I know the southwest is king for rust free cars. I've bought cars from Ohio and Michigan that were terrible with rust. But I've visited Northern Colorado, Southern Wyoming and Montana quite alot and rust isn't too bad. And it snows a ton in these states. Here in Missouri rust is a big issue (at least in the north western part of the state). How is it in your area???? Can you just rule out anything east of Kansas and north of Arkansas????
I have gotten some rust free cars from the mountains of North Carolina. Maybe because they have lots of barns that cars have been kept in? Maybe the air is not too humid most of the year in the mountains. Don't know is they salted the rods there.
And salt is mined under the great lakes...so it's fairly inexpensive for road use in the upper midwest/northeast
I think its only Bonneville where they actually salt the "rods"! This thread is a great idea and I'm surprised it hasn't been asked before! Well...I haven't seen it anyway! We've had some nice rustfree cars come up to our province from the Carolinas. No idea what area...
Only surface rust here ,occasionally and only after years of sitting, in south central Texas. Bodies, exhaust systems, chrome etc seem to last forever. Driving yer rod 300+ days a year if ya wanna!
You'd be surprised what I find up here in Rotchester NY. There are a lot of good cars up in the salt belt. Most guys that saved cars early on put them away every winter so the cars are in pretty good shape. All 3 of my cars are in very good condition. There are still alot of barn finds too. Also many cars were brought up from the south long ago and were stored or taken care of. My 69 Pontiac had only 45,000 on it when I bought it. A guy purchased it brand new and never drove it in the winter it's whole life before i got it. The car is exceptional. My El Camino is out of Kansas back in the 70's and was neglected ever since, but was in a barn the whole time. Body is bery solid. Just fixed it mechanically and been driving it ever since.
This will be interesting as i may well be buying a US car later next year. Any real no-no states to avoid?
I T IS MAINLY A QUESTION OF THE OLD CAR'S CARE....... Here in missouri we have a lot of humidity as a rule, even on sunny days,70-90% on a regular basis.....this settles on a car in the form of dew,every morning almost like a small amount of rain....... Also our soil has a high acidity unlike a state with sandy soil,like western staes have.... a car setting low to the ground and in tall grass or weeds will also rust quicker.... we also in bad winters ,salt the road with chemicals as many states do. I think you can find many nice old cars about anylocation -IF they were cared for at all,washed or shedded a big portion of their life.....Here in the midwest we also have a proliferation of mice,that if left in a car can really do some damage....
Trust me, you don't want to know about rust up here in Massachusetts! They switched from using salt on the roads to calcium chloride, because it eats cars six times faster. Not kidding- I looked at an '04 Chevy for the wife, guy wanted $750 - so much rot it wasn't even worth it... crazy
^ Ditto on on the calcium chloride. My O/T pickup is being killed thanks to 3 winters with that crap. Growing up in Chicagoland I've learned never buy a Chicago area or Wisconsin car. Add that to the list. I've brought home a few and they're always a mistake. Small rust you later find to be bigger than you thought on pre-64 cars. I convinced a buddy to buy a Comet Caliente ragtop one time that looked gorgeous on the outside and was complete garbage underneath. It was parted out eventually since the unibody rust (and old botched rust repairs) would have been a nightmare to deal with. Everything I've dragged home from southern IL or Missouri has been GREAT to work with. Clay & sandy soil just cakes on and stays underneath and acts like a 'rustproof' undercoating. Pressure wash it off and hit it with some frame paint and you're good to go another 20-30 years.
Cars in the junkyard here in Wisconsin tend to look like an ice cream cone dropped on a hot summer sidewalk. Everything rusts here, steel rims rot out, rear axle housings, front suspensions tear apart from rot. Nothing is safe. Cleanest car I've ever had also came from Nevada like F&J said. Texas cars are hit or miss, a lot of them need floor pans for some reason.
