On August 29, Hurricane Ida hit the northern Gulf Coast, making landfall at Port Fourchon, Louisiana, with sustained winds of 150 mph. It moved through the United States before stalling over the Northeast, dumping heavy rain and causing severe flooding in major urban areas such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and notably New York. The cyclone also hit many automobile owners and buyers, as a recent Carfax study warned that as many as 212,000 vehicles might be seriously flood-damaged by Ida's relentless rain.
A flooded car may look okay at first glance, but it might come apart later. As there is much to worry about these cars, Chris Basso, a spokesperson for Carfax mentioned that:
"The real danger is that these cars may look fine and run well for a while, but sooner rather than later major problems are likely to occur. Flooded cars literally rot from the inside out and the damage is often difficult for untrained eyes to detect."
With COVID-related delays and a microprocessor scarcity stifling new car manufacturing, demand for secondhand vehicles is at an all-time high. Customers and dealers have paid excessive amounts for older cars, particularly trucks and SUVs, yet values for almost all vehicles are rising right now.
Carfax recommends that customers be extremely cautious during the inspection procedure. The study recommends searching for musty odors, fragile wiring beneath the dash, moisture in instrument clusters, damp carpeting or padding, corrosion in doors, and traces of dirt or sand under the seats or in the glove box as indicators of flood damage.