Hurricane Helene flooded my 996tt

The recent hurricane brought a 10+ foot storm surge to my house on the Gulf of Mexico. Water entered my garage and got under the seats of my 996tt but not above. Car does not start. Because of this forum I knew it was a ruined immobilizer module. I wanted to remove it but both seats were all the way back so I could not remove the 4 torx bolts that hold the seats. Under the seat bottoms are 2 white clips with a white pin on each. I pulled the pins, 2 for each seat on the left and right, and levered off the clips. The bottom seat cushion pulls up exposing the seat drive motors. I did a jumper wire to the correct electical clips that power the motors to move the seats. Then the 4 bolts to each seat could be exposed. Except the passenger side would move back but not forward. However, I post that there is another way if the motors are dead which was the case on my passenger side. Remove the correct motor which is held in place by 2 torx bolts, one on top and one on the bottom. The motor then easily pulls off exposing a small threaded rod which had gone into the center of the motor. It is small in diameter and about 3 inches long. Next, put the chuck of your electical drill over the rod and tighten down the drill chuck. Spin the drill and the seat moves forward or back depending on which direction you have the drill spinning. Then I was able to get the four bolts holding the seat to the body. I will send my immobilizer to a shop in Florida with my ecu and keys to get a new immobilizer coded. Also, my driver seat module caught on fire when I powered it up, so I will be on the hunt for one of those on EBAY. I have contacted my insurance company which thinks the car is totaled because of the salt water. Could I please get opinions on whether to total it out, or keep it with a settlement? It is a 2004 996tt black cabriolet with 75,000 miles.

THere is no question in my mind that the car is totaled. That problem is the tip of the iceberg.

How much would it cost to buy it back?

I would total it out. Gonna be a lot of issues, and to get it back to what it was before the damage would take a parts car in better condition that your damaged car.

Not repairable. It's the salt water. Everything corroded. Even if the immobilizer was mounted in the dash, the car is a total loss. The frame will rust, the floor will rust out. The wires will all have to be replaced.

Thank you for your comments. I am still waiting on the insurance guy to come over, so I don't know the buy back price. This hurts. On the bright side I was looking to get a coupe to do some track days, low key. I will keep my eyes out for another one, not from Florida. Next time I will move the next car to safer ground. Last hurricane we had big storm surge and I got nothing in my garage, so I was neglectful and lazy.

Ah, that sucks, sorry to hear that Helene has done that to you Hopefully that's the only thing you've lost. I've no real constructive advice beyond passing it on to one of the YouTube channels to get them to do a repair series on it, then take it back off of them afterwards. Boom, free repairs!

I also want to mention that the frunk is dry even after pulling the spare tire which sits low in the frunk. I washed the underside and the engine was not flooded. Seems a waste of a great Metzker engine to total this car.. You can see I am having a hard time letting go.

Quotes source post: 19676089

Could always take it to the shop and just see. If you don't plan on reselling, could hold onto it.

The key to abating salt water immersion is speed in cleaning and drying everything. The problem is you have an insurance adjuster coming, so you really don't want to do anything before they get there and that may be a bit of tine because you are not the only one with weather related problems. Even if you buy it back you get a title that either states salvage or destruction. The latter is not something you want if you plan to buy it back. So be careful. If the insurance company gets it, it goes on auction to recyclers, but there have been independent dealers that buy these cars and refurbish them (on the cheap) with salvage or worse titles). There is a number of threads of a guy (in Italy, I think) that pulled a 993 out of a river after it was submerged for a year. That's a labor of love and rising to a challenge that is going to be much more expensive than buying two 993s. Everything was stripped to the bone and either rebuilt, replaced, or refinished. Technically, you can do it and I suspect that the real damage is not all that bad, but there will be surprises. So, you need to consider what you are willing to put yourself through. As a too late suggestion, next storm put your car on a lift. Even a lowly set of jack stands would probably spared you some grief. Good luck with the car and your house. Rotten storm, even my son in South Carolina got some significant damage to his house with a downed tree.

Its likely a car that should be torn down for spares, at least the parts that didn't get immersed would be usable, although the longer that stuff sits with the adjacent saltwater parts you might get corrosion creep. If you have the room and the buyback price is not excessive, you could tear down and keep the hard parts, like the fenders bumpers, glass, even the seats without the motors are likely salvageable, are you the guy to do all that and either sell parts over the course of several years? or buy a Turbo couple with some body damage and you would have the parts on hand to fix it, all these ideas are a lot of work and heartache, im not that guy, in 2016 here in Louisiana we had a rain event, about 80,000 homes flooded including ours with our brand new 1,400 mile Hellcat, 36 inches of water in our garage, and 30 inches in our home, car was totaled of course, i let it go and was glad to do it... then the bandaid has been ripped off and you can start to heal, everytime you look at those parts or that car, you will know water got it...

