How to spot if your next used car is a former submarine
Super Typhoon “Carina” (international name “Gaemi”), combined with a southwest monsoon, wrought havoc throughout Luzon that peaked on Wednesday, as it headed towards Taiwan.
Despite the eye of the storm being well north of the Philippines’ northernmost islands, it brought down a record amount of rainfall, beating the downpour set by Typhoon “Ondoy” some 15 years ago. And in the Philippines, when it rains, it floods.
There were news reports and social-media posts abound of people clambering to the top of their houses to escape as the water creeped higher and higher along rivers and dams – the Marikina River was soon running out of measuring marks and La Mesa Dam eventually overflowed.
And then there were the commuters, who were just expecting a wet journey to work, who found themselves clambering atop buses as the water reached the top of street signs in some areas.
There was also pandemonium for motorists who were stuck in traffic for hours and hours as inundated roads ground to a halt. And for the cars that couldn’t move to safety, they faced a watery doom as they either floated along with the current or ending up having an impromptu dive.
Now, the effectiveness of the billions of pesos that were supposedly poured into flood-control projects is clearly questionable. But if the next car that you wanted to buy somehow got caught in a deluge like this, how would you know?
We talked to Premium Car Exchange general manager Clarence Chiong to find the tell-tale signs of a flooded used car.
Wet and wild
There’s a reason experts recommend disconnecting your car’s battery and pulling out the computer box during a flood – electricity and water don’t make good bedfellows.
And when you try to run your car with all those soaked sensors, modules and wires, things often end in tears with a dazzling array of warning lights and a potentially expensive trip to the mechanic.
But unscrupulous sellers can find ways to conceal a car that has had a long swim, ranging from extensive interior detailing to changing out the lights. When we inspect a unit, we check for moisture in the taillights and headlights.
Other sellers reseal the lights, but when it gets cold, moisture reappears. Then, we check the interior for musty smells and rusty screws underneath,” Chiong said.
Aside from electrical issues, a flooded car can become a breeding ground for mold and mildew, with certain strains causing serious allergies, skin conditions and even respiratory problems.
Chiong said buyers should also look out for things like a replaced stereo and dirty light connectors. But he recommended one effective way to check if a car has really been flooded.
“We also remove the door sidings. The speakers should be original and if there are brown or white marks, that’s where we can see how high the flood went in the car. It’s very difficult to clean that,” he added.
Half the value
Chiong added that you should bring a trusted mechanic who can thoroughly inspect your potential purchase. “There are many ways for buy-and-sell dealers to get away with it. If the deal is on an “as-is, where-is” basis, there’s no returning.”
However, Chiong noted that if the seller declares the car to be free from flood damage, only for you to discover otherwise, you can demand for a refund or a replacement unit. And should you still want to buy a flooded car, he said you should only pay around half of the car’s market value.
“Our company would clean up the car, then declare it as flooded. Other sellers would say only the flooring was flooded, but the water went all the way up to the dashboard.
However, the discount from the market price would only be minimal,” Chiong said.
Charging to insurance
And then there are used cars that have comprehensive insurance with acts of nature (AON) coverage.
Chiong said you can charge repairs to the existing policy, as long as the previous owner agrees to pay the participation fee. Alternatively, you can get a new comprehensive insurance policy with AON under your name.
“Sign a closed Deed of Sale with notarization proving that you are the new owner, then file a late claim, so long as the new policy is within the covered period,” he said.
So, the next time you check out a used car, you can now find out if it has stayed high and dry or did some work as a submarine.
