free SLK
 

I saw an SLK being loaded onto a car hauler yesterday.

A large portion of my island was covered by 5 foot of water during Hurricane Wilma.

Approximately 20,000 vehicles were ruined, in the Florida Keys.
Cars are being considered 'totaled', if the salt water got the seats wet.

People are hauling cars away.
They will haul cars for free, if you give them the title.

Lots of people don't realize that they could get
quite a good bit of money for some of the parts on their cars.

Since they are demanding the titles,
I fear that a lot of these cars are going to be cleaned up and resold.
Between us and New Orleans, there are going to be a lot of lemons out there.

I don't usually evacuate...
but I had my car for 3 days before Wilma struck...
and I hit the highway!

My place stayed above water. I'm one of the lucky ones.
The streets are lined with refrigerators and couches
and thousands of people are now ripping the sheetrock out of their homes.

As fast as the piles of debris are hauled away, new ones appear.
The crap is being stored at various locations up and down the Keys.

http://surfpick.com/wilma/trashmountain.jpg

Sad but true.......lot of crooks out there....

All the more reason to make lemonade. Want a sip:D

Tow truck drivers?
Unethical?

Bite your tongue!


Here is Roosevelt Blvd. in Key West.

After the storm... and during the storm

http://www.surfpick.com/wilma/hurricane100.jpg

http://www.surfpick.com/wilma/hurricanbe200.jpg

The worst of the flooding didn't start until after the storm had passed in the morning.
It rose by feet, in just minutes.
At least it was clean seawater, unlike the New Orleans swill...
and it was gone fairly quickly, so we didn't have to wallow in it forever
like the poor people in Louisiana.

That's just totally irresponsible of insurance companies if true. If they are paying out claims to total those cars, they should get the title and remove the VIN tags off the cars, then sell them off for parts.

I agree with you there...

The cars should have salvage titles after this, right? That means that, like usual, buyers must be very wary of salvage titled vehicles, and make sure they get a watertight story (pun intended) before buying a salvage vehicle. You've always had to be careful about this, and incidents like this just make that more true than ever.

Its possible that some of them could clean up and become good cars again, but you'd need to know what you were getting into, and be prepared to do some serious rust treatment right off the bat to prevent it from decaying underneath you.

Buyer beware, as usual.

peace,
sam

Problem is they launder the titles through states that get a cut for having no stnadards at all and get a clear title on a vehicle that should be branded forever reconstructed....its common...roll back numbers run through that state and bingo clear title with no flags....carfax diesn't catch everything but has gone a long way to exposing some of these.

Ehhh... Didn't think about the 'title laundering' business.. Almost had to take advantage of that little process myself, but for a very different reason. Fortunately I found another solution to my legal problem. :)

It would be easy if the cars had a proper salvage title to alert people, but with clear titles, it'll be easy to sneak them by.

Just for readers and searchers, and my own curiousity, what are some good things to check to figure out if a car has been in a flood? I'm sure those of you who've looked at hundreds of used 123s have some good tips for us.

peace,
sam

Which states are easy to pass through for the title cleaning? I've heard Texas, maybe NJ. Any more out there to be aware of?

some are in the midwest but I do honestly forget which ones.....any title history that passes through those states is subject to question.

That first picture looks like Orlando did after Charly, Francis and Jeanne got through with us.

I heard all the wood that was collected was shipped overseas to be burned in incinerators.

Danny

I hope 2006 is not as bad as '04 and '05 have been!

When I went to school in Cleveland, I bought a cheap 68 New Yorker. All I needed to get title and reg. was a notarized bill of sale or something ridiculous like that. It was no wonder that most of the vehicles failing PA state insp in Pittsburg ended up there. Of course, this was over 20 years ago.:shocked:

Here in Kentucky, we get LOTS of rebuilts and/or flood cars. One of my buddies 'rebuilds' mostly flood cars. Some are BARELY damaged, and some are really really bad. He's doing a super low mileage Crossfire now that somebody tried to drive through the backwater, bent two rods, got mud up above the seats, ect... and when he's done you'll never know, at least not for a few years until you MIGHT start having mystery electrical (i.e. ground) problems.

They don't worry about older cars, not any money in them, but beware of clean late model stuff getting 'rebuilt' by people who do a less then desireable job. Mike is the exception around here, most just do it as quickly and cheaply as possible, they don't bring as much money, but you get product out faster.