[Rocket]

Hi,

We rarely have problems like this because it doesn't rain much but you could try some of the suggestions here to ascertain whether a vehicle may have a problem.

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/best-cars-blog/2013/08/After_Hurricane_Sandy_Water-Damaged_Cars_Flood_Used_Car_Dealerships/

Cheers rod

[gregfisk]

Hi,

We rarely have problems like this because it doesn't rain much but you could try some of the suggestions here to ascertain whether a vehicle may have a problem.

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/best-cars-blog/2013/08/After_Hurricane_Sandy_Water-Damaged_Cars_Flood_Used_Car_Dealerships/

Cheers rod

Thank's Rod,

that was an informative article, I was also reading that you can look at the door latches for signs of rust which is a good indicator what might be under the car.

[rif]

There is an android app called "torque" that reads the engine's computer and gives lots of info. I dont know if it would give any useful info if the engine is OK, but it's only a few dollars for the app and maybe $10-$20 for the Bluetooth odb ii device.

[Bob in St. Louis]

There is an android app called "torque" that reads the engine's computer and gives lots of info. I dont know if it would give any useful info if the engine is OK, but it's only a few dollars for the app and maybe $10-$20 for the Bluetooth odb ii device.

Oh now THAT'S cool! 

[vortrex]

I'm looking at small SUVs around 2006 to 2008. These cars all have from 25,000 to 50,000 miles on them and to the eye look perfect. I'm really glad to here not ALL cars from the East coast get rusty. The only bummer is having them checked out by a mechanic costs me around $100.00 so I don't want to do that too many times

there's just no way those cars are going to be "rusted out", even if there are from the midwest, which is the worst place for road salt.

[gregfisk]

rif, that sounds like a pretty neat tool to have, I wonder if the car repair shops use that? Or they may just have much better testing equipment and don't need it.

there's just no way those cars are going to be "rusted out", even if there are from the midwest, which is the worst place for road salt.

I'm sure they are not "rusted out" YET, the point the mechanic was making is that rust is like cancer, once it starts it doesn't stop. I hang onto my cars for a long time so I don't want to deal with it in the long run. I bought my 99 Expedition new and just sold it with 169,000 miles on it. The truck is still in outstanding condition with no rust to speak of but it has been driven mostly in Seattle and only on the West coast.

[audiogoober]

220k on my Toyota. Bought it new and cover all of New England with it for work - no issues and not a spec of rust anywhere...

[Bizarroterl]

there's just no way those cars are going to be "rusted out", even if there are from the midwest, which is the worst place for road salt.

When I was in college a friend drove his mustang from Minnesota to Montana.  When he got there his jack was gone.  It fell out the rust hole in the trunk. 

[gregfisk]

You guys have all been great

I have gotten just as much conflicting information on this thread as many of the audio threads, go figure

After reading all of this my take away is a car from the East coast may or may not have a rust problem so a blanket statement is not warranted. I need to have the cars looked at, I just hope I don't miss too many times at $100.00 a pop. Or, I can just take the hit at the dealer and buy a car from the N.W. and not worry about rust.

[Bob in St. Louis]

For the most part, cars are made of materials that resist mother nature better than they did a few decades ago.
Barring the vehicle being used as a salt spreading machine, you should be in pretty good shape.

[rif]

Or, I can just take the hit at the dealer and buy a car from the N.W. and not worry about rust.

When I bought my used Nissan from a Nissan dealer, I had them inspect it and sell it as a certified pre-owned, which basically extended the Nissan new car warranty for 7 additional years. Don't know if it covers rust, but I think it is well worth the extra $ you may pay buying from a dealer.

[SteveFord]

I have a 2003 Toyota Tacoma which is in the shop right now due to rust problems.
The phone call I just got from the shop didn't make me feel very comfortable...
Brake drums rusted in place, power steering line rusted through, oil sump rusting away but it can be ground down and patched, I know the muffler is rusted to bits but the good news is that frame isn't dangerous (yet)!

[Bob in St. Louis]

Sounds like a "keeper" to me. 

[Rocket]

Hi,

There was a news article on television in Australia this week about vehicles that have been written off but which are still assessed as being repairable.  Apparently backyard repair businesses do below par repairs and replace components with secondhand parts and perform a cut and shut whereby they weld one half of a vehicle to another and then sell the vehicles without declaring what has happened.  They revealed that many of these dodgy backyarders wind back the odometer and also falsify log books and sell these cars at discounted rates to unsuspecting buyers.

It was revealed that it is becoming a major problem in Australia and I guess it has affirmed to me that I'm probably better off buying from a dealer if I can afford to do so.  Just thought I'd share this information with you.

Cheers Rod

[gregfisk]

Sounds like a "keeper" to me. 

  very funny Bob.

Thought I would share what I ended up doing. I spent a fair amount of time looking at cars from dealers sitting at my desk, asking them to send me the car fax because most don't offer it up unless you call. These cars all cost at least a thousand dollars more than the broker I've been looking at and often much more. The broker has the link right in the add so it's easy to check on the spot what the car fax has to say. The fact is most of the cars they buy are from the East coast which is why I started this thread.

I went to the brokers lot with my daughter to look at a Rav4 from michigan, low miles on a 2010 model and hoping for the best. When I looked under the car I could see a lot of rust on the undercarriage and on all of bolts. Then I started looking at a bunch of cars on the lot and noticed a little rust on some and a lot of rust on others. Then I looked at a 2010 Rav4 that I hadn't looked up yet and no rust at all. We drove the car, went home and looked up the car fax. Well, the car was from Washington and Oregon. Anyway, it does appear at least from my experience that cars are a lot rustier coming from the East coast, at least as a rule of thumb. I ended up buying the Rav4 for about a thousand dollars under blue book with no haggling and no hassle. 

Again, thank you all for helping me make since of all of this, it really did help.

Greg

[macrojack]

Concerning cars that were drowned or damaged by Hurricane Sandy, I found this today:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2013/12/12/250487276/photo-where-cars-go-after-a-flood