Rust and vehicles......

[L_Kilkenny]

I'm gonna be looking at getting another vehicle soon, either an SUV, cargo van or MiniVan. I've always preferred buying used, low mileage late model stuff but I'm getting dang tired of rust with these Iowa cars and trucks. Even when you get one that is not showing rust it's only a matter of time (usually a short one) and not just the sheet metal but every other thing that rides under the surface. Thinkin about hopping a bus and heading south for my next purchase. KC, Wichita and Dallas are all on the I-35 corridor but have no idea how far I'll need to go to find a decent selection of rust free late model stuff.

What say you? How far to get outta the road salt zone?

LK

(FYI, leaning Wichita and Dallas, Wichita being a good 5-8 hours closer. )

[Rusty]

I live in Fla so we don't have that problem at all, but I did notice a few years ago while in Tenn. there were a lot of vehicles up there from the 60's and 70's that people were driving around every day like it was nothing.
I've also thought the weather in the southwest might preserve a vehicle rather well.

[Griff]

Dallas. But... that's still no guarantee... Unless it's been registered and kept locally, you don't know if you're actually getting a car that was brought down from up north!

[Marvin S]

You need to bypass Kansas.

[williamranks]

AZ and the desert areas of CA and NM are safe if the vehicle came from there.
Some people move here and trade vehicles from rust prone areas before the rust shows.

[Mescalero]

I can not say, because I do not know.
But local rumor has it the southwest is flooded with cars from the Sandy event.

[AJMD429]

They need to actually design ones for us 'Northerners' with a heavy and/or rustPROOF frame and make the other stuff of aluminum or plastic. It is totally ridiculous to spend $50,000 on a nice truck and have it rust to pieces in 10-12 years. Even getting it "Ziebarted" when new doesn't help. Having to tenderly hand-wash a vehicle to slow down inevitable rust is not a reasonable 'option' in my opinion.

[Rant OFF ]

[20cows]

My truck lives in West Texas. It's a 76 f100 with no rust.

[yooper2]

I got a little Dodge Dakota from New Mexico a few years ago and the metal was perfect. To keep it that way I painted every exposed piece of sheetmetal in the undercarriage with truck bedliner that I thinned a bit. I also did the frame rails. 7 years later the truck still has no signs of rust.

Eric

[stretch]

2004 GMC 2500HD. Mileage? 50K. Garaged, always kept clean,
and the undercart washec several times each winter. The FRAME
may not last another year. 2004 Honda Element. Mileage 150k!
Rust? Almost none. GM's response? "Too bad, so sad...."
I live in central Maine.



-Stretch

[MrMurphy]

That Honda'll haul six dead guys and still have some room.



A staff sergeant kind of freaked out when I told her that once..... She was driving one.

[damienph]

You need to bypass Kansas.

And Missouri...

[stretch]

That Honda'll haul six dead guys and still have some room.

Or one VERY ACTIVE 7-year-old.

And the best vehicle I've ever driven in snow, hands-down.
Unstoppable in the white stuff.

-Stretch

[Malamute]

The Rockies are pretty safe, they dont use salt on the roads here. Most older vehicles hold up well. By "older", I dont mean 10 years old, I mean 60's -70's etc. I've seen a very few pickups (70's) that had rust over the rear wheel wells from getting full of mud and never cleaning it out, but otherwise sheet metal lasts about forever. I've seen car carcasses from the 20's-30's out in the woods that were still not really that bad, one has some original paint on one side. In Az I had a 40's car body near my place with the roof dented in and held water when it rained, the metal was still ok.

[ndcowboy]

Minnesota vehicles are terrible for this, but North Dakota ones are fine.

[Marvin S]

I dont think they use salt in the north central states like MT ND.

[.45colt]

My 2005 Jeep is rusting badly....If I get 2-3 years out of it I will be lucky. .

[hightime]

A plastic car.

Actually I just bought a rust bucket '66 Bronco. BUT it has a frame and replaceable body parts. Rust is a big problem up here. They won't leave any snow on the roads anymore. Plow it and salt it. I think the new cars hold up better than the old, given the salting is far worse than fifty years ago. Lots of plastic. If a car came up here from Az. it's listed in the ad.

Owen

[L_Kilkenny]

A plastic car.

Actually I just bought a rust bucket '66 Bronco. BUT it has a frame and replaceable body parts. Rust is a big problem up here. They won't leave any snow on the roads anymore. Plow it and salt it. I think the new cars hold up better than the old, given the salting is far worse than fifty years ago. Lots of plastic. If a car came up here from Az. it's listed in the ad.

Owen

First truck I had was a '66 Ford and I always wanted a '66 Bronco. Almost bought a non-running basket case 20 years ago but @ $1000 it was too rough for even me. Lookin back it may of been worth it. Have fun with your project.

Any vehicle from Texas is also mentioned in any adds, figure I'm gonna skip the middle man. The advice about making sure it's actually a Texas truck is great. I'd of hated to go down their to buy a rust free truck and ended up with one from places unknown that may actually be worse than what we got here. Thanks.

[Marvin S]

The Delorean was a good idea with the stainless steel body, we just need a stainless truck.

[Nath]

Oil spray mine every september!

Nath.

[sore shoulder]

I can not say, because I do not know.
But local rumor has it the southwest is flooded with cars from the Sandy event.

Would not surprise me. Local Jeep dealership in Golden had a lot full of Liberties dirt cheap. Went in to see if I could test drive one for a day to let the wife drive it around, something I have always done, some places even let us take them overnight. First time I was ever refused. Thought about it later, it was right after NOLA/Katrina.