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from the random-and-intermittent-failures dept.
https://qz.com/1066966/how-many-cars-were-destroyed-by-hurricane-harvey/ and also at other news outlets.
For Harvey victims, it's going to be rough if they lost their car, Houston is a very car-dependent city. Like many states, Texas only requires liability insurance — only those that bought comprehensive coverage will be able to claim the loss on insurance.
Ideally most of these flooded cars will be scrapped, as it's very likely water damage to electrical systems and other parts are not cost effective to repair professionally. However, there will be "new" and used cars on the market that have been underwater (to a greater or lesser extent). Many will be sold "as is" and some of them will be cleaned up and sold fraudulently as if they were not damaged. Buyer beware, these cars will be shipped all over in search of buyers (marks?)
After Katrina, friends of mine with time on their hands bought several new-flooded Honda Civics (which they were familiar with from building "street stock" race cars). They pulled out the interior and then the full wiring harness. Bought new harness from Honda and replaced everything, and had perfectly good near-new cars for pennies on the dollar (and a few days of hard labor).
(Score: 2) by number11 on Monday September 04 2017, @07:16AM
If the owner still owed money on it, it most likely was covered by comprehensive insurance. I don't see why an insurance company wouldn't sell it as salvage (and the title would then be branded as such). I bought (from a local dealer) a Texas car that had been totaled by hail when it was 6 months old. I tracked the history. The insurance company sold it to an Illinois company (presumably somebody who wholesales such cars), and they sold it to the dealer I bought it from (in yet another state), who fixed it up. There was definitely a paper trail, and my title is branded "prior salvage" (the "prior" meaning that it's been fixed and inspected).
Now if the car had been old enough so that the previous owner didn't buy insurance on it, there would be nothing to prevent him from hosing it off, doing a bit of cleanup, and selling it without mentioning the flood. When I bought my car, "Texas" meant "no salt on the roads". Now, being registered in Texas during this time period is a warning flag.