You ’ve probably seen load of images in the last few weeks of vehicles in flood Puerto Rico , Texas and Florida street , with water reaching up to their roofs . In fact , The New York Timesreportedthat 270,000 claims had been filed for fomite damage nurture during Hurricane Harvey alone , with another 70,000 filed for Irma .
In this sequence of CarStuff , hosts Scott Benjamin and Ben Bowlin explain the effects ofcatastrophic floodingon a automobile , as well as how mass might take reward — or be taken advantage of — when it comes to so - called " hurricane cars . "
As you ’re probably aware , a hurricane car is n’t one that can withstand ahurricane . ( Although hang tight to the end of the podcast , when Ben and Scott spitball some astonishing theme for a car that could . ) Nope , hurricane cars have digest water or damage from a storm or subsequent flooding , and are generally not salvageable for a reasonable monetary value . Insurance companies may direct them to salvage auction .
For cars that are n’t insured , however , it ’s a different story . Turns out that some of them might be sell to unwitting consumers as the owners seek recompense that ’s normally pay out through insurance policy , Scott explains .
" If they ’re see , they ’re belong to be reported as photoflood - damaged , and the ripe affair is going to happen , " he enounce . " If they ’re uninsured , there ’s a undecomposed chance that that machine will be cleaned up and someone will attempt to put that car on the used cable car grocery , either here in the United States , possibly in Mexico , might go all the way down as far as Central America , even South America — it happened with Katrina . " And again with Hurricane Sandy . With about 15 per centum of drivers in Texas uninsuredaccording to Consumer Reports , that ’s a healthy number of cars that could be hastily cleaned and trade again carry Harvey .
The Mexican auto manufacture already ispreparingfor the fallout since import law have made it possible for storm - damage vehicles to be sold across the border . And it ’s not just Mexico . The National Insurance Crime Bureaureminds consumers in the United States to do their due diligence when buying a used car and to check its vehicle recognition number , or VIN , to make trusted it ’s never been declare a " total loss " from inundation , for example .
That ’s just one of the traps motorists could fall into as a result of hurricane and implosion therapy . There are also warnings about companies get out cars out of water supply and charge the owner absurd fees and pricing to get their cars back .
melodic phrase in to hear more about how to avoid hurricane cars on the market inthis episodeof CarStuff .
