United States has experienced way more major hurricanes than any other place in the world. The Hurricanes leaves with major damages across the places that takes several months to recover thereafter.
Several vehicles also suffer being submerged in flood water resulting in damaging the electronics and computer systems of the vehicles. Understand this, that no good can come out from flood damages.
Cars of today sports a large array of computer systems, much more electronics than before and are laden with sensors for several safety functions of the car. This alone makes for a serious trouble when a car has been submerged into water. And, by any chance if the car performs well after being immersed, there will not be much time left for it to corrode.
Sadly, flood-damaged vehicles are being sold “clean” in the market. A lot of people are assuming at this point that flood-damaged vehicles cannot make it to the marketplace, but this is not the case always. What if the car has never been insured beforehand? What if it is insured after draining out the flood-damages?
Therefore, here is some advice for anyone out for buying a car in the upcoming months –
- Always hire a mechanic if you’re up for buying a used car. The mechanic should implement the following steps to verify if the car has been flood-damaged-
- The fragrance inside the vehicle. Does the car smell like mold, must or mildew? Does the car smell like heavily deodorised?
- Checking the seat-mounts and bolts to check if they have been wrenched-out sometime. This is the process of drying out a car if the car has been immersed in water. Seats are taken out to ensure proper drying out. Also check the springs of the seats if they appear rusty.
- Checking the carpets. Are carpets brand new? Or are they stained, muddy? Moreover, the same goes for upholstery. Check if the interiors have mud-stains or any signs of rusting. Also check the trunk and spare tyre as well.
- Inspect headlights as well as taillights for any past water lines. Also check if the lights are foggy or clear.
- Check hard to reach places inside the dashboard to investigate the signs of rusting or any presence of mud.
- Inspect screw heads for any signs of rusting.
- Also check if drain-plugs have been ever removed. They are often removed in order to dry out the car.
- Is the car from another state? These types of cars are often transported to other places where there is no footprint of the Hurricanes.
- At last, always take out the car for a test drive. Check all the electronics to ensure they work well. Also, check out the sound from the speakers, if they sound distorted or not.