Hurricanes and floods have been in the news a lot lately, from the enormous amounts of rain dropped by Hurricane Harvey to the immense devastation left behind by Hurricane Maria. In Houston alone, authorities estimated that some half million cars were flooded, and insurance companies are scrambling to deal with all those claims.
Unfortunately, some of those vehicles are likely to end up on the used car market, and not all of them will have their past flooding disclosed. While there are consumer protection laws in place to prevent these formerly flooded vehicles from entering the market, those laws are not always strictly enforced. If you are in the market for a used car, truck or SUV, you need to do your homework, and you need to know what to look for.
Use Your Nose
One of the first signs of a flooded vehicle is the presence of mold, and your nose can be your best friend in detecting it. Smell the interior of the vehicle carefully; if you small a musty odor, chances are the vehicle has been flooded at one time or another.
You can also look for visible signs of mold, especially around the carpets and under the seats. Any signs of mold should be a deal killer; there are plenty of non-flooded vehicles on the used car market.
Get a Vehicle History Report
It is always important to get a full vehicle history report on any car you are considering, but it is even more vital when you suspect flood damage. Read the vehicle report carefully, and watch out for things like rebuilt titles and insurance reconstruction. These could be signs that the vehicle you have your eye on is on the market because of prior flooding.
You can also look at the history of the vehicle and its location. A vehicle that comes from a flood-damaged area like the Florida Keys or Houston, Texas should always be suspect, especially if it suddenly shows up hundreds or thousands of miles away.
In a perfect world, every flooded vehicle would be declared a total loss. The vehicle would be immediately removed from the market and destroyed. The insurance company would pay the owner for its fair market value, that individual would go out and buy a replacement vehicle and that would be that.
In the real world, unscrupulous individuals often try to take advantage of natural disasters, buying flooded vehicles in bulk, cleaning them up and sending them around the country for resale. By the time the new owners find out about the flooding, the deal is done, and they are left with a vehicle that will be prone to electrical problems and other serious issues for years to come. If you want to avoid this problem, you need to protect yourself and know what to look for. The tips listed above can help with that protection, so you can get a quality vehicle for a price you can afford.
