Purchasing a used car soon? Be aware of “title washing” when sellers wash away damaged vehicle titles. #AAAInsurance pic.twitter.com/jAE5R487c2
— AAA South Dakota (@AAASouthDakota) February 24, 2017
Georgia is a big state, with plenty of cars on the road. Yet according to Cars.com, as many as 1 in 213 of those cars have been title-washed.
What is title-washing? The short explanation is, it's a way sellers alter the title of a vehicle to hide previous damage—often flood damage. You could buy a "clean-titled" used car that was, at one point, declared irreparable.
Many of us in Duluth and the greater Atlanta area took in families who evacuated from Florida during Hurricane Irma. It's just as easy for the thousands of cars destroyed in floods to cross the border into Georgia. Flood vehicles from Hurricane Harvey could easily be sold here, too.
How to avoid title-washed cars
Always look at the CARFAX Vehicle History Report first. Unfortunately, not all damage gets reported to CARFAX, or may take time to show up on the report, so it's always best to thoroughly inspect any used car before purchase:
- Check headlights for moisture inside the glass
- Smell for mold/mildew, especially in the trunk
- Lift carpeting, and look for fading, staining, and mud
- Look in engine bay for trapped grit, waterlines, or rust
- Test out all electrical parts, including windshield wipers, infotainment systems, and climate control
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