flood cars hitting market

[luvhuntin]

FYI
I had a vehicle brought in by a customer for a complete inspection this week, it was a 2010 with 30k.

First clue was a film of dirt mostly around the underside of the door handles,trim and the emblems, there was so much sand in every crevice inside the vehicle I started getting a really bad feeling about it. once I opened the hood and saw the condition of the A/C condenser and the rust all over the unconditioned steel parts there was no doubt this car had been deep underwater. a quick google search of the VIN revealed this car had come from Brooklyn NY of course the title and the flood statement from the large used car chain was clean of any problems. so If you happen to be in the market please beware!
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[Jon H.]

Great! im looking for a used car!

[JPH]

Thanks for the heads up. My son is in the AF and plans to buy a car by spring. They move a lot of used cars around military bases. My guess is that a lot of these junkers will be pawned off to young, unsuspecting GIs.

I'll warn him. Any easy tells to look for?

[Ohio farms]

There was an article in regards to that last week in our local newspaper. Thanks for the heads up Luvhuntin
They mentioned to look for things like a water line mark anywhere or a musty smell. I imagine if there is sand or debris in the car, it might be a red flag too.
Caveat Emptor

[luvhuntin]

JPH

your easiest way is to do a VIN search most dealers that have a website will have most of their inventory online they will have the VIN listed. cut and paste that into google if that car has been listed on any other car dealers lot it will bring it up. This particular vehicle had been on a lot in Brooklyn NY. as far as looking for things floodwater leaves a dirt film on everything and unless it gets hit with a direct blast from a pressure washer it will leave a brown film at any exterior parting line like bumper to fenders,any side moulding it may have, and around door handles this one even had a dirt line on the hubcap holes where the lug nuts went through them they were clean as could be otherwise. The A/C condenser also was a big tell It`s made out of nice shiny aluminum but had a dirt film on it from top to bottom no gravel road in the country can do that. it even had a small amount of beach sand in the windshield defroster vents! can you imagine how bad this car would smell after a nice hot july day? yikes! not to mention the mold this thing is gonna grow inside when the weather warms up.