Beware of a too good deal on a used car!

[Passepartout]

In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, hundreds of thousands of flooded cars will be 'repaired', or totaled and 'disposed' of. Their titles will note that they were flooded and totaled and/or repaired. That means many will be simply dried out, wholesaled, and transported across state lines where many will have their titles 'cleaned'. That is, the part about being flooded isn't necessarily part of the new, or 'salvage' title. That also doesn't include the parts that will be removed from flooded cars only to be sold all over the country to shops to put on wrecks.

All flooded cars aren't equal. Depending on whether the floodwater was salt, brackish, or fresh. How long it was in the water, how it was dried, whether the electronics under the hood or behind the dash got wet.

The least damaged of these cars will start showing up at auctions and on car lots fairly soon, and it will take some time (years) for these numbers to get through the marketplace. Just beware of what you are buying for some time. Question any car that doesn't have a clear title all the way back to the original one. Especially late model, very low mileage models should raise red flags. It will certainly make a CarFax search worthwhile.

Caveat Emptor. Buyer beware!

Here's a link for advice on what to do with a flooded car. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49656793#.UJQ-gdd8Z1E

Jim

 

[rhonda]

I was thinking the same earlier this week. After Katrina two of my neighbors found really great deals on tractors ... only to find out later that they had gone through Katrina.

 

[rosebud5]

How in the world did you ever come up with this thought?

Basically good info to know, but not something you wake up each morning thinking, even if you want to buy a used car.

Thanks for the insight!

 

[LUVourMarriotts]

I had this same thought about new cars. The reason is because Nissan sent out an email offering to anyone that lost a car to get one at employee pricing. The email goes on to say that several dealers in the area were effected by the storm. Will effected vehicles be part of the discount? I hope not.

 

[csxjohn]

How in the world did you ever come up with this thought?

Basically good info to know, but not something you wake up each morning thinking, even if you want to buy a used car.

Thanks for the insight!

This type of scamming has been going on for years. You read about it after most large disasters.

I remember reading about it after all the floods in the Midwest a few years ago, after Katrina and more before that. Of course I used to buy a lot of used cars so I was receptive to that kind of news.

One thing people were instructed to do was lift the carpeting up in the car and trunk to see if sand was present. Also to see if rust was starting inside.
As you can imagine, these thieves aren't the brightest so they don't always pay attention to details.

 

[Passepartout]

How in the world did you ever come up with this thought?

Partly from the above referenced link about what to do if your car was affected, and partly from TV coverage showing acres of cars submerged to their windshields. They gotta go somewhere and it isn't back to the builder to be refurbed.

We live in an area where cars just don't rust. No road salt, and very low humidity. When we see one on a used car lot with corrosion, we know it came from elsewhere.

Jim

 

[pjrose]

A few years ago we knowingly bought a car that had rust on some of the interior metal -- seat support components and the like. We were suspicious and got a Carfax report, which claimed the title was clean, no flood, no accidents, not salvaged, etc. It was a good price and we got enough miles out of it before selling it recently, but it had lots of peculiarities.

I'll bet the title wasn't properly updated or was cleaned somewhere along the way.

I was thinking that we should replace it quickly, before the "Sandy" cars hit the lots.

 

[csxjohn]

unscrupulous people who would do this sort of thing are not going to take the car to a shop that would make any kind of report that would show up on a Car Fax report.

Before the days of Car Fax I had a part time job of taking cars from a dealer, back and forth to an auto auction.

I drove one car that was an ADT vehicle that was in very rough condition to a body shop. I happened to be the one who went to pick it up. I couldn't believe my eyes.

Over 50,000 miles disappeared from the odometer and the car looked beautiful and ran like a dream.

That was the last car I drove for them and I still won't go to a used car lot to buy a car.