Flooded car? Get a good detailer

[jwgreen6]

On The Weather Channel there was a news segment about cars that were flooded during hurricane Sandy being resold as "good used cars". They wanted to test this by taking a flooded 2009 Toyota Camery to Perfect Auto Detaining in VA to see if people could tell the the car was flooded but restored.

After the Camery was detailed (apparently they disassembled the interior), they parked the target car between two certified used 2009 Camery's and asked average people if they could detect which one was the flooded car. Nobody chose the flooded car.

The intent of the news segment was to advise prospective buyers to have a licensed mechanic inspect the car before buying. My take on the news segment was if your car gets flooded, take it to a good detailer, like Perfect Auto Detailing.

 

[JSou]

That's interesting. I am trying to find the segment. If anyone finds it before me could they post it up?

 

[jwgreen6]

That's interesting. I am trying to find the segment. If anyone finds it before me could they post it up?

Here's the news segment in question.

 

[lyodbraun]

Nice post, but if the insurance of the original owner totaled them out, they would then need to have a salvage/rebuilt title, if they were to be resold... And also go through the state inspection they do...

 

[jwgreen6]

Nice post, but if the insurance of the original owner totaled them out, they would then need to have a salvage/rebuilt title, if they were to be resold... And also go through the state inspection they do...

While that's true, some of these flooded cars were being sold elsewhere in the US by "unscrupulous" car sellers as used, not flooded cars. If you run the VIN through carfax or autocheck, you might get lucky and find out that the car has a flooded/water damage/salvage title IF it was reported in that condition.

Not all states have vehicle inspections. Indiana used to many years ago but they stopped because of cost/political/insert-favorite-reason-here. 10 states, mostly in the Midwest, do not have any vehicle inspections.

If you know where to look and what to look for in a used car, you might be OK but I don't think buyers have the "I wonder if this car was flooded" question on their minds when inspecting a vehicle. I would like to see the car that was used in the demonstration be inspected by a certified mechanic to determine if it'd pass inspection. Not all mechanics know what to look for or where to look for repaired damage.

I guess you can call this one of the downsides of a capitalist society -- buyer beware.

 

[lyodbraun]

While that's true, some of these flooded cars were being sold elsewhere in the US by "unscrupulous" car sellers as used, not flooded cars. If you run the VIN through carfax or autocheck, you might get lucky and find out that the car has a flooded/water damage/salvage title IF it was reported in that condition.

Not all states have vehicle inspections. Indiana used to many years ago but they stopped because of cost/political/insert-favorite-reason-here. 10 states, mostly in the Midwest, do not have any vehicle inspections.

If you know where to look and what to look for in a used car, you might be OK but I don't think buyers have the "I wonder if this car was flooded" question on their minds when inspecting a vehicle. I would like to see the car that was used in the demonstration be inspected by a certified mechanic to determine if it'd pass inspection. Not all mechanics know what to look for or where to look for repaired damage.

I guess you can call this one of the downsides of a capitalist society -- buyer beware.

So very true....

 

[BillE]

Excellent post!

I really hate to think of the hidden damage from all that salt water that entered EVERYWHERE and EVERYTHING! All that sea water makes winter driving in the 'snow belt' pale by comparison.

Bill

 

[Stangysun]

I want to buy a salvage car and I found a lot of flooded cars at easyexport But I'm still in 2 minds, of course I'll stay away from Sandy cars as it was salt water flood, but I've read many times that fresh water flooding is not too bad, and people who buy them don't have big issues with the cars, do you think it's true?