Caveat Emptor - Flood of Flood-Totaled Cars hitting Market

[Lowell]

Used car buyers beware [= caveat emptor].

“The National Insurance Crime Bureau said this week that nearly 270,000 insurance claims related to Hurricane Harvey vehicle damage had been processed, and nearly another 70,000 for Hurricane Irma. It is not clear how many of those claims will be declared total losses.

Cars that are totaled by the insurance company go to a salvage auction company. Insurance Auto Auctions, based in Illinois, listed an inventory of 46,000 flood vehicles…”

From: How to Avoid Buying a Car Flooded by Hurricanes

This is probably good and bad news for Detroit. Good news is that replacement new car sales will benefit. Bad news is that used car buyers may unknowingly end up with refurbished flood-damaged cars. Reselling them far away from the news, like here, has been a past practice. Good tips on how to guard against are in the article.

[Richard]

Really the only protection that the adverage buyer has is by following the procedures outlined in the article.

The smell test and checks done by the individual and nobody else.

The smaller car dealers will wash the titles in none compliance states and resale after going through the process with multiple states high end cars are paid off by the insurance then repurchased through the salvage auction for Sometimes as little as $100 for a brand new luxury car then exported for top dollar.

They mentioned Copart,which is funded by those who actualy hold the paper to begin with.

Big money in that game and as usual it ends up as the little guy that will take the hit.

Here is who funds Copart and follow the sublink for Vangaurd.

https://stockzoa.com/ticker/cprt/

Copart was also the supplier to dealership body shops for "factory" body parts when the whole fiasco of the dealers useing cheap imported replacement parts when performing insurance repairs became public.

[EastsideAl]

This really shouldn't be allowed. Totalled cars should stay totalled and should be scrapped. Especially cars totalled due to a flood or other conditions that render them a ticking time bomb of problems and a real health hazard to their subsequent owners.

I remember after Sandy hit New York and New Jersey there was a sudden influx of used cars on lots around the country, many with what turned out to be white-washed [[through the auction system discussed above) 'salvage' titles from their home states in the northeast. Buyers need to be diligent, but it's really disgusting that these cars are still out there at all.

[Richard]

They will not do anything,the large auctions and the salvage sales are owned by the same people,there is to much money in it.

When I was a car dealer I bought a accura legend at auction that was sold as actual mileage of 60,000,after I bought it I found out that it was washed in Georgia with 240,000 miles then returned to Fla with 60,000,that was done by a factory dealer and federal,nothing was done and I had to eat it at a loss.

I bought a Mercedes from the auction and drove it for 6 monthes and then brought it back to the same auction to resell and they would not allow it because it was a grey market car,but yet they had sold it to me in the first place as a US version. No recourse.

Twin turbo that would do 60 mph in first gear.

The upper east coast will get hit hard with shipping containers filled with cars from Puerto Rico and the islands now.

A lot of those cars were sold under creative financing and most were probably underwater before they were even flooded,I think that they are now going to clamp down on the financing so most will have no choice but to buy the exact same thing that they got out from under,unsuspecting.

The market will be manipulated to absorb the losses on way or another.

[Gistok]

And then there are these cars.... that never quite make it to their second life.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38jDQkkaxT8&t=62s

[softailrider]

They will not do anything,the large auctions and the salvage sales are owned by the same people,there is to much money in it.

When I was a car dealer I bought a accura legend at auction that was sold as actual mileage of 60,000,after I bought it I found out that it was washed in Georgia with 240,000 miles then returned to Fla with 60,000,that was done by a factory dealer and federal,nothing was done and I had to eat it at a loss.

I bought a Mercedes from the auction and drove it for 6 monthes and then brought it back to the same auction to resell and they would not allow it because it was a grey market car,but yet they had sold it to me in the first place as a US version. No recourse.

Twin turbo that would do 60 mph in first gear.

The upper east coast will get hit hard with shipping containers filled with cars from Puerto Rico and the islands now.

A lot of those cars were sold under creative financing and most were probably underwater before they were even flooded,I think that they are now going to clamp down on the financing so most will have no choice but to buy the exact same thing that they got out from under,unsuspecting.

The market will be manipulated to absorb the losses on way or another.

That's pretty scary. I always knew you couldn't beat a car dealer at their own game but I guess car dealers can make mistakes too. I know carfax doesn't tell the entire history and there can be a lot missing.

Maybe you're better off buying new or used manufacture certified, not as many worries that way........right?