Pengpai News reporter Wu Yuli
"I have been working for five or six years and received the ' water truck '. It's really embarrassing, but fortunately I didn't sell this car." Wang Bin (pseudonym), a second-hand car dealer, recently told about his experience of being deceived to receive the "water truck".
Wang Bin said that he runs a small-scale used car dealer in Jiangsu Province. At the end of last year, a foreign customer sold him a quasi-new Audi A6L car, saying that the car was unable to repay the money to pay off the debt. Wang Bin conducted a comprehensive inspection of the car and finally recycled the quasi-new car at a price of 20,000 yuan lower than the market price, but what he did not expect was that he actually collected a "soaked water truck".
"We have checked the condition of this car, such as the paint thickness, floor, wiring harness, and seat belts. The car has not even painted, and the chassis screws have not moved. The mileage is only a few thousand kilometers, and we have tested it and have not adjusted the table." Wang Bin said, "We also checked the local weather. There was no heavy rain this year, and the accident records have been checked, and there is no problem."
So how did Wang Bin find out that this is a "soaking water truck"?
He said that shortly after the transaction, he accidentally discovered that the seller blocked him on WeChat. This made Wang Bin realize that the situation was not good. "I found the master who brought me to see it and finally found that there was mud in the very inconspicuous screw lines. My friend who asked the insurance company to check the records again and found that the car was cleaned up and sold to me as soon as it happened. The case was not closed at the time, and we failed to find the record of the accident."
At present, Wang Bin is still actively pursuing the other party, "Because he only signed a simple personal contract during the transaction, it was difficult to protect his rights. Fortunately, he was not sold, otherwise he would pay three for a refund to the consumer, and a small store like ours would basically die."
" Consumer Rights Protection Law " stipulates that if the operator falsely advertises and misleads and deceives consumers for purchases, he should "refund one compensation of three", that is, unconditional refunds and compensate consumers for three losses. Wang Bin said that this regulation also applies to consumers' second-hand car transactions. "Under the 'refund one and three compensation', few ordinary car dealers touch the 'soaked water truck'. Even if they sell, they must clearly tell the consumers that the contract must be written clearly.
parking lot for water truck waiting for auction. People's Vision Figure
What is a "water car"?
Used car industry expert Li Xing (pseudonym), told The Paper that "water car" is a conventional name. The national level has not clearly defined "water car" and the definition and standards of water car in the used car industry are actually not unified.
Li Xing introduced that in general, the used car industry divides water by exceeding a certain position of the vehicle, such as chassis, dipstick, lower edge of the gear lever, engine, gearbox, dashboard, etc. Due to the lack of industry standards, different platforms and merchants have different locations, and there are also differences in terms of names.
Used car car dealer Lu Nan (pseudonym), said that the industry is more commonly used in the industry. "Water-soaking car" is divided into three levels: "water intrusion car", " water intrusion car " and "water intrusion car".
water intrusion car, that is, vehicles whose water intrusion marks reach the bottom of the front seat audio. Although this type of vehicle has no major safety hazards after repair, after rainwater erosion and preparation, the firmness of the carpet of the vehicle has decreased; the gaps at the bottom of the vehicle are difficult to repair, and there will generally be severe rust and it is easy to cause secondary rust after repair.
water intrusion car, usually the water level reaches the gear lever, the engine has entered the gear lever, or the water has entered the cockpit? . The blisters that reach this level of the vehicle have seriously affected the health of the vehicle, which can easily cause cavity in engine assembly , irreversible damage to the vehicle electronic equipment, broken parts of the engine link, irreparable rust in the structural parts of the vehicle, etc. After repair, the risk of fire stalling will be easily caused. If the mud and sand are not cleaned thoroughly, it will also bring safety hazards such as complete scrapping of the engine.
Flooding of the vehicle mostly means that the water level does not exceed the steering wheel, including completely blocking the roof. Such vehicles are most damaged and almost impossible to repair.Even if you go on the road after repair, it is very likely to have safety hazards, and it is usually scrapped directly.
"This division was originally divided according to our traditional fuel vehicles," Lu Nan added. "For today's pure electric vehicles, ' water-soaking car ' would have damaged the battery. It is impossible to say that the battery is repaired and then installed. It is equivalent to carrying a bomb. If you want to repair it, you can only replace the battery directly. In the future, the industry should gradually form a division of the situation of electric vehicles soaking in water."
