Superstorm Sandy took 300 lives, destroyed thousands of homes, and damaged approximately 250,000 cars. A new report is now claiming some of those damaged cars are being re-sold in used car lots across the country.
During a five month investigation, ABC'S "The Lookout" discovered Sandy-damaged vehicles are being sold to people and some customers have no idea.
"While this car looks great on the outside and to the untrained eye, things are falling apart inside this car. It may not happen immediately, but days, weeks or months down the road, parts that are on this car are going to fail," said Christopher Bassco, public relations manager at CarFax to ABC.
CarFax claims that nearly 100,000 Sandy-damaged vehicles are back on the road all-over the U.S.
ABC went undercover at a used car dealership D&D Auto Sales in Old Bridge, N.J., they found out that a Ford F-350 truck destroyed by Hurricane Sandy was being sold for $19,999. The truck's VIN number and auction records do indicate it was damaged by a flood but it's still being sold as a normal used car.
The truck was sold to a producer for "The Lockout" for its asking price, and when the producer asked about the flood damage listed in the vehicle's history report, the salesman said it was only "a glitch."
Allan Picker, over and certified mechanic at All-Time AutoBody in Point Pleasant, N.J., said the CarFax report was no glitch.
After examining the vehicle he determined that the vehicle had serious damage, including a corroded transmission and faulty airbags that could deploy even if a crash hadn't occurred according to ABC.
D&D Auto Sales responded to "The Lookout" team's discovery in a press statement.
"D&D auto sales sincerely regrets the unfortunate misrepresentation of the product by the salesperson," said D&D Auto Sales. "We do not condone such business practices and have terminated the salesman as a result of his independent action. This is in no way reflective of typical business practices at D&D."
So if you're thinking of buying a used car, even if the vehicle doesn't have a CarFax report, it doesn't hurt to have the vehicle checked out by a local mechanic first before handing over your money.
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