Something to watch out for!

[szh]

A recent article in the local paper said something that gave me pause!

Apparently, after some natural disasters, there is an influx of used cars on the market hurt from the damage. Often, these are flooded vehicles that have been cleaned up a bit and then put through re-titling in states that are lax. Means you can end up buying a car that has the potential for serious problems down the road!

Since over 500,000 cars are estimated to have been under water recently, it was predicted that there would be a significant number of cars showing up on the used car market in the next few months. While this may drive the prices down, you may not be getting a real deal for a car that will last!

Buyer beware!

Z

[Mr1der]

yeah...it's very possible.

ask to look at the title before you buy something too god to be true.

I think the title has to state it's salvaged...think anyway...

[Rex]

yeah...it's very possible.

ask to look at the title before you buy something too god to be true.

I think the title has to state it's salvaged...think anyway...

His point is there are some states with lax titling/re-titling laws, which can allow the title to "appear" clean.

[gabossie]

carfax would still show something like this though correct?

[Rex]

Not necessarily.

FL and TX have a rep for being the most "workable". There have been discussions and horror stories across the 'net. Hard to say how much is real and how much is urban legend, but I recall finding some langauge on the FL DMV (or whatever it's called) that basically conferred.

[szh]

His point is there are some states with lax titling/re-titling laws, which can allow the title to "appear" clean.

Exactly! The "salvage" cars end up becoming "clean" again and get sold as "normal" used cars or for parts.

Z

[szh]

carfax would still show something like this though correct?

Not necessarily, unfortunately! Particularly if the write-off is fairly recent (like recently flooded cars in LA and MS) and the car is being put through a re-title process in the states that do not check carefully or report to Carfax.

EDIT: Oops, did not see that Keith (Rex) said the same thing too before I responded.

Z

[Sirikool]

wow. good info. i didn't even hear about this. now i'll be more careful when looking for another project car.

[szh]

now i'll be more careful when looking for another project car.

Exactly the reason for my post! Yes, please be careful!

I think that the used car market will get the "cleaned" cars first and then parts may/will be sold later. The article writer felt that electrical parts would be the most suspect after lengthy submersion in water - ECU's, guages, etc. Makes sense to me.

Z

[Bronze MFP]

remember kids, if it smells like moldy ***, it's probably been under water

[skylndrftr]

anyone for a shell or two out of this?

i mean they are painted and they were only under "water (i don't think what covered NO really qualifies there more like "death soup") a couple weeks can't be in that bad shape. Pull everything off and you have a nice drifin/drag racing/ road racing shell for cheaper than you would normally pay because of the influx lately