Salvage car write-off

I considering to resell a 2003 CHRYSLER Sebring purchased from a Manitoba
insurance company for $3800CAD. It was a write-off due to some electrical
system problem after the trunk portion was lowered into a lake and has been
repaired. There is no visible damage to the car which only has 20k kms. It
does not seem plausible that a car in such good shape could have been a
write-off. I did call a dealer who said some wiring harnesses are $2000 each
so I guess if the whole electrical system shorted out including the
computers it may be possible. Any comments?

In article <yrdId.39748$06.19255@clgrps12>, Martik wrote:
> I considering to resell a 2003 CHRYSLER Sebring purchased from a Manitoba
> insurance company for $3800CAD. It was a write-off due to some electrical
> system problem after the trunk portion was lowered into a lake and has been
> repaired. There is no visible damage to the car which only has 20k kms. It
> does not seem plausible that a car in such good shape could have been a
> write-off. I did call a dealer who said some wiring harnesses are $2000 each
> so I guess if the whole electrical system shorted out including the
> computers it may be possible. Any comments?

If you know only the back end was flooded then it doesn't sound too bad.
Flooded cars are generally a mess because the water gets into all sorts
of stuff it shouldn't.

However, there aren't usually any quick disconnects at the rear for the
harnesses running into the trunk. That means removing the interior, maybe
the dash, etc to replace the harnesses. Becomes a considerable amount of
work. That said, there isn't much back there compared to the front of the
car and it's really the contacts in the connectors that rot. So it would
be possible for someone to simply replace any of the connectors/contacts
that need replacing. But it's still a lot of work.

I'd just be affraid more than the trunk was flooded.

And if the fuel system wasn't entirely sealed there could be all sorts of
problems.

"Brent P" > wrote in message
...
>
> If you know only the back end was flooded then it doesn't sound too bad.
> Flooded cars are generally a mess because the water gets into all sorts
> of stuff it shouldn't.
>
> However, there aren't usually any quick disconnects at the rear for the
> harnesses running into the trunk. That means removing the interior, maybe
> the dash, etc to replace the harnesses. Becomes a considerable amount of
> work. That said, there isn't much back there compared to the front of the
> car and it's really the contacts in the connectors that rot. So it would
> be possible for someone to simply replace any of the connectors/contacts
> that need replacing. But it's still a lot of work.
>
> I'd just be affraid more than the trunk was flooded.
>
> And if the fuel system wasn't entirely sealed there could be all sorts of
> problems.
>
>

I'd replace the lamp sockets as well.

"Brent P" > wrote in message ...
>
> However, there aren't usually any quick disconnects at the rear for the
> harnesses running into the trunk. That means removing the interior, maybe
> the dash, etc to replace the harnesses.

Or cut & splice/solder/add connectors. If necessary.

I'd expect most of the wiring to be intact. Might not have to replace any
wiring in the trunk--if it was submerged in a *freshwater* lake! If it was sal****er,
I'd expect all the connectors/contacts that got wet to go bad.

A few wires might have smoked, taking their neighbors with them. Depending on
how accessible, that part could be an easy half day to weekend job. I haven't
repaired this type of thing for a very long time, and wiring may well be less
acessible now, so I could be off.

In article >, David wrote:

> A few wires might have smoked, taking their neighbors with them. Depending on
> how accessible, that part could be an easy half day to weekend job. I haven't
> repaired this type of thing for a very long time, and wiring may well be less
> acessible now, so I could be off.

On anything that new he'll be taking all sorts of trim pieces out of the
trunk and the back seat, package shelf, any side pieces, etc at minimum
just to check things out. It's not much more than what I've done to
properly wire a CD changer in the trunk, so it's not that bad. The work
IMO is replacing the contacts in the connectors/sockets. Pain in the ass
since they aren't designed to slide out easily. Some connectors have
tools to remove the contacts to make it not so bad. Would probably be
easier just splice in new ones. But yeah, if that doesn't have to be done
I agree it's not bad at all to do.

In article <yrdId.39748$06.19255@clgrps12>, says...
>
>
>I considering to resell a 2003 CHRYSLER Sebring purchased from a Manitoba
>insurance company for $3800CAD. It was a write-off due to some electrical
>system problem after the trunk portion was lowered into a lake and has been
>repaired. There is no visible damage to the car which only has 20k kms. It
>does not seem plausible that a car in such good shape could have been a
>write-off. I did call a dealer who said some wiring harnesses are $2000 each
>so I guess if the whole electrical system shorted out including the
>computers it may be possible. Any comments?

How do you know only the trunk went under? Water, and all the gunk it carries,
has a way of getting into all the nooks and cranies. I would be very leery
about buying such a car.
--------------
Alex

"Alex Rodriguez" > wrote in message
...
> In article <yrdId.39748$06.19255@clgrps12>, says...
>>
>>
>>I considering to resell a 2003 CHRYSLER Sebring purchased from a Manitoba
>>insurance company for $3800CAD. It was a write-off due to some electrical
>>system problem after the trunk portion was lowered into a lake and has
>>been
>>repaired. There is no visible damage to the car which only has 20k kms. It
>>does not seem plausible that a car in such good shape could have been a
>>write-off. I did call a dealer who said some wiring harnesses are $2000
>>each
>>so I guess if the whole electrical system shorted out including the
>>computers it may be possible. Any comments?
>
> How do you know only the trunk went under? Water, and all the gunk it
> carries,
> has a way of getting into all the nooks and cranies. I would be very
> leery
> about buying such a car.

No visible water damage, just wondering if it feasible that this could
result in 20k worth of electrical repair.