MADISON, Wis. -- Buyers in the market for a car need to watch for washed-out cars.

The state Department of Transportation is working to make sure flood-damaged cars don’t travel downstream to consumers.

"I think with Katrina we were trying to and we're trying to make people as aware as we can and protect people from the floods in Iowa and here in Wisconsin," said DOT spokesman Jim Anderson.

Officials in the fraud investigation unit told WISC-TV that it is illegal to sell flood-damaged cars.