Are you in the market for a cheap, used car or truck? Travel to Texas this month, and you’re sure to see hundreds, if not thousands, of cars sweeping the used car lots all over the state as a result of the past month’s floods. Before asking the obvious, these may not exactly be the type of vehicles you want to be driving if you catch my drift, as they have recently been in a flood. Sadly, as WTSP News reports, many will take advantage of the situation and go sell their cars to these smaller, “mom and pop” car lots that you can find literally anywhere inside Texas.
What’s scary about being able to buy a car from anyone in the states, is that you have no guarantees of what it really is you’re truly buying. The same theory applies to those car lots as well; sure they have slightly more liability then John Doe off of Craigslist, but you could end up in a legal civil lawsuit and for a car that was only worth a few grand, who bothers with all that expense? Scary stuff buying a used car when you aren’t at a reputable, full-size car dealership.
Buying a car that survived a flood means damaged under the hood that the blind eye usually doesn’t ever notice. Always try to locate the history of the car or truck you may be interested in purchasing, what city it was registered in, and if it happened to be transferred to other family members. You can obtain a Carfax report from the larger dealerships, but the smaller ones you may be on your own to pay for one. It will provide you with all of the details you need to get at least some sense of what the car has been through over the years.
The other way of getting a closer peek into a used car, is to use an Autocheck process. This system tells you if there have been any insurance claims on the car, which in the case of a flooded car may be very telling to a potential buyer. If you have the opportunity to get the car in question to a mechanic to check it out, that’s your best bet. A well-trained mechanic can typically advise flood damages rather instantly, which is totally worth paying for to save you thousands in the long haul.
