Don't get soaked by car

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are long gone, and neither storm came close to causing damage in the Beehive State.

But Utahns are still at risk of being victimized.

Anyone in the market for a used automobile now has one more thing to consider before making a purchase: Did the car you are about to buy sustain critical, internal damage due to one of the hurricanes?

According to Carfax Vehicle History Reports, about 500,000 cars were flooded and/or damaged beyond repair by the two storms. The company also estimates half of those cars will resurface for sale on the streets, far from their original homes, and be advertised as healthy automobiles.

Those cars may look good on the outside, after thorough detailing, and may start and run just fine — for awhile. The reality, however, is that those cars are rotting on the inside, according to Carfax media relations manager Chris Bosso.

"We are getting reports that there have been cars hitting the market from the areas that were affected by the hurricanes," Bosso said in a telephone interview from his Washington, D.C., office. "And people certainly need to be on the lookout, especially over the next several months.

"Anyone who buys a new car needs to do their due diligence before purchasing — take it for a test drive, get a Carfax vehicle history report and absolutely have the car checked by a certified and trusted mechanic."

Carfax is now offering a free service to anyone who may be concerned about whether the vehicle they are purchasing could have been damaged in either hurricane. Consumers can go to www.carfax.com/flood and enter the 17-digit vehicle identification number and find out, first, whether the vehicle has been issued a salvage or flood title by any of the 50 states and, second, if the vehicle was previously registered in a Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster area.

Bosso said people trying to take advantage of the situation typically will take the condemned vehicles to other states, with fake titles, and sell the cars in classified advertisements, on street corners or in parking lots. Often, more than one vehicle is being sold by the same individual.

"Those are called curbstoners, and that's where the majority that are going to be cleaned up will come from," Bosso said. "Dealers will typically do an extensive search to make sure the car is OK. It's the people who have four or five cars in a parking lot or on the side of the road that will take your money and disappear."