I've always wondered about flooded cars. What makes them impossible to fix? First I would think just letting it dry out would return it to its normal stature.

What about taking it entirely apart and rebuilding it. Does water do THAT much that taking it apart is even pointless?

If your serious, you better call first, you'd be surprised how much it might cost to restore it. Probably more than you pay for it, but that would depend on what one calls "restored"

Cars do not do well when dipped in water and if it's salt water the damage is so destructive it is near impossible to stop the progressive damage that continues once dry. I agree now that there is lots of evidence of this Diablo having been drowned. The carpet, corroded dash, corroded wheels, etc.
At $40,000 now, that should be all the money for this one.

The two biggest problems by far with flooded cars is:
1: The bearings can fail prematurely. If it is submerged enough to get water in the engine, trans., dif. plan on a preemptive rebuild or run it to failure which ever you prefer. This is why they salvage brand them because they can be running and driving fine but drive train failure is emanate.

2: Electrical. All the connectors can corrode and make bad connections. Parts with small circuitry can be ruined permanently. Read ECU may need replaced before the car will ever run again. Good thing is if it running you know that’s still good and with a little time you can go through and clean all the connecters and put electrical grease on them and your good there.

Seeing this car makes me wonder how many Diablos are still in a good shape (ie driveable) today, out of the roughly 3000 built ??

Definitely seems like a flooded car this one

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Car history :
2004 Renault Clio 1.6 (2004 - 2008)
1998 Porsche 996 C2 (2008 - 2010)
2007 Porsche 997 GT3 mk1 (2010 - present)
1999 Lamborghini Diablo SV (2012 - present)

Why else would the "flash" lights/fog lamps be replaced with those bizzaro aftermarket lights? They should just paint the bottom half of it red, like big ships' hulls under the waterline. They might actually have a bigger problem on their hands than they realize if a buyer comes away feeling deceived.

This could be a fun project for a true "do-it-yourselfer".

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95 Diablo VT

i am gonna buy it and hang it on my wall.

Wow, went for 58K. That's a bit more then I would have paid.

It'll be back on Ebay.