Buying a used truck online/avoiding Road and ocean salt rust

In Connecticut we have so much road salt, rust is always an issue.
I want to buy a 2013 to 2015 4X4 Tacoma.
Does anyone have any thoughts on using those Internet car buying sites?
What areas of the country might be Salt free (either Ocean or road salt), and less expensive.
Internet car purchases. There is a company That has mechanics all over the country to inspect vehicles for $250.
Any thoughts?

 

AZ, NM, CA trucks, search in those areas, but thats still not a guarantee as many are bought via auction and could have been a prior NE truck, etc. so look at the Carfax as well.

 

Thanks TacoBuffet.
Any thoughts on Texas, Alabama, Missouri area? I thought they might have better prices

 

Missouri gets ice and snow and they salt, lived there for a few years. AL and TX if its not a coastal part. I've bought and sold / traded in PA, NJ, IL and AZ (11 tacomas total), price is pretty similar across the board. And honestly AZ, CA area has so many its easy to find a deal just because of availablity.

 

Nc truck all it’s life. 09

 

I have a 2013 double cab long bed 4x4 silver for sale. California truck its whole life. Never been offroaded. Check out my ad of you want

 

Oh no, you better find a new spot for your spare key.....lol

 

What you could do is post the truck here on TW and there's a chance local TW members will inspect the truck for you. We can at least do a visual and audio inspection for any obvious issues. Heck, maybe even post the VIN and there's likely a member that has an active carfax that can run a report.

 

I was in the market for the same thing as you recently. I noticed a lot of the trucks in southeast were auction vehicles from the north brought south and were rusty. Keep looking and calling and asking for frame pictures. If they are stand off ish from giving you frame pics there is a reason. I finally found a 2015 in Illinois. It was a trade in and spent most of its life in Georgia. Local trade in anywhere in the southeast would be a good bet for a rust free vehicle
I purchased without seeing it personally since I was in Alaska working. I did have a family member check it out and they also took it in for a pre purchase inspection. I was looking slowly for about a year and every day for the last 3 months to find the right one but I was also looking for a manual transmission access cab.
Good luck

Edit. Cargurus let's you put in pretty much exactly what you're looking for

 

Would I post that Vin here or in a new thread?

 

I wouldn't avoid a NE truck for the chance it's rusty. Its more important to inspect it. If it's clean, just go for it.

 

Lots of flood vehicles come from the south. Just saying...

 

Yeah @fixnfly, hurricane and flood damaged trucks are important to look out for in the south.

I grew up in Missouri and trucks get rusty there. They don't get quite as much weather as further north but they love rock salt when they do. Plus it's warm and humid so rust never really sleeps year-round there.

In general AZ, NM and TX are in my experience best for minimal rust. Southern CA is good but you have to watch ocean-side and 4WD trucks might be used to go skiing, so it's not a 100% perfect place. More like 98%. A truck from the desert of CA is going to last forever, though.

No matter what I'd get eyes on a truck, that's worth more than a location. My in-laws live in AZ and they get plenty of people moving there and seems one of first things they do is trade-in their piece of junk rust bucket from Minnesota or New York on a brand new vehicle. Not enough gullible people who live there and see the rust so those all get auctioned off to people in MN or NY who think they're getting a deal on an AZ truck...

So I'd take a local truck where ever you live that you can see has been taken care of. It's not impossible to keep a truck in CT rust-free but it takes effort to treat, wash and stay after the corrosion.

 

Thanks guys for the advice. There is a lot of knowledge on this forum.
Is there a reliable way to check for flood damage before you inspect a vehicle? Like Carfax or one of those other reporting services?

 

I started looking in December. I heard that trucks were cheapest at the end of the year, end of the quarter and end of the month. That sure seems true! It seems similar trucks are about $1000 more than a month ago!

 

Bumping this old thread. A truck I’m interested in popped up in Jackson, NC and I’m headed there later this month.

Anyone got a good way to check for flood damage?

 

Florida trucks do well as long as their owner does the bare minimum. My dad’s 2012 rusted away because he never hoses it off after fishing but my 2007 is still chugging along just fine. We did mostly saltwater fishing so that’s what caused all the rust. Water leaking out of bait buckets and collecting in the bumper area was the main issue, the rear bumper eventually just came loose and I had to tie his license plate around the tailgate.

 

Seen that in CA. Rusty shitbucket from Michigan or something.
"Transmission issue" (pls don't get underneath and look at the rust/falling apart)
*polish and wax* "so clean!"

 

Carfax can help you here...Pull the report and follow it from when it was first registered all the way to present. That should give you an idea where it lived....

 

Obvious water damage to interior carpet and/insulation. Dried mud in cracks and corners of interior. Electrical problems with seats and interior wiring. Dirt and crap in rear brake drums.
That's for water below engine level.