Buying a Florida car?

[rodneybeauchamp]

Hi all,

am looking to purchase a 1998 or 1999 Buick Riviera in the future and do see some advertised from Florida. There are also others in the ‘90s with low miles that are interesting.

 

I understand a few years ago parts of Florida experienced terrible flooding with many cars being submerged with obvious problems. However I understand many cars were dried out and on sold to unsuspecting new owners.

 

How could you be assured that the car was not one of these apart from not buying from that state, especially as I am unable to inspect in person as I am based in Australia.

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀

 

[46 woodie]

Rodney, at the very least I would hire someone to do a professional, documented appraisal of any car. True, Florida is located in the hurricane belt, but car's from Florida also are affected from a mix of salt air and high humidity. My friends in Florida are constantly having to maintain their cars almost on a daily basis.

[TAKerry]

I suppose the bottom line is doing your best investigation before laying down the cash. There are carfax reports and such in regards to insurance claims in regards to whether a car was 'totaled' out due to any circumstance including a flood. I honestly do not remember any major flooding in Florida to make that as much of a concern. There were a couple of bad ones in Texas, Houston area a few years ago and I saw pictures of literally acres of damaged cars waiting to be hauled off to who knows where?  That is a type of car an older person would have had and I always thought to myself buying a later model luxury vehicle i.e. Caddy, Lincoln, Buick, etc from Florida would be a good place to start looking. My 77 car came from Florida and had spent its entire life around the gulf coast and it was full of rust. I have had others say Florida cars dont rust but I would argue that point.

[MikeC5]

Right, a car doesn't have to be flooded to be a rust bucket.  If it lives near the coast, salty air infiltrates and any unpainted surfaces will rust.  It tends to occur from the top down as salt laden moist air condenses on inner body surfaces instead of rust belt cars where they rust from the bottom up due to salted roads.  Maybe inspection of hard to reach places with a bore scope might help reveal hidden rust.

[kgreen]

Rust occurs, but really varies by regions within Florida. All of my dads tools in central Florida had surface rust.  I bought cars that spent many years in south Florida and had no rust issues. 

 

Slightly off topic: One peculiarity to prewar cars in south Florida is drywood termite damage.  Wood bodied cars can suffer incredible damage from these insects.  The range of occurrence for drywood termites extends roughly from the coast beginning in South Carolina around Florida and all the way to Texas.  Then the same problem picks up in southern CA at least up to San Francisco.  

 

As has been said above, nothing beats a personal inspection by a knowledgeable person(s).

[Ed Luddy]

Have someone check the Riv out in Florida and make sure they take underdash pictures. That will show any rust damage from flooding. Also check the the crappy space age dash CRT screen for function. I did really like these cars years ago, until I owned a few.

[John_S_in_Penna]

1 hour ago, Ed Luddy said:

...Also check the the crappy space age dash CRT screen for function. 

Ed, the touch-screen (cathode ray tube) in the dashboard

ended after the 1989 model year.  No need to check those

in 1998-1999 Rivieras!

[TTR]

On 5/20/2022 at 3:32 AM, rodneybeauchamp said:

Hi all,

am looking to purchase a 1998 or 1999 Buick Riviera in the future and do see some advertised from Florida. There are also others in the ‘90s with low miles that are interesting.

 

I understand a few years ago parts of Florida experienced terrible flooding with many cars being submerged with obvious problems. However I understand many cars were dried out and on sold to unsuspecting new owners.

 

How could you be assured that the car was not one of these apart from not buying from that state, especially as I am unable to inspect in person as I am based in Australia.

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀

 

As mentioned by others, in some cases a Carfax report might reveal claims/damages on a given vehicle, but in my opinion, it might be best talk to your local (AUS) car guys who have purchased and imported cars from U.S. and specifically FL, to find out if anyone recommends a knowledgable & trustworthy individual(s) in FL who can act as your agent/inspector.

 

I would highly recommend NOT contracting any so-called appraisers/inspectors without (several) independent verifications by individuals you personally know and/or trust.

I've encountered some very highly regarded, nationally accredited professional appraisers with decades of experience, whom I quickly learned aren't as knowledgable as people seem to believe or think.

