Best non-rust states to buy used from

Might I suggest instead..........

Ask for lots of photos. Especially close ups.

Look ok?

Find a TW member in the area willing to look it over for you, and who might recommend a good indie shop to do a professional inspection, if the truck appears worthy of the time/funds. Include a compression test in the exam.

Pass the test?

Fly in to buy the truck, take your new TW friend to lunch, then drive the truck home.

Don't have time to go get it? Pay a friend to do it for you.

Having had some experience with this type of thing I'd say there will normally be several candidates fall off the list just from a member look over. And 'most' that pass a member look over will also pass a mechanical exam. Not all, but most.

Good luck with your hunt.

 

Don't buy anything site unseen. I know i know, not what you were looking for, but seems like a stupid decision.

Now back on the subject. You may also miss out on good trucks. I would buy mine, and i live in Mass.

 

It's a thing. To say cars in Florida don't rust is laughable.

 

Lol

 

^ this

 

I've noticed that vehicles in high sunlight/hot areas like florida have problems with brittle plastic.
I guess every area of the country has different problems. Still better than rust.

 

I had a guy from Colorado buy my truck in Oregon. It was 11 years old with 100,000 miles on it. Not a spec of rust on it. I never thought about marketing the vehicle to the rust belt but in retrospect, I should have and maybe even asked for more money. The instant I posted it online I was flooded with emails from people in the rust states and ultimately sold it to a rust state customer.

Rust isn't something I worry about here. We don't salt the roads. You can also find a pretty good deal if you look outside of the Portland/Seattle bubble.

 

My truck came out of California, spent one winter in Maryland and now it's mine, in virginia. Its got a little surface rust on the very front cross member, facing forward. Im thinkin road debris because the paint on the bumper was horrible when I got it. Also the front skid plate has surface rust. But the door handles and cowl are faded like crazy though. It goes next month to be checked for the frame rust and possibly sprayed.

 

Utah slays their roads heavily.

 

I never saw road salt in Oregon. I only saw snow east of I-5 there, and they put down sand & pumice.

I'll echo saying you really gotta check. I've bought 2 vehicles in 18 months, both times I looked at buying long-distance to escape rust here in MD. What I saw a lot of was cars with a carfax showing they'd spent a lot of time in rust belt areas before ending up where they were, either by their last owner moving there, or the dealer buying from elsewhere for some reason. Not all of them, but it was very much not uncommon. Of course, I'm looking at Subarus and 4WD Tacomas, so both are more popular in areas with crap winters and lots of salt.

I ended up buying both of my vehicles in Northern VA, which generally ain't much, if any, better than MD or a bit north. My Tacoma is incredibly rust-free for the area, if I didn't see the carfax I'd half think it had a frame replacement recently.

 

I've lived in Florida most of my life and cars from Florida don't rust ..... most any mechanic in our state will instantly know if a car is from up north as soon as they lift it and see rust. That's a fact for all you lol hacks...... carry on

 

I live in Wisconsin, major rust state. My last two trucks including my current Tacoma came from Texas to avoid rust.

Both were bought site unseen with many pictures and full service history before deciding. Both have been great investments. The first one was delivered the second I flew down and drove back.

Why Texas? Supply and demand, more pick-us in Texas drives prices lower.

 

Just a word of caution about the western states and winter roads - mag chloride treatments. The following quote explains mag chloride and its corrosive properties.

"Denver (Colorado) roads take a beating during the winter months. Snow hits our roads hard, and sometimes it sticks around for an extended period of time. It can occasionally make travel very difficult even for those with all-wheel drive cars. Many states take a proactive approach to clearing the roads, which includes laying down salt to help melt ice pack that can form from melt and freeze cycles. While Denver doesn’t salt the roads, they do use something else. And it’s wreaking havoc on the residents’ cars.​

Enter magnesium chloride deicer. The deicer derives from magnesium, salt, and “anti-corrosive additives” that all gets sprayed onto the roads in liquid form. It’s a grayish substance (though color can vary) that’s very effective at keeping the roads ice-free. Unfortunately, it’s also excellent at corroding away precious metals and plastics on your vehicle. This is where the problem begins. Since the substance is liquid (versus salt’s solid crystals) it penetrates nearly every inch of your car’s undercarriage."
​

My experience with mag chloride has not been great. I now run dedicated snow tires and wheels on all of my winter vehicles and try to keep the undercarriage washed. For me mag chloride has destroyed at least three sets of factory alloy wheels.

Do some reading on mag chloride; it is not vehicle friendly in my opinion.

4BYTOY

 

Probably the humidity. On the other hand, really dry and hot climates like Arizona can have the same issue from the heat. AZ vehicles also get paint damage easily from the insanely hot weather and sunlight if not kept garaged

 

My grandparents lived on the coastline in The spacecoast of Florida.
Their cars rusted terribly from the salt air.
My cars rusted out around the wheel wells due to standing water in the roadways.

You left out Georgia Alabama and Tennessee, and I don't know why?...
My truck was born and raised in Alabama.
I like a good red clay undercoating.

 

^^^ I agree. No rust for sure...at least with mine. Go Texas.

 

Good info in this thread. A few have commented that Oregon is rust free. Does that include vehicles that live close to the ocean? Same question for Florida; noticed a disagreement on that state. I'm guessing any coastal state, non-rust belt state will have the same question from me. No road salt but if you live close to the salt-water does it eat away the vehicles?

A few have mentioned not to buy site unseen. I am very hesitant to do so. The ones I'm looking at are Certified from Toyota Dealerships. I don't think I would get anything unless it has a short refund period, like 7 days or something.

 

Thanx. Fixed it.

 

That's interesting. I was looking at a V6 MT TRD Off-Road, Tow Package in Seekonk, MA. But it was "as-is", no refund policy was mentioned, and being in a rust-belt state and close to the ocean, I passed on it. They dropped the price a few thousand too.

 

I live in Grand Junction (haven't been "InDenver" for 7 years) and I'd personally look for a truck in NM, AZ or NV. The magnesium chloride the state uses is fairly aggressive but worse on aluminum than steel. Mag chloride is expensive so they started using brine to pre-treat the roads instead a couple of years ago. I think the results won't be positive.