By John McDevitt

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Hurricane Sandy flooded many streets in the region and vehicles parked on them. If you’re looking to buy a used vehicle, how do you know it wasn’t damaged in a flood. An auto expert says there are a few things to look out for.

Salt water is corrosive and it could destroy a vehicle.

“Don’t even try and fix it. Salt water is terrible.”

That’s Tom Mulnar, an automotive instructor with Burlington County Institute of Technology. Mulnar says he has however fixed vehicles damaged by fresh water flooding.

“And we dried out those cars and they were repairable. You know we had to do some work on the engine, drain the oil, take the intake manifold off and dry out the computer stuff and they functioned after that but as soon as salt water gets into a car forget it .”

Mulnar says when looking at a vehicle check for rust, musty odors, electrical problems and any sign of a water line: inside,outside or under the hood.

“Just like you do on a building, water sits around a building you can, a lot of times you can see a watermark on the car.”

And before handing over the cash to buy a vehicle he says get a mechanic to look at it. You coud be spending a lot more money for repairs down the road.