Loan Zone: Technology helps prevent fraud in the car-buying process

The need to quickly replace a large number of vehicles in the aftermath of the hurricanes heightens the need for everyone in the process to be more careful.

The 2018 hurricane season produced yet another round of devastating weather for parts of the continental U.S. This past fall, Hurricanes Florence and Michael came ashore in the Carolinas and Florida panhandle, respectively, and both caused billions of dollars in damage to the Southeastern corridor.

According to Forbes, between 20,000 and 40,000 cars and trucks were damaged or destroyed from Florence, and another 10,000 were totaled from Michael. While this pales in comparison to the roughly 700,000 vehicles lost from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma the previous year, it still wiped out plenty of transportation that immediately needed to be replaced by families and businesses.

Indeed, in the aftermath of a storm of any magnitude, vehicles are often rendered undriveable and need to be replaced. Like many other critical aspects of daily life, such as food and water, people need transportation, and vehicles are usually replaced not long after a storm.

For the most part, this vehicle replacement activity is quick, with tens of thousands of people immediately needing to shop for vehicles in the weeks after the storm. This means people do research on dealer, Original Equipment Manufacturer, third-party shopping and review websites to select the car or truck that fits their needs.

 

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