Hey Fellow Xfire Owners,

I made an impulse buy on a 2005 Crossfire SRT-6 from an Ebay auction (paid $7,900 + $1,000 to ship) and I'm sure I'm gonna need as much HELP as I can get from you guys. I know how bad I may have F'd up, but I'm with this situation now. I really like the car a lot. It's actually arriving Today 4/21/07 and being dropped off at the dealer. Should I have them do a complete inspection to give me an inventory of the major things that I'm gonna need? Yes? No? I wasn't planning on having the dealer do the work, just wanted them to give me a estimate. I was told that it does need an ECU and other electrical components. Worst case scenario is to part it out to get my money back, but I would like to fix it and keep it for a while. This is the third salvage vehicle that I've bought, but the other two were wrecked and NOT Flood vehicles. The cars were (1) 2005 Acura RL and (2) 2003 Honda Accord...I fixed them with no major problems. I hope I get as lucky with this one. ANY ADVICE will GREATLY be appreciated...Thanks for your time!

 

once you get it...

for peace of mind... i would pull the door panels and see just how high the water was...

and does it smell like mildew or mold?? the carpet padding can hold some nasty odors.

a scary buy indeed... i hope it all works out... but do have the dealer do a full inspection...

 

Thanks for the info.

 

For $8,900 i'd be all in even if it was a flood car.

Most importantly mechanically i would have them change all rear end, transmission and engine oil before even trying to start the car up. And then remove all the spark plugs and squirt some oil into the cylinders to help hold compression and try to ease any water that may be in there so the rings wont wipe themselves out when you do attempt to start the car.

Depending on odors you would potentially replace:

- Seats
- All Carpeting
- All Insulation

Not only would i be concerned with how high the water level was i would be concerned with how long it was in the water and if it was salt water or fresh water as that will have a big impact on things.

If you really had to dig into it the other things i could see replacing would be:

- All ECU's
- All Wiring Harnesses
- Stereos and Speakers
- Instrument Cluster
- HVAC Controls
- Misc switches and *****

Not sure if you plan on reselling the car or not but i bet even if you had to dump lets say 10k in all new parts into the car you would have almost a brand new crossfire for under 20k. Not too shabby especially if the mileage is still decent.

Since all new cars have these weather pack connectors a lot of them won't let any water in though the bad part is that some will no matter what.

From what i've seen a lot of insurance companies will not total a fresh water flood vehicle but if it is saltwater then they just throw in the towel.

My best suggestion would be to get it running and drive it till it break and make sure you have AAA. :-D

 

Wow, I applaud you for this buy...I don't think I would have the guts to do something like this especially over the internet and unseen.

 

Haha the way i look at it is its already been damaged and doesn't run. How much worse could it get. B/C either way you would be looking at worse case scenario.

 

We'll hopefully everything goes OK, I just got a look at it a couple of hours ago at the dealership I had it shipped to. It doesn't look as bad as I was expecting, but It looks as if it was almost fully submerged. Maybe not for long though. They are gonna check it out on Monday 4/23. I'll keep you guys posted...And thanks for all your info!

 

Nvestel, good luck with your purchase. Not all flood cars are damaged beyond repair, but sometimes they can have problems that don't show up for awhile.
I personally appreciate your honesty in representing the car for what it is on this forum, and having said that. Would you care to divulge your new SRT's "VIN" # for all of us to jot down for future reference?

 

No problem, here's the VIN # 1C3AN79N55X047119 for the "05" Crossfire SRT-6. The vehicle came from Mississippi and it says on the CARFAX report that it has a consistent mileage history with NO indication of an odometer rollback. I also know that the car was registered (01/28/05) as a lease vehicle and owned by a leasing company with 56 miles on it. Then the first owner leased the car from (02/03/05 to 12/11/05), on (12/12/05) it was reported as a FLOOD DAMAGED TITLE in Mississippi. I'm guessing that's when the insurance company took over. As I get more information I'll let you guys know. Thanks for any suggestions or comments you have...Also here's some more pictures of the vehicle!

 

Looking at the pictures, I notice that the driver's side shot has the rear wheels installed in the front and front wheel in the rear.

 

I do notice that now that you've mentioned it...Thanks!

 

just gut it out and make it a race car?

- Russ

 

You have done very well in your buy, this is what I hope to do one day. I would work for restoration (custom work is much more difficult if done right) on the car. You have to do your work out of personal interest in the car, not for the quick thrill. Try to pick your challenges to work on and complete each one. If any questions PM me I will do my best to help.

Good luck.
John

 

Some suggestions:

1. Set a budget and don't go beyond it if you approach the end point.
2. Get a good full inspection to know what the parts/labor might be... Parts on these cars are REALLY, REALLY expensive and hard to get time wise.
3. Be prepared to contact many, many salvage yards for getting better deals on used parts instead since it's a salvage car already. May as well save cash and use "used" parts where possible to meet that budget.
This would be especially true with PCMs, leather seats, wiring harnesses, and other electronics.
4. Hope you have patience... also figure out what you will do with the car when it's done. If you spent $9K, and the price drops on new SRT-6's left still keeps eroding, you don't want to spend a total of $20K (9K + 11K repair cost) when new and/or lightly used non-salvage cars are $25K. Resale value will suck for this thing, regardless of who might buy it, so be prepared to use it when you are done.
5. If you are married, and have a "non-car" wife, get her a bottle of sedatives to wash down with a bottle of good vodka... I suggest Stolichnaya.

 

Thanks for all the responses, they have been very helpful...Here's the status on the car: Right now it's at a diagnostic specialty shop and they're giving me a complete inventory of all the electronic and mechanical parts I'll need to at least get her started, they said in about 7 to 10 days they'd have some information...I'll keep you posted...Thanks again!

 

Was that the car for sale in Vegas? Please keep us in the loop - I was interested in that car - seemed like a good project, and if it was in fresh water it will clean up pretty good - and if you are going to hang onto it, then you got a good deal! Sounds like fun!

 

Yes, it was the car from Vegas that was for sale, but unfortunately it was salt water and NOT fresh water ... I found a wrecked SRT-6 that I might buy to swap out all the electrical, mechanical, and cosmetic parts I'll probably need to finish her up...Should be a real PROJECT, hope I'm up for it...Thanks again for the input!

 

Wow, if you are married, having two SRT6's in your driveway, each taken apart will certainly test both of your fortitudes. Hope she's a car nut. If not, be prepared for a process server delivering papers from an expensive lawyer.

 

Now that's funny, but actually the Crossfire is more the wife's car then mine.

 

Nvestel,
Any new info on your restoration??