Flood damage concerns

YUKON67

MEMBER
OLDSMOBILE

I am considering trading my 1995 Nissan Sentra GXE 97,000 miles. Even up for a 1992 Olds 88 Royale 154,000 miles. The two cars book bout evenly nada. My concern is that the olds has been in a flood. There was water under the spare in the trunk well and it was wet under the rear seat. Also there was a couple inches of sand residue in the outer part of the fender panel. The brake light came on while we were test driving it but had not been on before and it was driven here from out of state.( Approx. Ten hours ). The brake fluid is full. The oil checked out clean and the spark plugs checked out greyish/brown (burning normal). I have read that electrical problems can occur down the road. I guess my real concern is that although the car seems in fairly good operating condition at the present, should I be concerned about potential problems down the road? I appreciate your quickest response as I only have a day or so to decide if I want to do the trade. Thanks!

1 Reply

SERVICE WRITER

MECHANIC
9,123 POSTS

My experience with those two vehicles lead me to you keeping the sentra. Espeically with the age, miliage differences and the flood problem.

If the water was salt water definitly expect future electrical problems.

It may not have been in a flood but may have a leak causing the water accumulation. Same with the sand, may have been driven in an area that has particulates that are getting trapped because of a wind flow.

The brake light may be from a sagging emergency brake pedal.

Should have it looked at and evaluated by a good technician first if you are still leaning towards a trade.