Posted on 09/19/2021 4:48:15 PM PDT by blam
A CARFAX spokesperson warned this week that a couple of hundred thousand used cars from the Tri-state area and Gulf Coast states are about to hit the market, and there’s a risk many of them are flood-damaged from Hurricane Ida.
“Our data suggest that unsuspecting buyers everywhere are at risk of winding up with a previously flooded car,” said Chris Basso, CARFAX spokesperson.
“The real danger is that these cars may look fine and run well for a while, but sooner rather than later major problems are likely to occur. Flooded cars literally rot from the inside out and the damage is often difficult for untrained eyes to detect,” Basso said.
CARFAX data estimates as many as 212,000 flood-damaged cars from New York City, New Jersey, and Louisiana are likely to be hitting the market. Some of these could be sold by con men and mispresented.
“Con men look for opportunities to clean up flooded cars and move them to areas where flooding is less prominent and where consumers are less likely to look for flood damage on the car they’re buying,” said Basso.
The timing of flood-damaged cars hitting the market comes as the Manheim U.S. Used Vehicle Value Index, a measure of wholesale used cars, increased 3.6% in the first 15 days of September compared with the same period last month, again back near all-time highs. Used car prices are likely to remain elevated this fall due to snarled supply chains and a shortage of materials (such as semiconductors) for new car production, which pushed dealer inventories to all-time lows…
More and more people are purchasing cars on the secondary market instead of new ones because of limited inventory, making them susceptible to owning a lemon.
CARFAX told potential buyers of used cars to check the seven signs of a flooded car:
2.Loose, stained, or mismatched upholstery and carpeting 3.Damp carpets
4.Rust around doors, under the dashboard, on the pedals, or inside the hood and trunk latches
5.Dried mud or silt in the glove compartment or under the seats 6.Brittle wires under the dashboard
7.Fog or moisture beads in the interior lights, exterior lights, or instrument panel
“Flood” the market....http://www.lerctr.org/~transit/healy/funny.wav
Yup, those cars will be headed North and the Northeast flood cars will be headed South. At least the car carriers won’t have to go one way with an empty load.
CARFAX told potential buyers of used cars to check the seven signs of a flooded car:
2.Loose, stained, or mismatched upholstery and carpeting
3.Damp carpets
4.Rust around doors, under the dashboard, on the pedals, or inside the hood and trunk latches
5.Dried mud or silt in the glove compartment or under the seats
6.Brittle wires under the dashboard
7.Fog or moisture beads in the interior lights, exterior lights, or instrument panel
—
...and the number 1 sign. Fish in the glovebox.
in the old days not so much a problem, today big problem.
one of my cars that was built in 1990 and considered advanced and I read something about hoe it has several miles of wire.
I had a car that was built in 1966 that I bought as a shell, rewired and made it nice, there was not that much wire other than the dash. and even that was not bad.
today we have canbus and god knows what else
I was going to say fish shooting out of the air vents when you turn on the A/C.
They will probably ship them as “Salvage or Scrap Title” to Missouri where, instead of scrapping them, they will be cleaned, wrecks welded together to make one saleable car, dents removed, then run down into Arkan-saw where for about $45.00 they can get a good clean title showing they have never been flooded or damaged...
And “ONLY” driven to church on Sunday by the salesman’s grandma.
That has been standard for Arkansas ever since before we moved here back in 1956.
I’ve seen a flood damaged new car being sold at a dealership as new. New cars were on a delivery dock in BC Canada where it flooded with brackish water. The cars were shipped to the US.
I was helping a friend looking to buy a new car at a dealership. This particular car was actually in the showroom and all polished up. I got on the floor and looked underneath just to see how it was built and was greeted by heavy rust on everything.
My daughter had a Katrina salvage titled Malibu
2 owners before her, but ended up with 150k on it before it finally died
Isn’t that why you get a carfax????
What did the dealer do when you told them about the rust?
Yup, CANBUS has been a heck of a copper saver. All sensor signals running on a single circuit/wire.
Anything to sell their over priced services.
The salesman claimed no knowledge of any problem with rust. We got the over weight salesman to get down on the floor and look at it. If he was an innocent party and really didn’t know he sure knew after that. We then left, not buying anything from them.
Why do they not even mention electrical problems? In today’s cars that is going to be the number one issue. Trapped moisture in all the electrical connectors and circuit boards starts corrosion. You may be able to dry them out enough for the car to operate, But things will deteriorate in time.
I have not messed with canbus much, I soldered a db9 connector onto one of my cars so I could do fun computer hacking, turned out the easiest place to do that was the rear tail light.
but personally I prefer wires and mechanical connections.
I want a steering rack connected to my steering wheel,
a master cylinder connected to my brake pedal and clutch pedal, A car that has a cable that runs from the throttle pedal to a throttle body. I don’t need a computer to wonder what I really want.
Our company, years ago, bought a brand new car off the dealer’s show room floor. Less than 60 miles on it.
One day I walked by it and, with my artist’s eye, noticed that the paint on the trunk and right rear quarter panel was a slight shade different than the rest of the car.
A quick inspection showed lots of Bondo all over the trunk and rear of the car.
I bought a nice Ford truck years ago, only to later find that all the rotating equipment on it began to fail, milk white oil in the differential, trash in the oil pan, auto windows that quit working. AC that suddenly quit working.
All the bearings of such items had water in them.
Be careful with all Arkansas used cars!
I was on a jury over a truck bought in Missouri with Mo title. No payments made on it, slipped down into Arkansas where a clean Arkansas Title was issued, and sold to an Arkansas man.
When he was at work, the original title holder in Missouri seized the vehicle and the Arkansas owner was left holding the bag as his credit Union inn Arkansas had the Arkansas title and demanded he continue to make payments.
The truck disappeared back into Missouri.
Most states will never allow a flood title to come back, unlike a body damage salvages title.
How did she register a salvage title?
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