Used car Buyers....Use Caution!

[Don M.]

Hurricane Harvey flooded a million cars in the Houston area. Many of these will be cleaned up, and resold all over the country. If you are in the market for a used car, be Very Careful, and research the cars history before you buy....or you could get stuck with a vehicle that will be nothing but trouble in coming years.

https://weather.com/news/news/2018-02-26-hurricane-harvey-cars-destroyed

 

[911]

Hey Don: This is a good warning. Here in PA, whenever a car is brought in from out of state and re-titled, there is a code letter that is placed at the end of the title number. For instance; a if I were to buy a car with the title number 123456789R, the letter "R" would tell me (the buyer) that the car has been reconstructed. I don't know all of the titles letters, but PA buyers know that when they see a letter at the end of the number to beware and check out what the letter means.

Back in 1972 when Hurricane Agnes hit my area pretty hard, we had a lot of flood cars sold at auctions to unsuspecting buyers. This is what brought about the letter system on the titles. I wasn't a Trooper then, but all PA residents were made aware that flood cars were being sold. As a buyer, all you needed to do was open the door and take a whiff inside, or look under the carriage and see the rust or debris still hanging on the undercarriage.

There are a lot of unscrupulous people out there looking to make a buck anyway that they can. I could tell you some stories that would make you shake your head for weeks.

 

[Toomuchstuff]

My son just went looking for a used truck . All the dealers swore up and down they don't have any hurricane damaged cars. Would you trust a used car salesman ? They didn't get that reputation for nothing !

 

[exwisehe]

Thank you 911, that is good information. I happen to be in the market for a used car, and I'm looking vigorously for one right now, especially since my wife had a wreck a couple of months (no physical damage, thank God) and totaled our Honda Accord.

Is the title number you mentioned the same as the VIN number? Those can always be found in most sites, such as Carmax, Carguru, and others.

I don't know what I'll get, perhaps I'll look at some hybrids - I don't know much about them, except the batteries are expensive and will only last about 10 years, they say.

If anyone has any advice, I'll listen to it.

 

[HipGnosis]

My son just went looking for a used truck . All the dealers swore up and down they don't have any hurricane damaged cars. Would you trust a used car salesman ? They didn't get that reputation for nothing !

No, you do NOT trust salesmen. You have the car inspected by a trusted or highly rated mechanic.

 

[HipGnosis]

Thank you 911, that is good information. I happen to be in the market for a used car, and I'm looking vigorously for one right now, especially since my wife had a wreck a couple of months (no physical damage, thank God) and totaled our Honda Accord.

Is the title number you mentioned the same as the VIN number? Those can always be found in most sites, such as Carmax, Carguru, and others.

I don't know what I'll get, perhaps I'll look at some hybrids - I don't know much about them, except the batteries are expensive and will only last about 10 years, they say.

If anyone has any advice, I'll listen to it.

I just bought a hybrid. The ones I looked at don't get as good highway mileage as non-hybrid, so you gotta know how you're going to use it.
Fleet customers are finding out that the batteries are lasting longer than the mfg's estimated. And they usually don't need to be totally replaced. The batteries are actually many (many) cells. There are service co's now that will find and replace bad cells.
I found out they don't get good mileage for errands in cold weather - the gas engine HAS to run to provide heat, so the elec's don't kick in.
I had a proud moment this morning. When parking the car, I realized I didn't pull into the parking spot all the way. I turned the car back on and eased fwd a foot or so. The car said I got 999.9 mpg for that 'trip'!!!

One thing I wish my car had: a system that determines when the oil needs to be changed. My car will tell me, but it's only based on miles, and the miles when the car was on elec and not gas aren't factored in. I've decided that I will compensate for that by only changing the filter every other oil change.