There are hundreds of thousands of cars, trucks, classic cars, motorcycles, and other types of vehicles that have moderate to severe flood damage, and many thousands more will be damaged this year, so be sure to be prepared to discover these cars. before one ends up in your driveway.
Before you buy, get a suspect car, get a good pre-inspection on the car or if it’s a classic car, etc. get a proper classic car appraisal, then you’ll be ready to go to your insurance agent and get proper insurance.
Some of these vehicles that have not been fully submerged will be cleaned, carpets and vents sprayed, and shipped north, east, and west. These are the cars that will need expert Inspections and Appraisals, as they will be harder to spot.
Dealers who deal in these vehicles get them very cheap and clean them up a bit and then ship them out to the unsuspecting public. These vehicles will look normal, but after you buy one of them, you will most likely develop serious problems in the future. And this could be avoided if you have an expert auto appraiser or inspector look it over for you.
These vehicles will have mold that you won’t be able to detect for some time and the smell will be covered up with some strong sprays that will hide the problem for several weeks/months. But then one warm day after being cooped up in the sun, you’ll open the door to a musty smell that will start to get worse each day until after a while it’s unbearable. And this type of smell is very difficult to hide for a long period of time.
Odor may be the least of your problems because after submerging a vehicle in water for an extended period of time, the water and grit are in the engine, transmission, differential, all wheel bearings, and parts. worked. So after driving the vehicle a few hundred miles, it will start to develop major faults in these components.
In addition, the water will enter the vehicle’s electrical system and cause short circuits in the wiring that can lead to fires or serious damage to the vehicle’s computer system that will lead to very high repair bills.
To avoid purchasing any of these vehicles, you will need to have a full inspection by an automotive inspection professional, to inspect or assess the vehicle for telltale signs of water damage. If you can’t do it yourself, hire a good mechanic to look it over for you, or use a vehicle inspection service, like CarFacts, to determine if it’s been in a flood or some type of accident or had major repairs.
Check the title of the previous owners and if it dates back to recent sales in the hurricane/flood states, pass up the sale, even if it seems like a good deal, as you may have some high repair bills later or worse, you won’t even be able to save the vehicle.
I know several people who had high-value classic cars, vintage cars, Street Rods, and motorcycles that were badly damaged or totaled only to find that their insurance coverage didn’t come close to covering the replacement cost of their vehicles. If only they had had their vehicles properly appraised, that could have been avoided and their vehicle would have been covered for the proper amount.
Don’t let that happen to you. It doesn’t have to be a severe storm to damage your vehicle, it could be damaged by fire, an accident, or many other things, so check out the information on the proper way to appraise your vehicle at Carfacts Appraisal.
