Cyclone Arnab Flooded Cars This Week — How Do You Spot Flood Damage Before Buying?

Cyclone Arnab's heavy rains this week affected thousands of families and left vehicles sitting in flooded garages and low-lying streets across several districts, going by Disaster Management Centre figures. Within weeks, some of those cars will be cleaned up, detailed and quietly listed on the used market with no mention of what happened to them. One side says: always ask for service history, check for water lines inside door panels, musty smells, rusted bolts under the carpet and seat rails, and fogged-up instrument clusters — and walk away if a seller gets vague about where the car was parked during the rains. The other side says most buyers don't have the time or mechanical know-how to catch this, dealers aren't obligated to disclose flood exposure, and a well-cleaned flood car can sail through a quick test drive with zero warning signs, only to fail its electrics or ECU months later. There's no rule here requiring a flood-damaged vehicle to be flagged on the RC book or in an ad, unlike some other markets. Have you ever bought a car that turned out to have hidden water damage, or caught one before signing? What should buyers actually check this time of year? වාහනයක් ගංවතුරෙන් හානි වී තියෙනවද කියලා ගන්න කලින් මොනවද බලන්නේ?