Beware of flood-damaged vehicles being sold across US. How to protect yourself.
If you're in the market for a used car, be on the lookout for flood-damaged or water-damaged vehicles that may have been cleaned up and put up for sale to unsuspecting buyers.
As many as 347,000 vehicles have been flood-damaged this year because of the hurricane season, according to estimates by CARFAX. Hurricane Milton added as many as 120,000 vehicles in Florida, on top of 138,000 vehicles damaged by Hurricane Helene across several states. And up to 89,000 vehicles were hit with water damage from smaller storms during the summer.
"The images of those cars that are floating on the streets and sitting in high waters, those are typically the type of cars that you would see get sold very cheap to potential scammers," Em Nguyen, director of public relations for CARFAX, told Paste BN. "Then they would clean it up and try to sell it either nearby, or maybe many states away."
"Even a little bit of a water damage can be a ticking time bomb," Nguyen said. "It can lead to electrical issues, and fixing it can be very costly. Or if you get water in the engine or the oil system, it can wreck the engine.
"While it may look showroom-fresh, it's literally rotting from the inside out."
Water damage to cars is bad
Water doesn't mix with anything in the car, said Michael Crossen, lead automotive technician for Consumer Reports.
Any type of extensive water exposure, including cars submerged in floodwaters, a car driving through a flash-flooded intersection during a rainstorm, or even a convertible left out in a severe storm, could cause damage, Crossen told Paste BN. Additionally, mold or mildew that can build up in a flood-damaged vehicle can cause respiratory concerns for a consumer down the line, he said.
"It doesn't matter if it's rainwater, fresh water or ocean water. Saltwater is the worst by far, but all water is bad news," he said.
If your car has been flooded, you should not try to operate it or turn it on. Get it towed somewhere to get it checked out, Crossen said.
Though some minor water damage can sometimes be fixed, most times a severely flood-damaged car will be considered totaled by an insurance company, Crossen said.
Crossen said he would not advise buying a car with water damage.
What happens to vehicles after a flood?
Some vehicles, after the insurer has determined that it can't be fixed, will be sent to an auction, because the parts still have value and can be salvaged or sold, Crossen said. Some vehicles may go to a junkyard, where people take the wheels or tires or body parts of the vehicle.
Some vehicles can be sent to other countries, he said.
But many flood-damaged cars may get purchased by shops or people who will "dry them out, replace the seats and the carpet and do whatever needs to be done, in theory, to get the car working and sell it."
There's nothing wrong with that, if the car has been fixed properly, and in a lot of states that is legal, Crossen said.
"It comes down to the quality of the work being done, and sometimes corners get cut," he said.
Some shady sellers may try to sell the car without acknowledging it has water damage, Crossen said.
"In general, I would recommend do not buy a car that you know has been flooded unless you absolutely know the history, like it was your neighbor's car and their sunroof was open and it rained for 20 minutes," Crossen said. "But even then, there's so many gremlins down the road."
How to check if a car has had water damage
"We want to make sure that potential buyers know there that there are now thousands of cars that could potentially be put up for sale that have a lot of problems," said Nguyen of CARFAX.
Car buyers can go to carfax.com/flood to put in the car's vehicle identification number (VIN) for a free report to see if water damage has been reported. Though there's no guarantee that all damage to a car would be reported, especially if a car is sold through private parties, the report could be helpful, Nguyen said. It will usually be labeled specifically if there is flood or water damage on the report, she said. Though flood damage is more severe, water damage can be of concern too, but doesn't necessarily mean the car will be labeled a flood-branded title, she said.
Nguyen and Crossen also suggest getting a third-party inspection of the vehicle by a trusted mechanic.
Look for signs that the vehicle has been cleaned up or repaired, such as carpet or upholstery that is damp or has mismatched colors. Look for rust on the gas or brake pedals, check under the dash for brittle wires, and look for mud or silt in unusual places. Also check out the headlights and tail lights to make sure there is no water beading up inside.
Also, pull the seat belt all the way out. A car that has been submerged could have a water line on the top of the seat belt, Crossen said. Crossen also suggests looking at the pocket on the back of the seat or door pockets for any sand or grit.
In rare cases, electric vehicles that receive water damage can be at risk for catching fire.
Flood-damaged vehicles aren't just resold near flooded areas
Consumers living states away from an area that experienced floods or hurricanes could still find flood-damaged vehicles for sale, Crossen said.
Not only do individual drivers' cars in those areas get flood damage, but car dealerships and their lots get flooded, and then they have damaged vehicles, too, he said.
"It's such a cascading effect, and that's why flooded cars end up in other areas," he said.
Some of those cars may get shipped across the country, where "no one is going to think of this having been a flooded car, but it still is," Crossen said.
It also may take several months after a hurricane or flood for the damaged vehicles to show up in other parts of the country, he said.
Crossen suggests getting a CARFAX or similar report to check on the history of the car. Consumer Reports also suggests checking the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System. It will direct you to government-approved providers of vehicle history reports. The system tries to crack down on the practice of “title washing,” which is when cars that have been totaled (or stolen) get clean new titles in states with lax regulations.
Title rules vary by state. But once a flooded car is totaled, it’s supposed to get a new "salvage title." Those titles are usually plainly marked (known as being “branded”) with the word “salvage” or “flood,” according to Consumer Reports. In some states, this warning may be shown on the title as an obscure letter or number code.
Salvage title cars can't be registered until repairs are made and the vehicle is reinspected to be be given a "rebuilt" title, which allows it to be resold.
But some flood-damaged vehicles can reappear with a clean title because some states are lax and some sellers will bounce a car from state to state to try to get a clean title, he said.
To be safe, Crossen said, he would not recommend buying a car with a salvage title.
"There's just too much unknown."
Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include consumer news on Fridays, here.