Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, on 9 October 2024, two weeks after Helene. Carfax estimated up to 120,000 vehicles in Florida were damaged. Enter the VIN to see flood brands, insurance write-offs and auction photos before you buy.
Title brands applied when an insurer wrote the car off, in any state that issued a title.
Copart and IAAI photos taken after the storm, before any cleaning. Photos are on 70% of our reports.
A Florida title in late 2024 followed by a new title in another state is a question worth asking.
Readings in date order, to spot a replaced or reset digital odometer.
Rental, fleet or taxi use, on 97% of reports. Florida rental fleets lost cars in both storms.
Run the VIN. Look for a flood or salvage brand and a salvage auction sale from mid-October 2024 onwards.
Check whether the car was titled in Florida in autumn 2024, especially around Tampa Bay, Sarasota and the Gulf coast.
Ask where the car was parked. Coastal Sarasota, Charlotte and Lee counties took Milton's surge; Pinellas County flooded from Helene two weeks earlier.
Pull back a carpet edge and check the spare-wheel well and fully extended seat belts for silt or a tide line.
Some Florida cars were flooded by Helene's surge and again by Milton. Carfax estimated about 347,000 vehicles were damaged across the 2024 hurricane season.
Milton also spawned dozens of tornadoes across Florida before it made landfall. Debris and wind damage codes in an auction record are worth reading as closely as flood codes.
A Florida car retitled in another state no longer says Florida on its current title. The title history in the report still does, with dates.
Storm surge is salt water, which corrodes wiring and connectors faster than rain flooding. Problems can appear months after a clean-up.
A common pattern: a Florida title, an insurance total loss in October or November 2024, a salvage auction with photos of a water line and mud in the footwells, then a new title in another state and a listing with no mention of Florida. A report cannot show flood damage that was never insured or reported, so a clean record is a reason to inspect, not a guarantee.
See a full sample reportCarfax estimated up to 120,000 vehicles in Florida, and about 347,000 across the whole 2024 hurricane season.
It made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, on the evening of 9 October 2024.
It shows flood and salvage brands, insurance total losses and auction records where they were reported. It cannot show damage on a car that was never claimed, so also inspect the car.
The title history in the report lists each state that titled the car, with dates. A Florida title in October 2024 is the one to ask about.
Enter the VIN to see which records exist. The preview is free.