A parking lot in a certain place was full of water-soaking trucks damaged by floods. People's Vision Picture
It is reported that before 2013, my country's second-hand car market was relatively backward and lacked relevant regulations. The "water-soaking truck" caused huge losses to many consumers without any control. Until December 2013, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the National Standards Committee officially issued the "Technical Specifications for Used Cars Appraisal and Evaluation". Second-hand car evaluation has a "national standard", which also requires that the second-hand car identification and evaluation process must include whether the vehicle has blister marks into the evaluation scope. However, the specific definition and circulation standards of soaking water trucks are still missing.
Lun Nan said that there is currently no specific authoritative classification standard for water trucks in China, which has become one of the important factors in the "talking about 'water trucks' in the circulation of second-hand cars". "In fact, consumers are afraid, but we serious car dealers are not the same." Where did
water trucks go?
Regarding the ins and outs of the "soaking water truck", industry insider Fang Wen said, "The source is very simple, it is caused by heavy rain or floods, and there are also those that drive into the water. The industry also calls these two types of static wading and dynamic wading. In short, the source is not complicated, the complicated one is the way."
A soaking water truck in a parking lot. People's Vision Picture
In the process of the water soaking truck, insurance companies are a relatively core role.
Generally speaking, when the vehicle is blistered, the owner will first report the insurance to the insurance company, and the insurance company will evaluate the vehicle damage. For those with less damage and easy to repair, such as the " water-soaked car " in a very short period of time, insurance companies generally repair the car owners, and this part of the vehicle will not immediately enter the circulation link.
. More water-soaked trucks often come from major rainstorms and accidents. For example, the heavy rainstorm in a certain place last year, and the vehicle is soaked in water for a long time. If such a car is repaired, the maintenance cost may exceed the car price itself, and there are serious safety hazards. Insurance companies will presumably be "full loss" of such cars. It can be understood that the insurance company bought the car from the owner at the actual market price of the used car when the car was not soaked in water.
Fang Wen said, "Take an Mercedes-Benz E300L as an example, the original price is more than 500,000 yuan, and the actual value of the vehicle may be only 400,000 yuan after driving for 5 years. This kind of car has extremely high margin ratio, and the maintenance fee may even exceed 500,000 yuan after soaking in water. Therefore, the insurance company must be willing to assume that has lost , giving the owner 400,000 yuan, and the car may have a remaining 100,000 yuan residual value to the auction company. In this way, the insurance company only loses 300,000 yuan."
The auction company involved in this can actually be understood as a platform that connects upstream and downstream dispersed needs.
The insurance company sold a large number of all-loss cars to the auction company, and the auction company found the buyer. According to various factors such as damage, brand, model, and car price, these vehicles are diverted to different buyers such as repair shops, scrapping and dismantling companies, and used car dealers.
August 18, 2021, a water soaking truck in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province. People's Vision Picture
In the end, these "water-soaking trucks" can be roughly classified into three destinations: they become spare parts, scrapped into scrap iron for recycling, and the whole vehicle is sold.
First of all, some of them will be disassembled into parts, especially structural parts that do not involve electronic components and powertrains. They can be used for vehicle maintenance after cleaning and restoration. Second-hand car dealer Xiaobai told The Paper, "For example, many luxury cars, with a door that costs tens of thousands of yuan, and the door structure of the soaked water truck can be used to make recycled parts, and the price is only 10% or 20% of the original parts. Of course, such parts should also be clearly informed of the bubble situation during transactions."
" For example, pure electric vehicles, which have short blistering time and low battery damage. These battery modules will be disassembled, selected, and monitored. Many of the available battery packs flow to low-speed electric vehicles , which is what we often call "old man Le" manufacturers. "But this kind of battery has great safety hazards, and there should be related aspects to manage it. "Xiaobai added. The second way out of
is that cars with low prices and severe damage caused by excessive residual value will be dismantled and scrapped by scrapped factories, and different raw materials will eventually enter the corresponding recycling stage. The last type of
is to sell the whole vehicle. Xiaobai explained, "In fact, most merchants do not touch the 'soaked water truck' at all. Even if they sell, they are basically selling with clear prices, and they make a hard work in the middle. For example, many wedding companies and car rental companies and can buy luxury cars soaked in water. The wedding company picks up and drops off people at a low speed, and the car rental company rents the car to the mall for opening ceremony. Even if the vehicle breaks down, it is relatively difficult to cause major accidents. Of course, there is another type of fraud that uses inferior products as good products and packages them into normal vehicles to sell them to consumers. "
Fang Wen said, "Because the country currently does not stipulate that water-bubble cars cannot be traded, although the handling process of insurance companies is relatively standardized, the second-hand car trading end, especially the section leading to consumers, still has problems of chaos and disorder. "
Beware of "water-soaking trucks" not only require "fire eyes"
On the one hand, "water-soaking trucks" have a variety of ways to go. On the other hand, concealing sales of "water-soaking trucks" face severe punishment of "refunding one and compensation of three", why do some sellers still take risks?
