CoPart Caterham

[spitfun]

Came acrossed this-I wonder if it runs?  

https://www.copart.com/lot/81047494/1966-lotus-coupe-fl-punta-gorda-south

[Vovchandr]

2 minutes ago, spitfun said:

Came acrossed this-I wonder if it runs?  

https://www.copart.com/lot/81047494/1966-lotus-coupe-fl-punta-gorda-south

 

Description says runs and drives. 

 

If you're interested I'd say go for it. If a McLaren P1 can be rebuild after salt water a car as simple as a 7 certainly can be. 

[spitfun]

That was my thoughts also... I don't think I am interested (but you never know) but maybe someone else on the forum may be...

[MV8]

Parts only. "Certificate of Destruction". The vin cannot be rebuilt.

[Croc]

Can potentially be repurposed as a race or track car.  FL Cert of Destruction does not require crushing like some states.  
 

 

 

[spitfun]

Was unaware of the inability to re-register. Seems odd,I could see it being in a major crash and too far gone for rebuild,but this one is only a flood vehicle. Too bad,looks to be a nice car...

[theDreamer]

How does one go about finding out the unknowns for a car like this one? It looks to be in great shape with no signs of water stains or damage from debris. I believe there are three types of flood waters, salt water, rain or overland water and sewage back up. If this car did get flooded I’d say it was rain or overland and not submerged. It is possible that it was on a lift and didn’t really get very wet at all. But, how does one know?

It’s very low mileage if I’ve broken down the VIN correctly.

SDK= Manufacturer code for Caterham

L= Left hand drive

L= Live axle

K= Kit built

A= Chassis type

NS= Engine not supplied

V= Model year 1997

[Croc]

3 hours ago, theDreamer said:

How does one go about finding out the unknowns for a car like this one? It looks to be in great shape with no signs of water stains or damage from debris. I believe there are three types of flood waters, salt water, rain or overland water and sewage back up. If this car did get flooded I’d say it was rain or overland and not submerged. It is possible that it was on a lift and didn’t really get very wet at all. But, how does one know?

 

Ideally as we are a small community we would know this car.  The last couple of times flooded cars have come up for salvage auction we usually can find out the back story through our little network at USA7s. Has not happened so far.  Its not a car I have seen in a photo on this site before. 

 

So then....Pull a Carfax on the car and see where it was located.  If you have nice friends in law enforcement or the insurance industry then they have access to other databases which help you identify/locate the car.  But you really don't need to do that here - a little common sense helps - its a Florida car, there was a hurricane recently with a good sized storm ocean surge in a defined area, its flat topography in FL, so odds on its going to be sea water or brackish water of some kind and not fresh water.  Insurers do not write cars off for rain unless it is of the frozen type - not happening here.  Betting odds says it was flooded with salt water to earn the write off. 

 

If you could confirm it was likely fresh water then I would want to fly in to see this in person to inspect.  Some cars are cleaned up prior to making it to Copart - some owners are deluding themselves their precious-to-them car can be saved after immersion and try to recover it themselves.  So the fact this looks good is a flag to consider - salt water immersion does leave salt marks as evidence even after cleaning.  Expect to have a bunch of corroded electrical connections and have to replace pieces of it.  Pump waxoyl through the chassis tube insides to flush out residual water - messy job but the chassis is definitely salvageable if you get to it early enough.  Assume engine/gearbox/diff needs a rebuild as water contaminated the oil/lubricant.   As with any project like this, if it is cheap enough then the project cost to bring it back is viable.  But your title here is always going to be salvage - valuation impaired for ever more.  So I would be playing this as a sum of the parts game and bidding accordingly (if it were me).

[speedwagon]

There are many good reasons why "flood " cares are totaled and unless this is unusual the car would have to be striped down to the frame and the rust inside neutralized or a new frame built or purchased. An then every other part not hermetically sealed opened and washed.   I just recently looked at a 2016 Silverado and ran home fast because it had been in Florida.    I took a s-10 two years old to the beach in Mexico with me and started home with a truck that needed a new top panel because I had just primed it, and not painted it. And fresh water is almost as bad.    john       PS it is worth 1/2 of what you can buy a slightly abused equivalent.