Toronto, Ontario — A new report from a personal finance advocacy group is calling for caution among car buyers as a deluge of storm-damaged vehicles floods the Canadian market.
Vehicles that are imported into Canada are classified by the condition they are in when they enter the country.
According to the report from Money Wise, the Registrar of Imported Vehicles applies “brands” to vehicles entering the country that include normal (good to go), salvage (cars that can’t be legally sold until they’re rebuilt and go through a structural integrity inspection by a provincial or territorial transportation ministry), rebuilt (the stage after salvage when a resale is permissible) and non-repairable (cars that can only be used for parts or scrap).
However, when damage on vehicles goes unreported, such as in these cases following Hurricane Ida, vehicles can be misclassified by the time they reach Canada, leading non-repairable cars to be sold and driven on Canadian roads.
Money Wise layed out a number of ways that consumers can determine whether their used vehicle has suffered previous flood damage.
- The carpeting. Is it muddy or musty? Alternatively, is it suspiciously new in an old car? Does it match the brand of the car?
- Exposed screws. Check the seat-mounting screws to see whether the seats have been removed to help dry the carpeting and check any other exposed screws for signs of rust.
- Difficult-to-clean places. Inspect the nooks and crannies, like gaps in panels in the trunk or hood or on the bottom edges of brackets and panels, for signs of mud or debris.
- The lights. Flooding can leave a visible waterline on a car’s lens or refractor.
