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.