Why flood cars circulate
After every major storm, tens of thousands of vehicles are written off for water damage. Many are rebuilt and resold legitimately. Some are moved to states with looser branding rules, cleaned up and sold as ordinary used cars — a practice known as title washing. Coastal auctions see more of them than inland ones, and the gulf states see the most.
What to ask for in photographs
Request close-ups of the seat rails, the spare wheel well, the seat belt webbing pulled fully out, and under the carpet at the lowest point of the footwell. Water leaves a line, and it leaves silt where nobody vacuums.
- Rust or silt on seat rails and bolt heads under the carpet
- A tide line on the seat belt webbing when fully extended
- Moisture, fogging or a water line inside headlamp units
- Mismatched or suspiciously new carpet in an old car
- A musty smell reported by anyone who has stood in it
Electronics are the real cost
Mechanical parts dry out. Connectors corrode for years. The failure pattern of a flood car is a succession of electrical faults that each cost a few hundred dollars to chase, long after the sale, and no inspection catches them in advance because they have not happened yet.
If a vehicle shows two of the signs above, the discount that would make it worthwhile is larger than the discount anybody will give you.
From the auction floor
See how this works on a real lot.
Every listing carries its inspection report, its full specification and its bid history. Read one before you decide what it is worth to you.