YMMV.

 

P.S. 30+ years ago I made a living by acting as an agent here in California for people in Europe looking to buy (mostly vintage) cars and other vehicles (boats, motorcycles, trucks, etc) or parts for them.

It all started with few friends I grew up with wanting said vintage cars and soon, by only word-of-mouth recommendations (in Europe), grew enough that in about 5 years I supplied close to 1000 vehicles, of which 99+% met or exceeded recipients expectations. 

 

Edited May 21, 2022 by TTR (see edit history)

[Ed Luddy]

18 hours ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

Ed, the touch-screen (cathode ray tube) in the dashboard

ended after the 1989 model year.  No need to check those

in 1998-1999 Rivieras!

Sorry! I misread, thinking he was looking for an 89 Riv. A 98 or 99 are a much nicer car all around. Had a few of them, 96-7's. Here in Canada you have to really watch for rusty front engine cradle/subframes and fuel/brake lines. The superchargers tend to rattle and throw belts when pushed hard but these are a great driver!

[John_S_in_Penna]

7 hours ago, Ed Luddy said:

Sorry! I misread, thinking he was looking for an 89 Riv.  A 98 or 99 are a much nicer car all around. Had a few of them, 96-7's.

I have a 1995 Riviera, the first of this rounded style.

It's in excellent shape, with mileage quite low.  Most

noteworthy to me is that it has a cloth 60/40 seat,

with the gear-shift on the steering column.  I think

95% of them had the console with the shifter there,

and mine feels more spacious because of the wide-open

seat.

 

I think 1995-1999 Rivieras can have some electrical

gremlins.  Mine has had a couple, and Consumer Reports

didn't give them a good rating in the "electrical" category. 

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[Mike Dube]

We recently moved to NE Florida, about 5 miles from the beach as the crow flies. There are a lot of clean decent old cars in the area, I think the key is not being right on the coast.  In my opinion being just a few miles inland helps a lot.  Under no circumstances never ever drive a car you care about on the beach.

Edited May 22, 2022 by Mike Dube (see edit history)

[Paul Dobbin]

On 5/20/2022 at 6:32 AM, rodneybeauchamp said:

Hi all,

am looking to purchase a 1998 or 1999 Buick Riviera in the future and do see some advertised from Florida. There are also others in the ‘90s with low miles that are interesting.

 

I understand a few years ago parts of Florida experienced terrible flooding with many cars being submerged with obvious problems. However I understand many cars were dried out and on sold to unsuspecting new owners.

 

How could you be assured that the car was not one of these apart from not buying from that state, especially as I am unable to inspect in person as I am based in Australia.

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀

 

 

On 5/20/2022 at 6:32 AM, rodneybeauchamp said:

Hi all,

am looking to purchase a 1998 or 1999 Buick Riviera in the future and do see some advertised from Florida. There are also others in the ‘90s with low miles that are interesting.

 

I understand a few years ago parts of Florida experienced terrible flooding with many cars being submerged with obvious problems. However I understand many cars were dried out and on sold to unsuspecting new owners.

 

How could you be assured that the car was not one of these apart from not buying from that state, especially as I am unable to inspect in person as I am based in Australia.

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀

 

   Rodney,

   In 1995 I bought a 1991 Riviera in FloridA WITH 98,000 miles.  It was like new and the lady that had owned it drove long didtance to work & back

   and kept itin a garage at both ends of the trip.   My research found that ther earler ones had electrical peoblems that were all corrrected by 1991.

   I kep it about 5 years and the only trouble I had was with the air operated rear suspension.   I called it High Ass syndrom.   Mine was pearlesent       whlte with tan leather interior and a car phone.  I loved the car.  I also kept it garaged and never had any othe issues with it.   Florida is not

   hard on cars, unless you leave them outside.  Good Luck.

[rodneybeauchamp]

Hi all,

many thanks. When I’m ready I might contact the ROA and place an advert with them. A fellow Aussie I spoke with at our recent Buick Nationals took this approach with three successful purchases.

cheers

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀😀