QOTD: How Do You Avoid Buying Flood-Damaged Cars?

by Tim Healey

Published: October 1st, 2024

qotd how do you avoid buying flood damaged cars

The Southeast has been battered by Hurricane Helene and its remnants. And if you'll pardon the bad pun, the used-car market will be flooded with flood-damaged cars before too long.

It happens after every hurricane or tropical storm -- unscrupulous dealers and private sellers try to move cars that have been ruined by the rising waters.

How do you, the potential used-car buyer, avoid buying one of these vehicles?

The obvious answers involve using a tool like CarFax and/or having a trusted technician perform an inspection before signing any paperwork or plunking any cash down. But there may be other tips and tricks I don't know about.

So my question to you is -- if you're going to buy a used car in the next six months to a year, how will you make sure it's not suffering from flood damage?

You know what to do. Sound off below.

[Image: Aliaksandr Antanovich/Shutterstock.com]

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#Hurricanes #UsedCars #UsedCarBuying #Storms #FloodDamage #Titles #Carfax #hurricanehelene #DamagedCars

Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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2 of 6 comments

Jalop1991 1 hour ago
A couple of years ago, we were looking for a Ford C-Max Energi. We went to one place that had it at a somewhat friendly price. One look at the hatch struts with rust on them, and I walked out. Between the friendly price and the question of why this rust was on the hatch struts, it was easy to determine. This place--the used car arm of what used to be a quality Toyota dealer--is still in business, so people aren't complaining. Whatever. It didn't help them that they are in what is now a sketchy part of town. Use your entire brain when looking at the car.

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ToolGuy 2 minutes ago
I spend my money on gasoline, taxes and food. (Also taxes on gasoline and taxes on food.) No money left for flood-damaged cars, and that is how I avoid buying flood-damaged cars.

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