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In the couple of years following Hurricane Katrina you probably heard frightening accounts of people unwittingly purchasing cars that had been damaged by flood waters. Flood damage can be easy enough to hide from the average consumer, but the damage is permanent and often progressive. While the so-called “Katrina cars” are starting to disappear from the scene, particularly at car auctions, you still run the risk of buying a car that has damage that is not readily apparent.
photo credit: mecookie

Any time you’re buying a used car, it is a good idea to buy a vehicle history report on the car you are interested in. Here are three reasons to invest in this type of report.

1.    For the cost of around $30 to $50 you have the potential to save yourself a multi-thousand dollar headache that would come with a car with undisclosed damage. A vehicle history increases the chances of making you aware if a car has been salvaged, had frame damage, been rebuilt, been in accidents, had water damage, fire damage, or any other damage. While there is no “used car lemon law,” you can find out if it was declared a “lemon” when it was new.

2.    A vehicle history report will let you know if the odometer has been rolled back, if the odometer is broken, or if the car has excessive mileage. You’ll also find out if it has been stolen, or used as a taxi. With some reports you can do a title search to make sure that the car has a clean title. This is especially important if you’re buying a seized car at a government auction.

3.    A vehicle history report gives you exactly what you need to either negotiate a price, or know your bidding limits. Information is your best friend when you’re buying a used car. With a used car dealer, don’t forget that they are in business to make a profit, not to make your life easier. With auctions – particularly government auctions – the goal is to get the vehicles off the lot so that the government can stop paying for storage and maintenance. While you can get good deals at government auctions, in general you should consider it a “buyer beware” situation, particularly with cars that have been seized for drug or income tax reasons.

There is always some risk when you buy a new car. Even if you know the owner, you may not know how well the car was maintained. The number of miles on the odometer is important, but so are the conditions under which those miles were driven. While a report on a car’s history based on its vehicle identification number (VIN) can’t tell you what kind of driver the previous owner was, it can sometimes tell you whether the vehicle has undergone any disaster: fire, flood, accidents that should cause you to look elsewhere. You can also purchase a title history, which will give you the peace of mind of knowing the car has a clean title. That’s very valuable knowledge for the price of one tank of gas.