I still have not heard from insurance guy yet. I am sure he is busy. I pulled up carpets from the sides and back and propped both sides up and still wet despite running fans for 5 days. I have not ripped it out because I want the insurance guy to see it like it is, but it bothers me that I can't do more. I am in the market for a 996tt hard top. I have reluctantly realized it cannot be saved by me.

If they sell it back to you very cheaply, it might be worth keeping for the engine, transmission, etc. But yes, salt water is very rough.

Quotes source post: 19676628

Sorry to hear about your car. Hopefully the insurance company doesn't give you much problem.

Quotes source post: 19676937

These things are all relative, once you get your car chapter closed, you will be able to move on... then you can enjoy the search for the perfect Coupe...

Sorry this happened to you. I luv 996 TT's, what a loss... Insurance should cover it real good. Make sure to get good highest comparison values in your area to show the adjuster. When my boat got damaged at the dock when it broke a pylon off and got slightly banged up some years ago when Willma came thru, Allstate adjuster wrote me a huge much more than sufficient check right at the dock. Had the check book with him when he came down to my dock. Ready to go, lol... jmo

This is how you save a Porsche from the flood !! If you can buy the TT back for a reasonable cost you could always make Track Weapon out of it....Strip about 200lbs of unnecessary stuff out of it, then take the main wiring harness connectors and clean and treat them and put it on the Track !! I have repaired quite a few flood cars, one time the Porsche Driving School Cars were flooded at Barbers Motorsport Park, they have a half dozen sitting on the infield and a drain pipe stopped up and flooded the area...It was all fresh water so no big deal...just dry everything out and send some stuff to be cleaned and replace quite a few electronic components...But Salt Water is something else...

I mean if you really love the car... You Tube Just sayin.....

Ok, so the appraiser wants pictures, so the process has started. Question. I know I will only get cabriolet money although it is manual. I want to get a coupe, and I do like the 996tt. Since, I will have to add money from my settlement should I get another turbo that has already got coilovers,exhaust, tune, pinned coolant lines, maybe upgraded turbos and intercoolers that has higher mileage(>60,000) or should I get a bone stock one with lower mileage(<60,000) and upgrade as needed for my intented use? I would like to do some track days. We have the FIRM and Sebring within a couple of hours from me. I had hoped to add a Z4m coupe to use as a track car before all this happened since "people" did not think a 996tt was a good track car especially my cabriolet. What would you do with the settlement money?

Get the best maintained car you can. Mileage is not necessarily a good barometer for how well the car will fare. It has been said that you are actually "buying" the previous owner. Of course, I am partial to the GT3, but you have to consider what your tracking goals are. Don't discount the Cayman, or better yet, the GT4 for track use, either. Lastly, settlement prices are subject to negotiation. If you have lawyer-friend you can tap into, sometimes a simple letter can make a significant difference.

A friend lost his 2004 GT3 due to salt water intrusion, so sad. Rich

Quotes source post: 19678294

Whats your intended use?, if its mostly road and a few track days a year, or is it mostly track and some road use... I think the 996 Turbo is the Porsche bargain, the 996 GT3 is already over 100k, I think i would buy the best i could afford, stretch my budget a bit...if the right car comes along...i would try to avoid these high end dealers that add a ton of profit into a sale, but they often have some nice cars.. like someone said your buying the previous owner, if you can find a mid mileage car, with a lot of the heavy maintenance already done that's worth something, definitely take your time and get something you really can fall in love with, Outside color would be important for me but not the deciding factor over condition and maintenance, has to be manual for investment purposes, the right car at the right price and the car will take car of you financially, (i'm talking a 996 Turbo) i don't mean you will retire from the profit, but you should do ok from a depreciation standpoint..enjoy the journey whatever you decide you can turn this negative into a positive experience.

Quotes source post: 19679340

Not so much now. Prices are receding in the last few months. While pristine examples can fetch over $100K, more reasonable examples are in the $70s. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...e-911-gt3-102/ Now, Bring-a-trailer prices tend to be higher than private sales, but due to the lower production numbers you need to be patient.

Thank you for your responses. I am enjoying looking at different sites at ones for sale. I have seen 2 adds that say one owner. If that owner is like me and you guys, the car will have been well loved and serviced. It seems that most are silver. I am more a black(although requires alot of cleaning and polishing, red or white guy. I rarely see red or white. I have to remind myself to be patient. Still waiting on appraiser. I have steam cleaned inside and underneath my car many times. I have not moved it from the garage, it does not start and I have the seats out. I really want to pressure wash it. I know it may be leaving, but it deserves to be treated well considering the joy it gave me. If the price is right, I would like to buy it back. My needs are mostly street with a few track days a year.