While the southwest is generally good, I'd be cautious with any area that receives good amounts of snow. I'm in northern New Mexico and anything I care about stays off the road from the first snow at fall to the first rain in spring cause they salt the roads so heavy. Cars from the lower elevations around here are fine.
California is good for rust free cars except for areas by the beach. Must be the salt air. I live a mile away from the beach. The fenderwell headers on a car which sat outside started rusting even though I kept the car covered with a water proof cover. I've even seen headers that were ceramic coated rust with the salt air.
Assume it's rusty but never neglect to look out of fear. This car came from SE Penn. with 96K on the clock. The oil change stickers in the door frame confirms that it spent most of it's life in SE Pa. There is one iffy spot behind the rear wheel well. See the dark spot? The front crossmember is perfect, a rarity on these cars. I know it might require a 2" patch if I dig around hard enough in that area. Until I get that far on the body I'm leaving it alone....rockers, inner rockers, floor pans, body mounts and trunk floor are completely rust free. The front fenders needed rust repair but they were replaced with used fenders in the past after an accident. Go figure. Never believe a seller that says a car is rust free. Check it out for yourself. You could be surprised. I was...pleasantly.
The best cars are rust belt cars that got put away for the winter as they didn't get exposed to the sun and heat in the southwest that trashes interiors. But generally Mass, upstate NY, Ohio, most of PA, Michigan, Wisconsin, northern Illinois, most of Indiana, etc.. Those are places to avoid. Meanwhile I found my 54 Ford on Long Island but it was originally a southern car.
My model A came from the Twin Falls Minn. plant , than moved on to some where in ohio , than on to michigan..knowing that all 3 states are rust belt states i was wondering how paper thin it was going to be. I have seen some really bad bodies in Michigan, the only place where a patch was made was on the lower drivers door, and the sub frame in that area. Surprisingly the frame and the rest of the body was in very fair condition, fenders were bent up good from a wreck also some of the body was badly dented, but not all rusted up, tops of the aprons were a little ate up. All in all the car was not too bad really. maybe I got lucky and the car was taken off the road before salt became a major player in ice and snow removal? I guess it matters how well the car was cared for, Typically Michigan cars are shot after 10 to 12 years in this state. you dont find many classics that lived their entire life in this state, unless they were pulled off the road in october and not brought back out until spring
I grew up in Pennsylvania and rust was a huge problem, even frames would rust out. A guy I worked with moved there from Texas and brought his old Ford pickup from Texas with him. I was helping him change a clutch in it and I was amazed how clean it was underneath. You could break a bolt loose and then use your fingers to get it off the rest of the way. That was my first experience with rustfree cars. When we lived for a while in North Carolina I was in rustfree heaven. The cars there were super clean, compared to what I was used to. People also kept their cars for a longer period of time because the bodies held up so well. Unfortunately, Florida is not the great place for rustfree cars you might think. Don't know if it is the salt air or the humidity, but cars do rust here pretty badly. Even the ones inland, away from the ocean or gulf rust too, so it must be all the rain and high humidity. I really envy the people who live in the mid west and places like that. When I see some of the cars they post I drool. Don
If it's an original from Wisconsin, Freddie Flintstone vehicle ...and it's good if it didn't split in half like the Titanic.
We called them winter beaters when I was a kid in MilwaukeeYou would buy a $50 - 100 dollar car to drive in the winter while the good car was holed up in a dry spot.
Things seem to be pretty rusty along the Gulf Coast of Texas, Louisiana etc. Here in Houston there seems to be a lot of rust due to the humidity and salt air and acids from all of the petroleum factories. West Texas and North Texas are a good place to find fairly rust free cars. East Texas has high humidity and tall yellow pines trees that will make your car rot from the top down. You can sandblast a car body in Houston and in a few hours the humidity will completely turn the body orange with rust. You can can sandblast one in FtWorth and leave it in your garage for a year and it might show only a slight bit of rust formation due it it being far less humid. I've seen uninsulated shops here practically rain inside at night from all of the condensation falling off of the ceiling. Avoid the Gulf Coast.
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