Nearly a half million cars were destroyed by two of this past season’s
biggest hurricanes, Katrina and Rita. Some of these cars may not have
received much apparent damage but they were totaled nevertheless
because of water, mud, and debris which flooded engine bays and the
interior. Damaged cars are supposed to make their way to the junkyard
for scrap, unfortunately some unscrupulous parties are gaining a hold
of the vehicle titles and turning around and selling damaged cars to
the public. Should you be concerned? Absolutely! Read on to learn more
about this problem and what you can do to avoid being stuck with a
vehicle that is certain to be a lemon.
Let me just say this: it is not illegal for weekend mechanics to buy a
salvaged vehicle, repair it, and sell it to you. What they must
disclose to you is this: you are buying a salvaged vehicle. This is
where most of the problems begin: the dishonest purveyors are not
sharing this information.
Only 22 states require that the titles of flood damaged vehicles
[which were totaled by insurers] be stamped with that information. So,
if you live in any one of the 28 other states, be extremely cautious
about buying any used car [check your local laws to see which group
you belong to].
One organization is doing its part to help fight the problem. The
National Insurance Crime Bureau [NICB] this past summer and fall sent
teams to flood damaged areas in affected states to work with local
police authorities. What the teams did was try to catalog all of the
flood damaged vehicles and enter that information in a database, which
is accessible online. Because of their diligence, nearly 200,000 car
identification numbers are now available for car buyers to search at
www.nicb.org.
Car shoppers should always invest in obtaining a car history report
from an independent company, such as Car Fax, as a back up source to
verify information about a vehicle. Although the information supplied
by these types of companies isn’t always 100% accurate, it can usually
reveal whether a car has been salvaged, rebuilt, is a lemon, or has
been flood damaged. Some guarantee their information so check the
individual contract/agreement before you use their services to see
what recourse you would have in the event a lemon sneaks by them and
you purchase one.
So, how can we know for sure that there will be problems? Well, if
Hurricane Floyd is a measuring stick then the potential for fraud is
huge. In 1999, nearly 80,000 cars were damaged by Floyd and taken off
of the roads due to storm damage. About half of that number were
repaired and resold, many to unsuspecting consumers.
You don’t have to be a victim, so get informed. If a car is priced
well below book value that can be a big clue that a problem exists,
however don’t rely on price, instead do some research first before
buying your next used car.
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