Used car buyers across Ohio should be on the lookout for possible Hurricane Sandy-damaged cars being resold as normal used vehicles, a state investigator says.
Mike Kessler, an investigations supervisor for the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles in the Cincinnati area, said weather-damaged cars could be migrating from the East Coast into Ohio.
The Insurance Crime Bureau, an industry-financed nonprofit, estimates that more than 230,000 cars were damaged by seawater that swept into oceanside communities along the East Coast.
A recent report in the New York Times said that large lots of flood-damaged cars were being snapped up for cheap prices, apparently headed for out-of-state markets to possibly be sold to unsuspecting buyers.
Kessler stressed that BMV investigators have not seen evidence that this is happening in Ohio, and the Ohio Attorney General’s office was not aware of any complaints from consumers who have unknowingly bought such cars.
But Kessler acknowledged it could take place in the aftermath of the huge storm.
“Any time there is a natural disaster there is greater opportunity for this kind of thing to happen,” Kessler said. “We really urge buyers to carefully inspect cars, you know — smell the carpeting and walk around a vehicle closely and visually inspect it for possible signs of water damage.”
While cars sold as salvage or flood-damaged cars are marked that way when initially sold in New Jersey, the title can be “washed” so when it’s registered in Ohio it would appear as a normal used car.
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