CONSUMERS FOR AUTO RELIABLTY AND SAFETY

To put a flood vehicle "back in the commerce stream" without letting it be known, you need two things, says Frank Scafidi, spokesman for the National Insurance Crime Bureau: "The vehicle has to have high enough value to make it worth your trouble, and you need a clean title."

But how does a flood wreck get a clean title? "You pick up that flood-damaged 2004 Chevy Tahoe at auction for $5,000 because it's a total loss," says Scafidi. "It might've cost $25,000 undamaged. But you're going to refurbish it. Some states don't recognize a title brand from another state, and there is always the outright corruption. So, one way or the other, you get a clean paper. Now you have a vehicle you paid $5,000 for, then put another $5,000 into it to get it looking good, and you sell it and make $15,000 on that one transaction."

The mechanical troubles with flood-salvaged cars are wide-ranging, says Rosemary Shahan, president of the Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, a Sacramento consumer car-owner advocacy group. "All the electronic components are hopelessly compromised. They will inevitably corrode. Anti-lock brakes will fail, engines will intermittently die in traffic, and air bags may not inflate in a crash."

Flood cars can also pose allergy risks from mold and mildew and carry dangerous pathogens from sitting in floodwaters contaminated with sewage, toxic chemicals and human and animal remains. "People with asthma or allergies will be at particular risk of breathing in substances that are a threat to their health," says Shahan.

Since the hurricanes, advisories have gone out to emergency personnel and automobile mechanics warning of the risks of potentially fatal infected cuts or scrapes from flood cars in hurricane states.

There have been efforts to prevent unsuspecting consumers from getting stuck. Soon after the hurricanes, CarFax (which charges $19.99 for a vehicle history) flagged all vehicles in its system from the Zip codes of the affected states as potentially flood-damaged.

And NICB worked with local law enforcement in the Gulf Coast states and insurance companies to collect a database of vehicle-identification numbers from flood-damaged cars in those states. Used-car buyers can search the free database to verify that a car wasn't a flood salvage or involved in a hurricane claim.

Scafidi says that with the 2006 hurricane season not far off, NICB plans to continue updating the database and keep it available to consumers.

So how does a used-car shopper know he isn't buying a flood vehicle? Flood cars often show telltale signs, says Shahan, including silt in odd places such as between door panels or in the area for the spare tire, rust and corrosion, musty smell, new upholstery or carpeting, a "salvage" or "flood" title, and a history of being sold at auction or of coming from Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi or Florida -- though flood salvage cars can originate anywhere.

Besides checking the car's title history on a title database service such as CarFax, she recommends having a trusted mechanic go over the car before buying it.

She also recommends that you beware of sellers who balk at your getting your own inspection. "That's a huge red flag that they are hiding something," she says.