I have rebuilt 6 salvage titled cars. 2 BMW 330s, an 05 Range Rover, a Mercedes SL600, and 2 1999 Porsche 996s. The last 996 that I rebuilt, I documented here in a thread titled "burnt 996 rebuild". My only problem with rebuilding salvage titled cars is I have a tough time parting with them. I still own three of the salvage titled cars. I wouldn't hesitate to buy back your turbo. Obviously, you have no problem working on cars. It sounds like you had very minor water damage. I would remove the interior of your car, as soon as your insurance permits and see how bad the damage is. The biggest advantage of buying your car back, is it has never been lifted by a forklift. My first 996 project I bought from a salvage yard. The forklift did a number on the floor pans. The second 996 (that I still have and probably will never part with) I bought from a friend after a dashboard fire. Good luck with your decision. Don't let people scare you into selling a car that you love. If you rebuild it, make sure you take lots of pictures of the rebuild. if you decide to sell it down the road, just be sure to disclose it's history. I never had a problem selling a salvage titled car. I'm sorry that you suffered damage from the hurricane. I'm glad you and your family are ok.

So out here on the west coast at least if the insurance company total the car due to water damage, its a full total, Most insurance companies will not insure a vin listed as flood damaged. So there is no rebuilding it, it's a parts car. You'll have to see what the adjuster says.

At the time I rebuilt the 6 salvaged cars, I was living in CA. I bought cars from Seattle, Portland, and Sacramento. Two were burn victims, two were accident damage, one was vandalism, and one was flood/water damage. I had State Farm insurance, AAA insurance, and Progressive insurance. None of them cared that they were salvage titled cars. The only issue that I found with salvage titled cars is you cannot finance them. In CA, a vehicle either has a clear title or a salvage title. DMV in CA and Idaho do not know why a car carries a salvage title. I bought most of my project cars from the insurance auction, IAAI. They are nationwide. I have seen salvage cars for sale in Florida that carry a "for destruction only" notation on the title. I believe that notation is frequently used on biohazard vehicles.

RE: My post above,, Oregon now has a specific Flood Damage Brand they attach to the title,, I forgot to mention that, I also heard Florida and a couple other states were taking a lot of federal heat for selling flood cars out of state without a brand.. I owned 1 flood car many years ago, I eventually ripped the entire electrical system out of the car and rewired it. I didn't know it was a flood car when I bought it but while working under the dash noticed a high water line up near the top of the cowl. Luckily there was a complete car that had been tboned in the local U-pullit and I was able to salvage the whole harness.

PDX, sorry that happened to you. The flood car that I rebuilt was 1999 Mercedes SL600. I would never knowingly buy another flood car. The gentleman who has the turbo seems reasonably sure that the water only made it over the door sill. If it made it up to the dashboard, I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

The funny part is it was a 78 MGB... Like it didn't have enough electrical problems in the first place.. LOL Heck I was young and in the military. Only took about 4 days to swap and rewire it all, Ended up with a pile of extra wires but every thing still worked..

You might want to read this: https://floridafasttitle.com/title-g...-salvage-title https://cartitles.com/certificate-of...tle-explained/ There are two different types of titles (a salvage title or a certificate of destruction), besides the normal one you hold now. The meaning for those two cited in the link are different for different states, so you need to do your homework before taking on any project that has a salvage title or a certificate of destruction. It may impose on your future plans, like moving to a new state where vehicle laws differ. Additionally, you should get to know your rights with respect to how insurance companies deal with a claim. In Ohio, for example, I essentially totaled a 964, but bargained with the adjuster to not total it under the proviso that I was responsible for a portion of the repairs. Your rights may vary depending on where you live. So, if you have any interest in saving the car I would suggest that you let the adjuster make an offer, but do not make an agreement at that time. Consult an attorney with the offer and explain what you want. It will be worth the hour of cost the attorney charges.

I'd love to know how much they would sell it back to you. I've been thinking about replacing my m96 in my narrow body with a turbo Mezger (gearbox, engine mounts and all) once the m96 is finally done. Having had both I prefer the narrow body. No I haven't thought about what would be done with the intercoolers and ecu - solve those problems when I find a suitable donor!

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-gt2-...8-996-ctr.html Here is your turbo drivetrain into a narrow body 996. Pete did an amazing job.

Wow - what a build! A little overwhelming really. Maybe the easier option would be to get a turbo coupe and just stick some narrow body fenders on it and backdate the rest to look like a �99

I just got an email from appraiser. Actually it came from Copart Texas that must work with my insurer USAA. They offered $52,000. It is a manual cabriolet, so I think that is good. It had 75,000 miles and was stock. Not even an exhaust. I will call Monday to see what buy back is? The engine was great as was the transmission. It would be a great parts car.