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Tropical Storm Fred Means A Strained Used Car Market Will Be Awash in Damaged Vehicles

As flooding and torrential rain pounds coastal areas and interior cities across the U.S., car buyers looking for a used vehicle in an already tight and overpriced market will need to be particularly vigilant.
Flooded car 6 photos
Photo: Consumer reports
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While a basic check, from services such as the National Insurance Crime Bureau VINCheck or Carfax, can provide some peace of mind, there are a number of ways sellers and dealers can hide flood and water damage from buyers.

The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System allows consumers to create background checks for a vehicle and reveal instances of “title washing.” Cars that have been ‘totaled’ from water or flood damage can receive ‘clean’ titles in states which lack strong regulations to stop the practice. Many of these states are in the southern U.S. where flood and water damage are most likely to occur.

Carfax does offer a free flood damage check as part of their vehicle history reports which purports to reveal the ‘possible flood damage,’ but the notation is based on location and history for the car’s registered address at various moments when flooding or hurricanes occurred.

These vehicle history reports are hardly comprehensive and offer no guarantee that a vehicle will be free of water damage, but they do help in screening potential cars for such problems. Ultimately, a detailed inspection is a consumer’s best protection.

In cases where a vehicle’s owner failed to have comprehensive insurance coverage or damage to a car didn’t exceed a certain level of cost to repair, those rides might avoid a requirement to get a ‘salvage’ or ‘branded’ title which would suggest water damage. And just a few states offer a ‘flood’ that requires any flood damage to be revealed.

Chasing down the glitches and problems caused to a vehicle’s electrical system caused by water damage can be a horror for a mechanic and may result in a lengthy - and expensive - process to repair.

Spotting water or flood damage to a car can be difficult, but Consumer Reports offers some tips to make the search more effective.

You can begin by examining the vehicle’s carpets and upholstery for signs they may have been waterlogged or put off a musty smell, but brand-new carpets in an older vehicle could also offer a clue. Freshly installed or rusty seat-mounting screws can also act as a tipoff. Visible waterlines on the lens inside a headlight or taillight reflector can provide information as well. If the bottom edges of brackets or panels are dirty or muddy? The car may have been underwater.

If the rubber drain plugs on a car’s underside and at the bottom of each door look fresh and new, that work was likely done to drain floodwater.

Source: Consumer Reports
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