As Hurricane Season 2014 approaches, used cars damaged by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 are still being sold. A New Jersey used car dealer has been fined for selling them to unsuspecting customers.

According to ABC News, "A New Jersey car dealership operator will have to pay back customers who unknowingly bought Superstorm Sandy-damaged cars from his lot, thanks in part to a five-month 'ABC's The Lookout' investigation into flooded cars being sold on used car lots."

The owner may not get off lightly. As the story reports, "Jonathan Olin, 42, the operator of used car dealership D&D Auto Sales in Old Bridge, N.J., was accused of using false vehicle titles to sell the cars to unsuspecting customers from February 2013 through July 2013, according to prosecutors. Olin pleaded guilty this week to second-degree theft by deception, and faces three years in state prison. He was also ordered to pay full restitution to the victims."

The National Insurance Crime Bureau has released updated numbers for the used cars damaged by Hurricane Sandy and the statistics demonstrate one thing: be careful buying used cars from New York and New Jersey. The NICB issued a report that breaks down the damage by state and New York and New Jersey are far away the two states to have the biggest impact from the late October 2012 hurricane:

1. New York: 150,000
2. New Jersey: 60,000
3. Connecticut: 8,000
4. Maryland: 5,500
5. Massachusetts: 5,000
6. Virginia: 4,500
7. Ohio: 4,000
8. Pennsylvania: 4,000
9. Delaware: 2,000

1. New Hampshire: 2,000
2. North Carolina: 1,500
3. District of Columbia: 1,000
4. Rhode Island: 1,000
5. West Virginia: 1,000
6. Maine: 500
7. Vermont: 500

As the NICB observed, "It is important to note that these are preliminary figures and may change as additional claims are received and processed. Also, these are insured losses only. There are certainly many uninsured vehicles that were damaged by Sandy and those numbers are not reflected in this information. Moreover, there is no determination as to the extent of damage to these vehicles. They could have sustained minor paint scratches from flying debris, or have been under water for days and rendered total losses."

There are a couple points worth focusing on in that last paragraph: insured losses and extent of damage. Let's look at insured losses first. That refers to money that insurance companies have paid out for covered items. That mostly likely means we're talking about later-model used cars because many owners of older used cars wisely stop carrying collision coverage because of high deductibles and high premiums.

Insured losses mean there are potentially thousands of used cars out there - not covered by collision insurance - that aren't declared salvage vehicles. That's an important distinction that often gets overlooked. Insurance companies are usually behind declaring that used cars must have a salvage title. Most private sellers are never going to bother with declaring their used cars to be salvage only because that means leaving lots of money on the table in terms of residual value.

In the New Jersey case it appears the dealership got the vehicles from an auction and then got deceptive. The story says, "ABC's The Lookout team went undercover last summer at D&D Auto Sales, where they discovered a 2006 Ford F-350 truck seriously damaged by Sandy being sold on the lot for $19,999. The truck's Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) and auction records indicated it was damaged by a flood.  A D&D salesman sold the car to an "ABC's The Lookout" producer for its asking price and referred to a flood alert on the vehicle's CarFax report as 'a glitch.'"

We have previously published advice on buying a used car after a hurricane. The first two weeks after a hurricane hits are the most volatile because that is when consumers have the least protection from deceptive used car dealers.

Unscrupulous used car sellers might try selling used cars at discount prices without disclosing why the used cars are being sold cheaply. These could be used cars moved from hurricane states to non-hurricane areas.

Even doing a CarFax report may not help you. CarFax relies on reports from government agencies and used cars sold within a month of a major weather event just aren't going to reflect what the vehicle has been through.

Realize that there is a lot you can do if a hurricane strikes your area (or affects a major swath of the country). It's most important that you do your homework. Trust your instincts and walk away if you have any doubts a car.