One of the most important things to do when you want to get good rates on your insurance premium for your car is to make sure that your car isn’t asking for disaster to begin with. This can be done by buying a car that isn’t often stolen, a medium sized one, and one with lots of safety features and alarm systems. However, there have been a lot of hurricanes the past few years, and much flooding, and because of this a new kind of car has flooded the market–cars damaged by flood. With the hurricanes just getting worse and coming more often, intelligent car shoppers need to keep an eye out for these tricky vehicles which might look great on the outside but have a world of damage just below the surface, and might not carry the special flood-damaged title that they are required to by law.
- Look inside. Are there any stains that seem out of place on the carpet? Discoloring in the upholstery? Do you see the remains of mud or silt in the glove compartment or in the floors? Any sign of rust?
- Turn it on. Make sure the gauges are all pointing to the right numbers and all of the warning lights, like the airbag one, work fine.
- Check the package. Lights working fine? What about the windshield wipers, the radio, the heater, heck, the cigarette lighter? Try them several times to make sure they work and continue to do so.
- Look under the dash and move the wires around a bit. Do they crack? If a car has been under water, the wires become brittle and break more easily.
- Smell it. You’re looking for the smell of rust or mildew. Also check to see if there’s anything on the car that looks like a watermark.
- Get a mechanic to look at it for you.
- Get a report on the history of the vehicle. You can order this from CARFAX, and all you need is the VIN number.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama