NOW in its 100th year of operation, Hayes Toyota has become well-equipped to deal with a flood no matter its size, especially the flood of the century.

Having spent a full day driving vehicles to higher ground ahead of the March 30 flood, dealer principal Bert Hayes said he was dismayed to learn people thought his cars had been damaged in the flood.

"We did not lose a car,” Mr Hayes said, referring to the amount of flood damage caused in South Murwillumbah.

"It appears the area has this impression that all of our cars got damaged.

"We've had a bit of a shock that so many people around our area went to Tweed to buy new cars last month after the flood.”

Mr Hayes said the team quickly jumped into action to save all of their vehicles, moving them to higher ground as soon as the flood warnings were issued.

"That was the first thing to do,” he said.

"We moved those and we took everything up to higher ground. We've experienced this over many years. The last time we experienced water to that extent was 1989.”

Having spent the night of the March 30 flood inside the dealership watching a 10km/hr current of water gush through his business, Mr Hayes said he was relieved nothing structural was damaged.

"We had 12 hours of water running through,” he said.

While everything was saved, Mr Hayes said a Toyota award plaque was the only thing they couldn't rescue but miraculously it survived.

"We finally got all of our awards off the wall but could not get that one down because the nut was all seized,” he said.

"We couldn't undo it and there wasn't time so I said it would be right but the next day it was gone.

"Then this fella walks in with it saying 'You fellas might want that'. I think he was a council worker and found it amongst a whole lot of rubbish on the other side of the river.”