Website lists vehicles damaged by Sandy

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TRENTON, N.J., Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Potential car buyers can go online to see whether vehicles being offered for sale were damaged during Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey officials announced.

Prospective buyers can check out vehicles at the Division of Consumer Affairs website by entering the auto's vehicle identification number or manufacturer, The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger reported Friday.

The database has 13,000 vehicles listed, "the vast majority of which are there as a result of Sandy," said Eric Kanefsky, acting director of the state Division of Consumer Affairs.

It isn't illegal to sell a damaged vehicle, Kanefsky said, as long as the seller is not deceptive about its history.

The titles of flood-damaged vehicles are marked with an "F."

There has been a 6,000 percent increase in the number of flood and salvage-titled vehicles processed by the Motor Vehicle Commission in the last three months, said the agency's chairman, Raymond Martinez.

He said 60,000 insurance claims were reported for personal and commercial vehicles in Sandy's aftermath.