Ghosts of Irene: how to avoid flood-damaged car

As millions of Americans continue to clean up from Hurricane Irene, and their homes and life back together, one Freedman impact will be a new wave of floods damaged cars as its time on the market of used cars.

Create a pool of flood cars that will blow the wet Spring brought floods in many parts of the country, further remains of Irene. This means at a time when many people will be necessary cheap transport, there will be a very inappropriate cars on the market. And water damaged cars are not restricted to storm regions. Often, such cars are moved in lines of the State where they can be re-titled with a clean bill of health, which means all used cars preferred national must be careful.

Tens of thousands of them have been sent to other countries after being flooded in Louisiana and other southern States after Hurricane Katrina, and unfortunately, that situation is likely to play himself this time around.

Problem is, flood damage can be difficult to spot, but can be distinguished by the vehicle and cause ongoing problems for the rest of the operation of the car. Flood damage can ruin electronics can contaminate lubricants and threaten to mechanical systems, often without leaving outward. It may take months for the initial corrosion to find their way to the computer systems of the car or cushion controllers.

If you are shopping for a car, be sure to check with your State Department of motor vehicles, to see what the laws are on the re-use titling vehicles. Sites such as Carfax can help you learn the history of the vehicle, but our experience shows does not always tell the whole story. Think free VINCheck of national insurance Crime Bureau or a database on national information systems of the title of the motor vehicle for the Federal Government. (Read: "don't expect any history of used cars reports.")

As always our advice is to have a used car inspected by a mechanic before you buy. And here are some tips to help you look for telltale signs yourself.

Look under carpets to see if they are wet, damp or muddy. check screws for mounting the seat, to see whether there is evidence that they have been removed. To completely dry carpets, seats must be abolished--not something similar with as part of normal maintenance. Inspect the lights. Lights are expensive to replace, and waterline may still show in the frame of the glass or reflector. inspect the car in difficult to clean places, such as the disparities between the panels in the trunk and while under the hood. Mud and water-borne waste may still cling to these places. search for mud or debris of the lower edges of brackets or panels, where it naturally could not settle on air look heads of screws, painted, exposed in the dashboard; they may show signs of rust. check in rubber channel is included under the car and the bottoms of the doors. If they look as if they were removed soon, it may be carried out to floodwater. If you want to deeper, remove the door panel to see if there is a sign of water inside of it.

If they are from the area impacted by flood or a hurricane and have a car for sale, which is not damaged, you should know that buyers may still suspect that was. Consider having a mechanic inspect the car before selling it so that it may represent potential buyers with a clean bill of health.

See our tips for buying used cars, reviews, and recommendations.

– Jeff Bartlett

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