Gadgetory

well here nearly on Kars headquarters in Northern California we don't even know what rain looks like anymore but many of you have been getting plenty of it and torrential floods so the idea of being weary about a flooded car is still very relevant except for us the problem with a flooded car is that you never really dry it out at least not in terms of the effect of water getting into orifices and systems that were never supposed to see water and that water is often salty that raises hell with metal corrosion and damage to electronics and wiring a reputable car dealer should not be selling a flooded car without clearly disclosing that a private party seller has shall we say more leeway to forget or claim they didn't know so here are some tips and tricks you can use to find out if the car you're looking at never took the big dip now when you get into a car that you're considering buying and wondering about flood damage just give it a sniff you can't mistake that mildew smell and it's almost impossible to get out of a vehicle when it's been flooded now it's possible to get a little mildew odor because you had clogged drain tubes up in the sunroof or in the well of a convertible but assume the worst and go hunting second look and I don't mean just at the floor mat or under the floor mat if you can try and get a peek under the carpet that's the harder part to conceal when there was once flood damage it can be tough a lot of modern cars really seal these carpets down but give it a look you might find someplace to get under there and third feel feel around up above the glove box inside that little whale down in the seat tracks and rails as well what you're looking for is little traces of mud that might get on your hands I mean how else would it get up there certainly at this height now there are two sites you can check to get a car's flood history the National motor vehicle title information system is a federal database that includes flood information now only about thirty five states fully report into it the rest either don't or don't fully that opens loopholes for title washing that's when a car passes through the DMV of a state that doesn't fully report the nature of a flooded car flags like water damage total loss or salvage title then drop off the car's history also check the National Insurance Crime Bureau site it's run by the insurance industry they report in all cases where claims have been attached to a car that was flooded or some other way totaled both are free to check and both as you can see will have some holes in their data it pays to double-check the databases that are out there as well as your own senses and your gut to make sure you're not plunking down good money for a car that got irrecoverably wet more realities of modern driving revealed now at CNET on cars comm click on smarter driving