I don't want to provide any direct links, but I found a guy at autos.yahoo.com that sells 3 practically new Toyota Corollas for 8500, 9500 and 10500. They're all '05 Corollas in excellent condition, the one for 8500 had only 700 miles, the others are also under 4000 miles.
Can anyone tell me if it can be some kind of scam? It sound suspiciously fishy to me - selling a new car for almost half of the cost and claiming there are no problems with it. The guy says it's his business to sell cars. Can they be stolen cars, or maybe cars after non reported accidents with major internal repairs? Or is it the market condition now that an almost new car goes for half the cost?
The VIN is supposed to be in the listing if the cars. Search around for the Insurance Company lists of flooded cars from Katrina or Rita. One is at
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but there's probably others. And run it through Carfax also.
I tried to repeat the same search you did - I punched in '05 Corolla, $1K to $10K, within 100 miles of 91367' and got 4 cars back, though all are apparently different sellers. The first three list the VIN and they came back clean from the NICB check. The fourth car was listed in Pico Rivera, CA with no VIN posted - and the last two words in the description before the price: salvage title. Bada-Boom. Gee, wonder why they didn't want to list the VIN?
If you go to look at the car, check inside the trunk and under the hood, bring a flashlight. They can't clean back in all the recesses that you can see into with a flashlight and mirror. If the car was in a flood, it'll probably have a visible water ring of dirt just like the soap scum ring around the bathtub...
And if the person selling the car objects to your checking for damp (or missing) insulation under the floor mats, or looking in the deep corners of the trunk that closely, or won't let you take it to an independent mechanic to be checked over, RUN AWAY.
There are going to be a LOT of cars for sale out there that were submerged to the dashboard or higher, and some might have been brand new sitting on the showroom floor with 10 miles or less on them. Or a near-new car that was out on lease. When they are totaled out by an insurance company the cars are all supposed to be sold for scrap only, but...
The crooks can buy them from the wrecking yard, dry them out and get them running long enough to launder the titles through another state and sell them as 'used', but in a few months (more or less) a flood damaged car can become the biggest box of headaches you've ever dealt with.
Actually, I looked up the prices for new Toyotas and a basic configuration costs around 13K, not 16K like I thought writing the original email.
It still sounds weird that a new car with 700 miles on it goes for 2/3 of the original price. I've seen this price offers from a few different private sellers already. How come a new car with a reputation like Toyota looses nearly 1/3 of its price after literally a few months and a few hundred miles? Also, it doesn't have a warranty. I thought Toyota gives a waranty for the first 36K miles, how is it possible that after 700 miles there's no warranty? It shouldn't cost the seller anything, yet he claims there's no warranty.
-S
"Sergiy Migdalskiy" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:NJukf.7015$SY.3155@trnddc06...
I worked for a UCD for three years, and we sold a LOT of cars from the PA flood a few years ago. They were easy; as long as the person didn't try to start the engine usuall the car was OK.
We would drain EVERYTHING, flush and refill, we would clean them thoroughly and then let them sit in a nice warm garage for a while to dry out.
We had a couple that were OK (carwise, I mean) but the one I wish I had bought was a 2001 ZX-2 Escort. It was nice. It was also the toughest one to get the musty out of. We wound up removing the entire interior, pulling the carpet, cleaning it with an extractor and let it dry in the summer sun. We also left the doors open, inside at night and outside in the sun during the day. After three days the smell was gone, never to return.
BUT, you have to make sure the person selling the car is doing all this.
Hmmmm...I saw an 86.5-92 Supra in a lot of the pics from New Orleans...
t's ok to put in a link, since a searched is only seconds longer. I was a few sort of cheap that said salvage title $10K or so for a new $14k car is about the best you can do unless you offer financing. The daughter's 05 Scion after a year has 4000 miles and I doubt it's worth more than 10K or so. My 04 Tacoma 4x4 has 3000 miles after 18 months, and I've found that is a rare exception to holding price. It was worth $4000 more to buy new to me. My only regret was not buying a 10 year old 4x4. Who's going to take a new truck into the mud? And I'd pass on the automatic. and for off road, I'd pass on the extended cab.
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