flood damage motorhomes

[paulm]

I am shopping for a used late model class a pusher. I know there have been lots of terrible floods around the country.
My question is there a service like CarFax that can tell me if a motorhome was ever in a flood.
Back when the big hurricane happened in Texas I saw some pictures of motorhomes in the water made me think right then that when I got ready to buy and go full time again I could be really screwed.
thanks for any info you might have.

[paulm]

MountainAir05 wrote:
Also many months ago, after that flood, they had many articles and Tv news that showed you how vehicles were put back into the system that had been flood. This system would buy up the vehicles from the owner or insurance and clean what they could and savage what they could not. They were put back into the market. Insurance knows how to get around the system so it never shows it was flooded. There were many shows on TV about this. No sure how you did not catch at lease one.

I guess I don't spend too much time on the news. So guess I missed it.

[John_Joey]

Before shelling out the money for a proper inspection, pull out the bottom drawers and inspect the back joints. If the water was high enough you will see it there. Cheap RV drawers don't last long when full of water, too hard to rebuild, and harder to find from a salvage pile.

[valhalla360]

If you are worried and the vehicle is suspect, probably worth it to pay an RV tech for a couple hours time to poke around looking for issues.

[Chum_lee]

No system is perfect. NONE. If the vehicle has a clouded title, that can be a big clue but NOTHING is foolproof, even when the vehicle is brand new.

Think about it. If you are unfortunate enough to be at the boat launch ramp with your RV and back into the water too deep, you stall. Your friend pulls you out. WHO'S GONNA KNOW? ANSWER: NO ONE BUT YOU!

If you can't inspect a prospective vehicle yourself for potential water damage, then hire someone who can. Water damage is almost impossible to hide to the trained eye. Check to make sure everything works and there are no signs of mold, moisture, corrosion, discoloration, delamination, odor, mud in unusual places, obvious excessive pressure washing, etc. It's really a lot like checking for previous accident damage. Suspect any vehicle that is too perfect for its age.

Beyond that, it's about all anyone can reasonably do although I'm sure others will chime in.


Chum lee

[tropical36]

paulm wrote:
I am shopping for a used late model class a pusher. I know there have been lots of terrible floods around the country.
My question is there a service like CarFax that can tell me if a motorhome was ever in a flood.
Back when the big hurricane happened in Texas I saw some pictures of motorhomes in the water made me think right then that when I got ready to buy and go full time again I could be really screwed.
thanks for any info you might have.

Best way, is to have someone that knows what they're looking at,to inspect the undercarriage.

[gbopp]

Check Youtube for a video on identifying flooded RV's. There should be several.

[MountainAir05]

Also many months ago, after that flood, they had many articles and Tv news that showed you how vehicles were put back into the system that had been flood. This system would buy up the vehicles from the owner or insurance and clean what they could and savage what they could not. They were put back into the market. Insurance knows how to get around the system so it never shows it was flooded. There were many shows on TV about this. No sure how you did not catch at lease one.

[jplante4]

Only if there was an insurance claim put in for the damage. A lot of salvage companies know how to "hide the cannoli" by filing a claim for water damage with no mention of a flood. Going to any of the title search services with a VIN will find insurance claims. I used FaxVIN last time on a trailer I inspected (about $10 per visit) and it reported an accident that never happened.