3 Smart Ways to Check a Used Car for Water Damage
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Buying a used car can be a stressful process—one that involves wading your way through a sea of lemons before finding that diamond in the rough. And once you discover a car that appears to be in good shape, figuring out its history can be a whole different story.
As avid storm watchers, we know that flooding and severe weather can wreak havoc on vehicles. Unfortunately for buyers, that kind of damage is often easy for sellers to conceal. In the wake of major storms, severely damaged cars can end up on lots thousands of miles away, showing few signs of damage. Consider taking these steps to see whether your prospective purchase has been damaged by severe weather:
Look for cosmetic clues
Examine the car’s carpeting and upholstery to make sure it matches the rest of the interior and fits well. If not, the original may have been replaced to conceal discoloration, fading or staining caused by water damage. You should also reach under the dashboard to bend the wires and make sure they are flexible. Wires that have gotten wet will often crack after drying.
As avid storm watchers, we know that flooding and severe weather can wreak havoc on vehicles. Unfortunately for buyers, that kind of damage is often easy for sellers to conceal.
In addition, take a look at the dashboard, below the seats, and inside the trunk and glove compartment for signs of mud and rust—too much grit and grime can be a dealbreaker. However, also beware if everything’s sparkling clean under the hood, as this may indicate the car has been pressure washed to remove signs of mud or soot.
Check the electrical system
Make sure to turn the car on and note that all gauges work properly. All of the internal warning lights, including ABS (anti-lock brake system) and air bag lights, should turn on when you start the ignition. You should also consider testing the headlights, turn signals, windshield wipers, radio, heater and air conditioner, as a flaw in these systems could indicate previous storm damage. If you’re unsure whether these components work, have the car inspected by a mechanic before you put any money down.
Ask for a vehicle history report
A vehicle history report can give you some key insight about a car’s life experience. These reports provide information about problems a vehicle has had in the past and can tell you whether it’s been registered in an area that’s at risk for floods or hurricanes. If the seller doesn’t give you a vehicle history report, you can use the car’s 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to obtain one online through CARFAX or a similar website, or VINCheck, a tool set up by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
When buying a used car, these simple precautions can help you make sure you get what you paid for.
For helpful hints about vehicle maintenance, check out the Tools and Resources section on Allstate.com.
Want to protect your car? Get an auto insurance quote now.
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If the truth were actually known, any car worth over a grand or so would be written off by the insurance company, mostly as “unrebuildable” , for parts only, because that type of damage costs more to repair than a car is worth. If it was written off, but “rebuildable” it would be marked on the Title as a Salvage Brand from then on. It only takes around 65% of a car’s value in damage to write it off. Or if it was uninsured it could happen, but a car not worth insuring certainly would not be worth doing all those repairs to put it back on the road. These horror stories are just to make you paranoid about the evil used car dealers so you’ll by brand new cars. Makes about as much sense as crushing millions of perfectly good cars a couple years ago ( cash for clunkers )so you’d by new ones for a few months. All that did was wreck milions of perfectly good mid-range used cars and vans, take them out of the used car system, and put thousands of auto related businesses out of business. Now the same used car that was worth $1500 2 years ago is worth twice as much today, because the supply is down so much. I think it’ll take another 10 years to get that auto industry back to where it was, it cost 1000′s of people their jobs in auto repair shops, body & mechanical, used car lots out of business, as well as auctions, auto parts, salvage yards ( after a few good months), and pretty well screwed small used car lots, you know, the businesses that are the ” backbone ” of our country.
Yes! What a huge failure “cash for clunkers” was! I read that with all the government expenses in the program it cost taxpayers over $10,000 for every new car that was bought. The program especially hit lower income people the worst because it destroyed a million or so used cars, and most of those could have been used by lower income people like me that cannot afford $20,000 or more for a new car but can afford $5k-$10k for a solid used car. The total value of each used car was wasted/destroyed and what was left was scrap value. This is not the way the government should be intervening in the marketplace—the government destroyed billions of dollars in value and drove up the cost of used cars, and left many lower income people with greater expenses or no car at all!
Yeah, one has to be really careful when buying a used car – careful both about the seller and the dealer. It is not about being tricked,but about being cautious so that you don’t fall into any trouble and have to regret later. Self checks of eh car also help. The page at [link removed by admin] talks about what the things we should keep note of when buying a car, starting from the budget and the price.
In every water damage, I’m sure there are mold cleanup that should be done. We’ve experience that last year when the typhoon hit our town very hard. Our car was soaked into the flood and molds are everywhere.
Is it the sellers responsibility to provide a carfax report?