Your Vehicle and Water Damage

You may find it hard to believe that a vehicle that has been through a flood and has been partially or entirely submerged into water may not end up where it is supposed to go: the scrap yard. More often than not, these cars are resold in salvage auctions or are cleaned up and made to look good as new and are identified as previously submerged.

There are a great many things that one must know about water damaged vehicles. A water damaged vehicle is a veritable hotbed for mold growth on the inside of the vehicle. This is especially true if it was allowed to dry naturally and simply go untreated. If the vehicle’s doors have been closed and the interior has been allowed to dry naturally, the odor will be very easy to detect without any form of training. Now, not everyone who sells you a car will be honest about it. They will sometimes try to mask the smell of mold, water damage, and any other unpleasantries that you could detect while inspecting the interiors of the vehicle you look at. It’s important that you simply walk away if a low end car smells pleasant, because it has most likely been masked. It is also recommended that you keep an eye out for rust on any part of the interior and especially on the exterior of the vehicle around the taillights. This a tell-tale sign of water damage. It is important to smell around the carpet, because if it has been improperly treated, it will most likely stink.

It is commonly thought that the engine of the vehicle will be perfectly operational if the water is simply allowed to dry out on its own. This however is not the case. It is in fact highly recommended that the car is restored by a professional, so that there is no risk of causing further damage to the vehicle. There can be all kinds of debris inside the vehicle that could cause more damage than necessary. There is also a high risk of bacteria, so see that this issue is addressed as well.

It comes highly recommended that you get the vehicle’s history so that you can know for sure if the vehicle has indeed been involved in a water oriented accident, but you should be aware that only if an insurance claim related to water damage was filed on the vehicle will the damage show up on the report. If the damage was not reported to the insurance company, it will not appear on the vehicle history report, either.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
water damage restoration and
mold remediation companies across the united states.