Salvage/Flood/Katrina
Tom:
The Dominican Republic has had a law (2002) against the import of salvage vehicles. That having been said and knowing that there is a certain amount of selective enforcement and outright laundering of titles to these vehicles, I suggest the following steps:
1. Look for a water mark/line around the interior and engine and trunk
compartments;
2. Look for white corrosion at the fuse box, cigarette lighter, metal
frame underneath the seats or anywhere you have an electric connection;
3. Pull the oil and/or transmission fluid dipsticks and look for water beading;
4. Check the air filter housing for silt and other sediments;
5. Run a carfax;
www.carfax.com
6. Run the vehicle identification number at
www.nicb.org.
Caveat: Steps 5 and 6 are basically only applicable to cars formerly from the USA and its territories (Step 5) and those affected by hurricane Katrina (step 6).
Seeing humidity and smelling mildew may be signs of nothing more innocuous than having left the windows open in a tropical downpour, but that should give you pause to investigate further.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
QUOTE=twhitehead]Snuffy: Any suggestions on what to look for other than mold/humidity? thanks tom[/QUOTE]