by Gabrielle DeSantis

Hurricane Ida wreaked havoc across the east coast, starting its destructive voyage in Louisiana on August 29th. However, the devastating storm may also affect anyone looking to buy a used car in the next few months. CNBC reported that flood-damaged cars are hitting used car lots and private sellers again. And while they might be fine now, you want to avoid buying one at all costs.

What is a flood-damaged car, and signs someone is selling one

You don’t have to be a mechanic to know that water in the engine is a bad thing. So water completely engulfing the engine would almost certainly destroy it. Flood-damaged vehicles are often totaled, as the cost to repair it is more than the value of the car. But that doesn’t mean they won’t run, they’ll just run rough and deteriorate over time.

The initial floodwaters can corrode wires and electronics, but even after the water evaporates, the damage continues to spread. Rust will form and wires will crack, and eventually, those damages will make their way to key components, such as the airbags. But the keyword is “eventually,” meaning if people can clean up the cars enough, they can sell them for a quick buck.

There’s no real way to know a vehicle was flooded until you see it, but there are ways to find red flags. For starters, look for the vehicle’s identification number, or VIN, and plug it into a VIN checker. This will pull up the vehicle’s history, any accidents and reports. The title itself may say salvage, as in the car was totaled, or rebuilt, meaning it was sold to someone and they put it back together. But chances are if someone is selling a flood-damaged car, they won’t report it.

When you go see the car in person, there will be clues that reveal if it was flood damaged. One of the most obvious would be damp, musty carpets. If the upholstery looks different in some spots, that can be another indicator. And if you look deeper and find brittle wiring, rust under the doors and dashboard, or moister in any of the lights (headlights, interior lights, and dashboard), you might be looking at a flood-damaged car.

Why would people want to sell flood-damaged cars?

But why would anyone want to sell a flood-damaged car you ask? All it does is give the new owner a piece of junk that’ll fall apart over time. The reasoning behind it is sad, to say the least, and a bit scummy.

As mentioned, sometimes people won’t report flood-damaged cars. This is because flood damage falls under a different comprehensive insurance that many people opt-out of. And if they don’t have the coverage, they’re SOL. The solution? Don’t ask don’t tell.

If the vehicle is totaled by floodwaters, and people don’t have the coverage, there’s no other way to make money than to quickly sell it. And this isn’t something that happens with private sellers only. Oftentimes, cheap used car dealerships will clean up flood-damaged cars in states where title laws are looser.

This is why thoroughly checking out a new car is crucial, otherwise, you might end up with a total lemon. In fact, there are many people on the road today who already have.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a new trend at all

With every hurricane comes flood-damaged cars. And according to CNBC’s findings, there were already 378,000 flood-damaged vehicles on the road before Ida made landfall. It’s just another automotive scam, and a lucrative one at that. After all, on the surface, you’re just selling a used car.

Post-Ida, thousands of vehicles were flooded, and history tends to repeat itself. A good chunk of the vehicles damaged are soon to be back on the market. So keep your eyes open for any signs you might be dealing with a flood-damaged car. And if the price seems too good to be true, walk away, and find something that won’t fall apart in the next 10,000 miles.

RELATED: Hurricane Ida: New Orleans Changed the Law to Save Cars From Water Damage

The post Flood-Damaged Cars Are Back on the Market: Here’s How to Avoid Buying One appeared first on MotorBiscuit.

by Gabrielle DeSantis

Shopping for a new or used car at a dealership is a daunting experience. You spend hours sitting at a salesperson’s desk sipping coffee while waiting for them to talk to their manager. During that time, you might hear them say a few things that sound they’re speaking in code. In order to clear up some of that mysterious dealership lingo, here are a few terms you should know before stepping foot onto the showroom floor.

Here are some of the most common dealership phrases

Even some of the most basic terms in a car deal can sound confusing if you have never heard them before. But it’s always good to know them before getting into a back-and-forth conversation with a salesperson about pricing or the car itself. Here are some of the most common terms you’ll come across:

• MSRP: This stands for “Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price.” The MSRP is the price that the manufacturer recommends that the dealer should sell the car for. It’s also known as the car’s “sticker price” as it’s the price shown on the window sticker from the manufacturer.
• Make or Model: The “make” is the brand of the manufacturer that built the car, while the “model” refers to the name of the car itself. For example, “Honda” is the make of the car and “Civic” is the model name.
• Dealer invoice: This is the price that the dealership pays the manufacturer for the car. This is essentially the base price that the dealer then marks up in order to make a profit.
• F&I: This stands for “finance and insurance.” This is the part of the dealership where you’ll sign the paperwork for the car and purchase any extra warranties or services.
• Money Factor: This one pertains to leasing, it’s basically the interest rate that you’ll be charged on a monthly basis as part of the car’s lease payment. Just like an interest rate in financing, the lower the money factor the better the deal.

The following terms were just some of the most basic words and terms that you might hear during the course of an entire car deal. Now, let’s get into some more in-house terms that you might hear car salespeople throw around while you’re hanging out in a dealership.

Terms that car salespeople use around each other

Here are some common salespeople terms you might hear if you hang around a dealership long enough:

• Be-back: A customer that leaves the lot and tells the salesperson that they’ll “be back” later.
• Demo: Another term for “test drive”
• First pencil: This is first pricing offer from the salesperson for the car that you’re buying. If you don’t like the terms and want to negotiate, then you’ll end up seeing a “second or third pencil” as well.
• Spiff: A kick-back or payment between salespeople or from the sales manager to the salesperson, typically as an incentive for selling a car.
• Voucher: This refers to a commission voucher that sales people get after selling a car so that they know how much they made on the deal.

If you want to learn how to put sentences together using these newfound terms, then here is an example from Edmunds:

When you sit down to talk about the pricing for the car, you can tell the salesperson:

“Do you want to post another unit on the board? Give it to me for a nickel back of the invoice. You can make a nice voucher and spiff the F&I guy for prepping the docs.”

What you basically told the salesperson is that you’ll make the car deal for $500 under the invoice price, that way, they can sell another car and even spiff the finance manager. It’s a pretty good line considering you’ll sound like you know what you’re talking about and you’ll put the ball in their court when it comes to pricing and, ultimately, selling the car.

Will knowing these phrases land me a better deal on a car?

Maybe. We can’t make any promises that knowing some of the dealership lingo will help you get a better deal on a car. But knowing these terms will at least clear up any confusion you might have during the car deal. After all, it’s like understanding another language and when it comes to car shopping, knowledge is power and, possibly, more money saved.

RELATED: Can a Retailer Charge Over MSRP?

The post Dealership Lingo That You Should Know Before Stepping Into the Showroom appeared first on MotorBiscuit.