SAN DIEGO — It's been eight months since heavy flooding hit San Diego County, destroying and damaging hundreds of vehicles.
Now, some of those cars are being resold.
California is near the top of the list for states with large numbers of water damaged vehicles, according to CARFAX editor in chief, Patrick Olsen. “California ranks fifth in the nation with about 20,000 flooded vehicles in it,” said Olsen.
Water damaged cars are allowed to be resold with salvage titles, which should be a red flag for buyers. But sometimes dishonest salvage sellers can get around that, Olsen said.
“Scammers will go into a neighborhood or an area that's been flooded, and they will make a cash offer, buy it for a few hundred bucks or 1,000 bucks, clean it up and sell it for five or six times that amount,” said Olsen.
If the vehicle does have a salvage title it will pop up on CARFAX.
“If you go to carfax.com/flood and plug in your vehicle identification number, we can tell you for any used car you're considering whether it's ever had a flood or water damaged title on the car,” said Olsen.
He said there are several places to look, and smell, to discover water damage.
“When you're in the car, take a deep sniff. If you smell mildew, or if the carpet and the upholstery seems mismatched, that's a warning sign. Look underneath the dash of the car for brittle wires. Water and electricity don't go well together, and so wires that have been submerged will turn brittle over time,” Olsen said.
“Look for signs of mud in unusual places. Look in the glove box. Open up the engine, the hood. Look in the engine bay. If you see mud on top of things. That's a that's a very bad sign,” he added.
You can also look for signs of water marks inside the head and taillights. And if the oil in the car looks milky white or gray, that could be a sign that water got into the engine.
“These guys are very good at cleaning up these cars, making them look showroom fresh, but the reality is that these vehicles are literally rotting from the inside out,” said Olsen.