Auto Buyers & Sellers: Beware the Biohazard Car

Joe MayCars

Auto Buyers & Sellers: Beware the Biohazard Car

Biohazard Cars

Biohazard cars aren’t the vehicles that medical waste collectors use to make their rounds. They’re not even the label we assign to our teenager’s junker, filled with Bugles crumbs, junk food wrappers, and gym socks.

Cars and RVs in which someone has committed suicide, experienced a serious nosebleed, or have otherwise excreted bodily fluids are candidates for classification as a “Biohazard Vehicle“.

Did you rush to the hospital thanks to an injury sustained while repairing your roof? Did your police vehicle transport an injured detainee? Did you not quite make it to the ER before your bouncing baby boy arrived? Perhaps your dog’s travel sickness resulted in more of a mess than you could thoroughly clean up with over-the-counter products.

All of these scenarios can work against you when you’re trying to sell or trade in a car.

A Little Blood Goes a Long Way

Biohazard cars qualify as a reason for being listed as a “salvaged” vehicle in the used car industry. Liability claims have made auction companies and used car dealers more diligent about inspecting vehicles for detectable blood, semen, vomit, feces, and other human excretions.

Even a few tiny drops of blood in the car’s interior can qualify it for a Salvaged/Biohazard designation.

Similar to the “salvaged” label, cars qualifying as a biohazard may technically be safe, but it’s quite possible that poor cleaning and disinfecting practices will result in odors and pest issues down the road.

The Benefits of Certification

Wrecked or flooded cars titled as “salvaged” often come with records defining and certifying repairs made to bring the vehicles up to safety standards. What would convince you or your potential buyers that a car sold with a biohazard warning is safe?

There’s more to a certificate than a piece of paper. Bio Recovery’s remediation services not only provide certification that your car, boat or RV is free of contamination and odors, but we make sure that certification is legitimate.

Our highly-trained technicians, proprietary cleaning solutions, and our strict adherence to industry protocols and our own detailed remediation checklist have earned the trust of customers who depend on safe, odor-free environments. Our customers include:

  • Medical facilities and ambulance services
  • Hotels and motels
  • Office and residential property management firms
  • Law enforcement and detention facilities
  • Private homeowners and businesses

We’ve earned partnerships with and referrals from municipalities, insurance companies, and victim aid organizations, as well as the business clients who regularly call on our services. We’re proud of our reputation, and the assurance we offer to all our customers, be they private citizens or nationwide firms.

Biohazard vehicles require utmost scrutiny and diligence to ensure that bodily fluids, bone, and soft tissue are removed from all affected components:

  • Upholstery and headliner
  • Foam padding
  • Carpeting
  • A/C and heating systems
  • Interior body surfaces

If a loved one has died in your vehicle as a result of accidental death or suicide, the responsibility of dealing with the trauma scene can cause you psychological injury.

Certified biohazard remediation is an affordable way to ensure your well-being, protect you from liability and preserve the resale value of your vehicle.

Bio Recovery’s Other Vehicle Services

Your car doesn’t have to qualify as a trauma scene to benefit from our services. While car detailers are important in maintaining your vehicle’s overall cleanliness, some jobs require a more thorough approach.

Forensic materials used to lift fingerprints or detect DNA aren’t easily removed. Fingerprint powder, for example, is designed to adhere to the slightest trace of oils, and are notoriously difficult to clean.

Rodent urine and droppings contain dangerous pathogens, including tularemia, salmonella, hemorrhagic fever, and hantavirus. Recreational vehicles, passenger vehicles, and improperly-stored boats are magnets for mice, rats, and other rodents.

The odor alone is enough to ruin your enjoyment of your vacations or everyday commutes, and potential buyers will easily recognize the signs of infestations, driving down value when it’s time for you to sell.

Chemical contamination from spilled fuel, drug use and manufacture, tear gas, and self-defense sprays require special handling, for which Bio Recovery is equipped and licensed.

Smoke contamination affects vehicles otherwise untouched in house fires or wildfires. Excessive cigarette smoke lingers long after the diligent application of over-the-counter cleaning supplies and air fresheners. Bio Recovery’s smoke remediation removes smoke particulates; we don’t just cover up the odors as do consumer-grade cleaning products or even the most reputable detailers.

Invest in Professional Remediation Services for Optimal Returns

Bio Recovery’s cleanup fees are affordable and flexible for private clients in cases not covered by insurance. Biohazard, trauma, chemical, and odor remediation services pay for themselves—often with dividends—through insurance premium savings, liability risk, sales values, and your peace of mind.

For vehicle brokers or private buyers wanting a good deal on salvaged vehicles, biohazard remediation won’t eat up your margins and lets you re-sell or enjoy your purchase with confidence.

For those dealing with the aftermath of injury or death, our services shoulder an otherwise traumatic burden so you can heal.

Our entire staff prides itself on interacting with our customers with sensitivity, compassion, and dignity. Some of us entered this field because we, ourselves, experienced the need for biohazard or chemical cleanup…and didn’t want anyone else to have to “go it alone.”

Bio Recovery is here for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week to handle your trauma and contamination remediation needs.