Man bought $18,000 Toyota Camry TRD from New Mexico auction and it looked absolutely perfect until he opened the door

When this man bought a Toyota Camry TRD for just $18,000, he thought it was the deal of a lifetime.

The 2024 sedan had only 4,900 miles on the odometer and looked remarkably clean from the outside.

It even started without needing a jump, despite being listed by Copart as a water-damaged vehicle.

But once the doors opened, the evidence of its watery past became impossible to ignore.

The Toyota Camry TRD looked better on the outside

The Camry was purchased from a Copart auction in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after State Farm reportedly paid out $41,000 on the car.

The buyer immediately noticed that the driver’s seat would not move, suggesting the water had reached the seat motors.

There was also a clearly visible waterline running across the interior, roughly halfway up the rear seat.

Beneath the carpet, rust and corrosion began revealing just how much work was hiding underneath the seemingly pristine exterior.

The rebuild quickly turned into a much bigger project.

The seats had to be replaced, although the original black upholstery was transferred onto replacement seats.

Multiple wiring connectors near the A-pillars were badly corroded, forcing the team to cut, solder and bypass damaged connections.

The amplifier under the carpet was also ruined, while a fuse box and airbag control module had also suffered serious water damage.

Persistent errors made the restoration tricky

Even after replacing those components, the Camry refused to give up its secrets.

An airbag warning light became the biggest headache.

New crash sensors were installed, but the warning remained.

The team eventually took the car to Toyota for diagnostic work.

The culprit turned out to be surprisingly simple.

The replacement airbag computer installed during the rebuild had the wrong part number.

Once a correct brand-new module was installed, the warning lights disappeared and the car finally behaved itself.

After all the headaches, the Camry was put back together and sent for detailing.

The result was almost comically good.

With its gray paint, black accents, red seats, red seat belts and red brake calipers, the TRD looked like it had barely left the showroom.

Even the tires and brakes showed almost no wear, while the underside remained remarkably clean.

With just 5,000 miles, it was about as close to a nearly new Camry as a water-damaged auction car could get.

The $18,000 purchase certainly wasn’t the end of the spending, but after all that work, the once-flooded Camry emerged looking seriously sharp.

If you want to watch the full restoration process, you can check out the video below: