The wake of Hurricane Helene leaves behind leaves behind thousands of water-damaged cars, many of which may be cleaned up and find their way back to the vehicle resale market.
Don’t be tempted by the price.
Centreville, Virginia-based Carfax estimates close to 90,000 water damaged vehicles will be on the road after summer storms, on top of more than 400,000 already known about, including almost 13,000 in Maryland and Virginia.
Running a vehicle history report, like the free reports provided by Carfax, will flag water damage, but unscrupulous sellers often clean them up and pass them off as undamaged, without filing an insurance claim.
“If there is no insurance claim, it is a lot harder, it is more difficult to find out whether or not a car has had water damage,” said Em Nguyen at Carfax.
In addition to a vehicle history report, it is always a good idea to enlist the aid of a mechanic, potentially water-damaged or not, when buying a used vehicle. And there may be signs of damage even an untrained eye can spot, like mismatched carpet, mud in places not expected, rust on an otherwise relatively new vehicle, brittle wires under the dash, or a musty smell.
Severe water damage to a vehicle may cause electrical and mechanical problems right away, but many of those problems could be ticking time bombs that don’t manifest until much later. Aside from mechanical or electrical problems, they can also be a safety hazard.
“If there is a little bit of rust, or issues with the pedals, you can think about systems like faulty automatic braking. Or, you can even think about EVs. If there is a lot of water in there, there damage could be deadly. The battery could experience what’s called thermal runaway or even short-circuit, and that can spark a fire,” Nguyen said.
States do have consumer protection laws, such as lemon laws, that protect buyers from vehicles that don’t meet safety standards, though ultimately they may not have much teeth when it comes to a used vehicle.
“Ultimately, while these laws are trying to hold dealers responsible, many of them slap on the term that we’ve heard, ‘as is,’ or ‘with all faults,’” Nguyen said.
Texas and Florida have the most water-damaged cars on the road, according to Carfax, but regardless of where flood damage occurs, those vehicles can end up on the resale market anywhere in the U.S.
A free flood report is available, with a VIN, at Carfax online.
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