Although the flood itself is almost over, the effects of the flood are not and as the days pass by, more and more damages begin to surface everyday. During the food, more than six hundred thousand vehicles were engulfed and now they are all surfacing slowly. What will happen is that these cars will end up in a used vehicle sales shop, which is a dangerous fact. After being registered in a different State thn to which the car originally belonged, the paper trail is not easy to mark out and top of that, most salesmen will not tell you the exact origin of the flood-damaged car. Chances are that the cars will most probably be sold in a different state.
To hide the origin, the salesmen are even found to change the license frame as well as changing the original state logo. All of these steps are taken by these cunning businessmen to cheat you in buying these flood ravaged cars. However, to distinguish these cars from the others, you must know how to.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau has enlisted most of the vehicles affected by the Katrina, Rita and Wilma on their website www.nicb.org. Thus, you should check with the site before buying a used car now. An online history report should also be helpful in some cases at least if not in all cases.
You may need to do a little bit of detective investigation of the car which ou plan to buyif you can not find the solution to your problem over the internet. Grass, leaves and other debris in certain places of the car like the radiator, suspensions, frame and other such parts may indicate involvement with the flood. Waterlines are other important determinants that can help you in your investigation, check for them near the rear firewall and the engine compartment among the others. Door pockets and interior rim areas are also places which may have waterlines.
Moldy smell is something that is indicative of wet seats and carpets inside the car. Apart from the smell, you may also find rusty parts or corroded white parts in connector terminals especially. Look under the seat and inside the trunk for corroded bolts, wirings and waterlines as lower parts of the car are usually most affected by water due to the stagnant water there.
A thorough inspection coupled with proper investigation on the web will stop you from spending your hard earned money on a flood damaged car which probably has damages beyond detection at the moment.
[phpbay]flood,9,”6028″, “”[/phpbay]