Lu Nan said that from the perspective of transactions, water-soaking trucks mean that the residual value of the vehicle has dropped significantly. Even a new car that has just left the factory can only sell at most 30% of the price after being severely soaked in water. "Just like at the auction after a severe heavy rainstorm in a certain city last year, there was a 100,000-yuan BMW 5 Series , and a 100,000 yuan Volkswagen. This is a huge loss for insurance companies. But you think that at least 70% of the price difference that has dropped is a high profit in the eyes of scammers. "
As Wang Bin encountered, "water-soaked trucks" are often packaged by criminals as boutique cars with good models and sold.
Lun Nan introduced, "If ordinary consumers have not seen the preparation process, it may be difficult to understand how such a dirty car can be reborn. In fact, the entire industry is already very developed. Sellers will disassemble all the cars. Different spare parts have different cleaning tools, and there are no stains that cannot be washed away. Of course, they often focus on luxury cars with small mileage. Because of the large profit margin, spending tens of thousands of yuan can turn the car into a high-quality used car, which is a huge profit. ”
July 4, 2019, Nanchang , heavy rain caused severe water accumulation and some vehicles were flooded. People's Vision Figure
In addition, there is also a kind of "water soaking truck" of the ages. These cars have poor original conditions and have long service life. They have had water soaking accidents many years ago. Insurance data and maintenance data are difficult to query. In addition, the vehicle itself is seriously aging, so it will be more difficult to identify.
Used car dealers like Wang Bin will also be blinded. So how should ordinary consumers who lack professional knowledge "lightning protection" and protect their rights?
Li Xing said that first of all, ordinary consumers are not recommended to purchase any type of "water soaking truck". "The biggest harm of water to vehicles is the short circuit of electrical equipment. If the vehicle enters water and causes damage to the electrical appliances in the vehicle, it will seriously affect the driving safety of the vehicle and endanger the safety of the people on the vehicle. Moreover, due to the complex structure of the vehicle, even if inspection and maintenance have been carried out, it is difficult to ensure that the vehicle has no hidden dangers. ”
Secondly, try to choose formal channels. The formal second-hand car trading market has clear requirements for banning the sale of soaked water trucks. There are clear provisions in the car sales contract that if consumers buy soaked water trucks, they can negotiate a refund of the car. If the car dealer deliberately conceals the fact of soaked water trucks and fails to fulfill the obligation to inform them, it can constitute sales fraud. Consumers can choose to protect their legitimate rights and interests through legal means.
From an industry perspective, Li Xing believes that relevant departments should establish industry standards for soaking water truck testing and compensation as soon as possible, and make clear regulations on whether the soaking water truck is banned and how much water must be scrapped. In addition, systematic construction should be carried out in strengthening vehicle condition information disclosure and reducing compensation disputes.
Li Xing said, "I personally believe that the soaked water truck should be redefined according to the highest standards in the industry. Vehicles whose water invasion marks reach the bottom of the front seat audio will be judged as 'soaked water truck'. All 'soaked water trucks' will be dismantled and scrapped to ensure the safety of consumers' car use to the greatest extent."
Fang Wen believes that the circulation of soaked water trucks should also establish a traceability mechanism as soon as possible. Insurance compensation is an important source of funds for the disposal of "water-soaking trucks", so the attitude of insurance companies largely determines the flow of "water-soaking trucks".
"The establishment of the traceability mechanism should start with insurance companies. At present, smart cars can be traced through driving data, but there are more traditional cars on the road and do not have the function of tracking. After these cars have an accident, the first thing they need to do when they come into contact with the vehicles is the insurance company. If the insurance company can collect and process the detailed data of these vehicles, establish a traceability mechanism, and then push it step by step and make it public on the management department or insurance company platform, it will be difficult for people with ulterior motives to take advantage of loopholes." Fang Wen said.
Editor in charge: Shi Dongdong Picture editor: Shi Jiahui
