Storm Damage Car Scam

[jeffrey]

It looks like a bargain. A practically new car with very few miles on it for thousands less than its original sticker price. But there's something hidden in the vehicle's past. Something very, very wet.

Some fresh upholstery and new carpeting could be covering up a brush with a hurricane. When a hurricane like Charles or Frances tears through a huge swath of American real estate, it smashes up a few auto dealerships along the way. In the process, it dumps gallons on a lot of cars.

Insurance companies pay for the damage and those cars are usually sold for salvage. At the state department of motor vehicles, the car's paperwork gets a "SALVAGE" stamp, and data on the loss is entered into the state's database.

But when you buy the car, you may not see any of that. In fact, the car's title may not even be from the state where the damage happened. That's one way unscrupulous used car sellers can hide the fact that a car has suffered major damage... [read more at money.cnn.com]