We all know about the risks present when buying used vehicle.
You probably don’t expect everything to be perfect, but how do you know that used truck you are buying isn’t hiding some flaws? Judging by this week’s news, already complicated search for good deal on second-hand car market got even more problematic.
On the other hand, new vehicle market once again showed that it still prefers American based brands compared to foreign companies, even though vehicles produced are actually done with “American” hands in both cases.
More than 250,000 flood damaged cars in the USA
If you are looking to buy a used car your should start worrying right now.
Recent Carfax report suggests that there are more than 250,000 flood damaged vehicles that are back on the roads of United States of America. The main cause for such high number of vehicles in the first place is recent Super-storm Sandy and because it hit north-east coast, the most of them are located in that area, but considerable number of cars ended up in other states, like Texas.
Since October 31, 2012 until today this number is constantly rising. With it one other thing is also getting more and more troublesome and that is the fact that the number of cars damaged by flood that are inadequately repaired and sold is also growing. Here, Texas also got the worst of it, since it is estimated that over 30,000 faulty vehicles ended up in this state.
What could be wrong with such cars? Well, for one, their electrical system and anti-corrosive barriers have been compromised but there are still pretty decent chances that water is still present in some other parts which could cause even bigger problems. Somewhere along the road this type of vehicle will undoubtedly stop working which could put its driver in real danger.
That’s why repairing flood damaged vehicles in inappropriate manner and selling them afterwards is treated as fraud and if spotted by buyers such actions should be reported to the authorities.
Remember this photo? This Airfield is now completely empty
The next obvious question is: how to spot flood-damaged vehicle? First of all if you have access to vehicles VIN number, you should do a free Carfax flood damage check by clicking on this link.
When personally checking vehicle, look at the trunk, glove compartment, below the seats and the dashboard for obvious signs of damage done by water like rust, sand, silt or mud.
After turning your ignition key check that everything is working properly and airbag and ABS lights come on. Everyone checks fuses before selling the vehicle and makes sure it looks as best as possible to the potential buyer, so don’t trust the seller when he tells you that electronics don’t work because fuse has to be replaced. While that might be true in some cases, this can also be a signal that that vehicle might’ve been damaged by super-storm Sandy.
Check the interior for additional signs of water damage. If you take deep breath and smell something “fishy” that might actually be a reason of concern.
And before paying, go to trusted mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection.
These vehicles should be striped and sold only as spare parts, but in search for more money some sellers are willing to risk lives of their buyers, which is quite sad.
Toyota, Toyota… What have you done?
Going over our past Writing Fridays it seems as if every week one auto manufacturer is determined to mark the week behind us, usually with some not-so-great news.
Well, this week’s title goes to Toyota, which was, sadly, been busy canceling and recalling their models.
We already mentioned few times that mid-size trucks aren’t doing that great nowadays. There are only couple of models in this category of trucks still being produced today and it looks like one of them, Toyota Tacoma might soon lose its regular cab version, reducing total number of offered compact and mid-size trucks on the market.
is currently only one that has regular short cab version (Nissan Frontier and Honda Ridgeline dropped two-door configurations some time ago), but that may change in 2015. What’s even worse, there is a small chance there will be an alternative in this pickup truck category, since some sources claim new version of Chevrolet Colorado also won’t have short cab.
Few days after we received this news we got official statement from Toyota announcing it will definitely drop the production of Tacoma X-Runner for 2014. The sporty pickup offered drivers “customized look” with parts that looked like aftermarket body kit, lowered stance and very bright paint colors.
Manufacturer stated that SR Package will still be offered to fill the need of those looking for a nice substitute for the X-Runner.
Those that weren’t surprised that this version of Tacoma was still being produced claim that this Toyota’s move was a long time coming, claiming that X-Runner failed to answer the needs of buyers. The pickup truck was trying hard to satisfy everyone and didn’t answer either type of a buyer completely.
Lastly, two days ago Toyota announced that it will voluntarily recall more than 340,000 Tacoma Access Cab trucks, which were produced in a period between 2004 and 2011. The main reason for this recall is due to faulty seat-belt pretensioners, or more specifically the screws that attach the pretensioner to the belt retractor. Over time these screws might loosen themselves leaving the driver and front passenger in potential danger in a crash.
It is said that only front seat belts are affected by this recall and only this version of Toyota Tacoma, while owners will be contacted soon for more details
Not so good news for Toyota Tacoma fans.
GM and Ford going strong
On the other hand, fans of GM and Ford have reasons to be happy.
General Motors recently premiered their new trucks, 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and 2014 GMC Sierra but rumors say the company might soon show new version of their acclaimed SUVs Chevrolet Tahoe/ Suburban and their counterpart GMC Yukon for 2015 production year. It is said that they might do so on September 27 during State Fair of Texas, which is a good reason to trust these news, since this is a very important market for GM.
Things are also going well for Ford.
This automaker recently announced that it is adding third shift in their assembly plant in Kansas City. This plan includes 900 new hourly workers giving their best to satisfy the growing high demand for Ford’s and America’s most wanted vehicle – F-150 pickup truck.
While the company is obviously satisfied with such development, this is all part of previously mentioned plan to create more than 2,000 hourly jobs in near future.
F-Series sales are at its best since 2006 and they continue to rise, so we assume Ford is on a good way to complete its goals very soon.