- it took 3 insurance adjusters with the last one an "exotic car adjuster" several weeks to decide the car was totaled. The insurance company didn't really want to total the car but it finally had to admit the damage was that bad.

Might mention even though I had the car towed to and parked at the local Porsche dealer as far as I know the dealer techs played no role in appraising the car's condition. One did bring out a floor jack and lifted up the right front corner and showed me how when the car was hit and shoved against the curb this fractured some pretty heavy duty cast pieces on the right side of the car opposite the side that was hit.

The insurance adjusters just showed up with their pads, camera and made notes.

Not sure how much say the owner has in these situations. (When I called to report I hit a mule deer -- with my Turbo -- just outside of Ely NV and wanted to arrange to get the car towed home -- 600 miles away -- to get it in the hands of a body shop and Porsche dealer near me -- I was told to have the car fixed at a local gas station and drive it home. I ended up paying for a tow -- around $1500 and that with a discount -- to get the car back to my home town. At my buddy's shop -- who had a business relationship with the insurance company (it accounted for 40% of his business) he told me the insurance company was tying his hands regarding repairs and advised me to "get mad" and yank the car out of his shop and take it to another shop that didn't have a business relationship with my insurance company.)

In the case of my Cayman I filed the claim against the other driver's insurance company when it admitted fault. It wanted me to file the claim against my insurance company but I refused. It asked me to do this even after it had accepted responsibility -- which is illegal -- and I told the person every time I was asked to file a claim against my insurance company to put it in writing and send me a letter but of course the letter never appeared.

My concern was that my insurance company would not declare the car a total loss but instead have the car repaired and do a shabby job. One loses some leverage when he signs on the dotted line when he buys insurance.

I don't know what I would have done had the other driver's insurance company elected to fix the car but I would have certainly explored my options to see if I could refuse to accept the car on some grounds. Thankfully it never came to this.

But I was sure relieved when the car was declared a total loss. It is kind of strange to be so happy to get a car only to 4 weeks later have the car smashed and then some weeks later to see the car finally hauled away with a salvage title and destined for who knows what future.