![]() Still, the motor vehicle department says dealers buying from auctions can mistakenly buy damaged cars too.Īccording to the department’s Director of Operations Nancy Prescott in an email, no reports of flood damage car scams have taken place following the July flooding. “A dealer is going to be way more honest than a person on the street,” said Lavictoire. Online platforms like Craigslist, Westover said, are “where most people probably go to get out of something.” He and Lavictoire said dealerships are consumers’ safer bet. Online and other private sales by individuals, he said, not so much. Tim Westover, of Carter’s Cars in South Burlington, said he hasn’t personally seen the scam, but dealers do “their due diligence” to check the titles on vehicles they re-sell. Tom Lavictoire, president of Lavictoire’s Used Cars in West Rutland, told Community News Service he has witnessed attempts at auctions to sell flood-damaged cars in disguise, but “more experienced” car dealers know not to buy them. If the seller is using a fraudulent title, it may be even more difficult to determine whether the vehicle is flood-damaged.”ĭealers around Vermont are more confident in their ability to steer clear of scam cars. Other times flood-damaged cars appear online for purchase without any disclosures about their damage or with fraudulent titles.įlood damage is not always as visibly apparent as it would seem, the press release explains: “On first appearance, the vehicle may look fine. Typically scammers take flood-damaged vehicles, give them a cheap facelift and bring them to an out-of-area auction to be bought by car dealerships. Flood-damaged car scams are known to appear after natural disasters, like those described in reports in Massachusetts following Hurricane Ian earlier this year. 28 warned consumers of cars for sale with undisclosed flood damage. The Community News Service is a program in which University of Vermont students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost.Īdjusting after a natural disaster takes many forms, and for Vermonters in the wake of this summer’s flooding, that includes changes to used car purchases.Ī press release from the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles on Aug.
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