Bumper Crop of Flood-damaged Vehicles Has NICB Worried About Your Next Car

From the Texas coast to Georgia, the southern U.S. took a long-delayed pounding this summer after years of hurricane “drought.” Hurricane Harvey struck, then lingered for days, over the Corpus Christi-Houston area in late August, sending hundreds of thousands of vehicles to the salvage yard. Hurricane Irma followed shortly thereafter, striking Florida before moving up into the southeastern states.

Perhaps aware of Texas’ reputation, Harvey cut the largest swath through the country’s rolling stock, with roughly 422,000 insured vehicles now awaiting salvage auctions. Irma’s wrath adds a further 215,000 to the flood-damaged mix. For the National Insurance Crime Bureau, it’s not necessarily those vehicles that are leading to restless nights — it’s ones with owners unable to make an insurance claim.

The vehicles filling insurance salvage yards, bound for processing and a date with an auction (under a salvage title), will end their lives divied up for useable components and scrapped. VINs will find their way to National Motor Vehicle Title Information System and NICB database, identifying the car as flood damaged. However, many vehicles owned by those without flood insurance aren’t on those lots.

It isn’t known how many uninsured vehicles slipped below the waves in Harvey and Irma, but those VINs won’t show up on a database unless the owner asks for a branded title. The NICB worries those unbranded cars and trucks will fall into the hands of unsuspecting new owners.

“Some unscrupulous buyers will also buy a branded vehicle, clean it up, and take it to another state where they will obtain a “clean” title and sell it with no warning that it has been flooded,” the NICB warns.

Due to the very real possibility of a huckster selling secretly damaged goods, the NICB has issued a warning about the practice, complete with a list of guidelines for identifying a flood-damaged vehicle. Much of this seems like a no-brainer, but many buyers could be too blinded by a smokin’ deal to notice mud accumulation in various parts of the engine bay, water stains on the seats, moisture in the taillights, or water damage in the spare tire well.

There’s a tip line available (800-835-6422) if you suspect you’re being taken for a water-logged ride. As for the original owners, their old vehicle — especially if it was subject to an insurance claim — is a fading memory. There’s still hurricane deals to be had on new vehicles from a variety of automakers.