What states salt their roads? What states to avoid buying a car from? (pickup, Texas)

[Mac_Muz]

Vt, and NH will eat your cars up in no time, before 5 years easy, as there is salt used all year on dirt roads and in winter, with 2 or more kinds.. The summar salt collects water from the air to keep dust down. That stuff will get everwhere, even behind kick pannels inside the car where it eats the ECU terminals. These tend to look like parts of the Titanic in 3 to 5 years..

Maine is bad, and more so closer to the ocean.

I hand make bidy parts for a good bit of my earnings and weld them on after i cut off all the rusted parts, and make my own anti rust goo, from ATF, new engine oil and roofing cement. The mix varries depending of if i want it to dry or not.

I use 1/2 qt of ATF from a sprayer my compressor can run to coar a smaller car twice a year.

Living here cleaning the bottom of a car is impossible, since you would need to do that every day you drove the car for 7 months.

This stuff eats mag wheels for breakfast and will have chrome for lunch.

[suecen]

Tons of salt used here in WI and can do much damage to your car. I have a '95 Honda Accord that looks incredibly good considering the age and use of salt here but I know the rust is going to break out any day now. Our roads are also filled with potholes from the winter and they don't seem to be doing much about them.

[topmeat69]

Originally Posted by harald

i see that some dont think salt causes rust only after 5 years ? that is the most bull**** i ever heard .then you havent been under your car.

Those pictures were taken under the car. I hoped a licensed professional would know more about a car he's selling than the general public,and I thought any ethical business man would disclose what his eyes can see when he looks at the car.I did not say a thing about 5 years or any number of years,non discloser is the subject and ethics.See the pics of the lower control arm? That hole was made through the steel with my fingers.

[Tennesseestorm]

Moderator cut: Removed orphaned quote

Eww... are those pics from your 1994 Caprice? Yeah, I would definitely say that is salt damage. A 1994 car would not rust like that without salt causing it. As mentioned, I have a 1991 Caprice and aside from some minor surface rust on things like the unpainted items its super solid, as are all of my cars. Out of curiosity, I snapped some photos of most of our cars we have the other day on the underside... all are mostly very solid.

Starting with my 1991 Caprice: (I was re-doing the rear brakes here)



1990 Buick Century:






1972 Caprice wagon:


1973 Pontiac Grand Ville (was in Ohio from 1974-75, then back to TN) only some surface rust... frame is super solid.


1988 Mercedes S-Class






My dads 1969 Camaro (that he just sold and will be going to Pennsylvania this week... )




I dont remember what car this was... lol


I didnt get any of my moms 1997 Olds, but its the same way... not even any surface rust except on the muffler.

Here in the southeast when a old car rusts, its usually from leaky windows and water has set somewhere.

[Lariat]

I know this is an old thread, but seems like city-data posters love bumping dead threads.

I've done some research, and there are countless variants...but here are some clear-cut definitions.

Salt is the major reason for rust, but it isn't the only reason. Some states use rock salt, some states use liquid salt. Neither is good for metal.

TO AVOID:

East coast cars at all costs. This is the norm, not counting the exceptions.

Florida cars. Different places for rust, but rust is rust, due to coastal areas and high humidity.

Midwestern cars if possible. I have noticed Kansas cars have less rust than most midwestern states for some reason. I know one guy who bought a 30 years old Ford truck that is 100% rust free in Kansas. Use judgement, but don't be optimistic.

Pacific northwestern cars. This is not the norm, but some vehicles like vans have issues with rust on the roof area from moisture. If the vehicle has drip rails, look hard for rust. I've found some trucks will have minor rust issues from PNW states due to trapped dirt and moisture mixtures.

[73-79 ford fan]

The vehicles in the Western Midwest states, west of Interstate 29, seem to be from what I have noticed fairly solid. They seem to have lower rust the farther north you go too, at least in the Western Midwest. I saw many nice old 60s and 70s Ford and GM pickups the last time I was in Fargo North Dakota. I also see many nice old fullsize Ford, Lincoln, Mercury cars and fullsize old GM cars in Nebraska and Iowa.

[Tennesseestorm]

Yeah, many mistake Florida as a good place to look for rust free cars, but the salt air down there is not good for many cars.

[Deez Nuttz]

Actually doesn't it depend on where in Florida you buy?

I owned a Florida car once. It was a 1984 Buick Regal. This was in Dec 2005 when I bought it. I did a research on the car's history and found the car had spent it's whole life in St. Petersburg, FL until it was transported up north to North Carolina. The car did not have any rot on it whatsoever....clean solid metal. It did have crazed faded paint and a faded interior. Maybe it was garage kept? Who knows.

But my uncle did own a 1976 Nova back in 1996 when I had my 1975 Nova and claimed he was jealous because his car had rot on it, but it was also a beach car.

And why not buy a car from the east coat? I lived in North Carolina for 8 years and noticed most of the cars there were very solid.

In fact if i ever saw any cars that had extensive body rot, they were usually from Wisconsin or Michigan or Indiana or even Ohio.

[GregW]

I would like to find a direct replacment for my 1992 Buick Roadmaster Wagon with out the rust that is disolving the frame. It is no longer worth welding in more metal.

Anyone have any ideas where these cars were popular and relativly rust free?

Thanks, GregW

[square peg]

There's a few for sale right now on Rhode Island Craigslist. One has 111,XXX miles. I've had pretty good luck with southern New England Cars.