If you live in the rust belt, do you travel outside of it for your used vehicles? (Because they're rust-free)

[lizpat]

I haven't really heard about this phenomenon (if it really exist to any meaningful extent.)

I guess the geographical barriers and DMV laws are really what makes the used car market basically.. local.

Is this correct?

Are there a lot of ppl who will travel outside of the rust belt for their cars, such as the South?

I would imagine.. NOT.

If you're buying a 'drive it forever' car, I think rust may be a concern, but for the most part it's probably true that even rusted cars will last a good 10 to 20 years, and most people don't plan to keep it that long.

If you're not a car person, you may only have a vague sense about what rust really is, and maybe you're absolutely right! Maybe.

If you love cars and wish to modify it, I guess getting one down south makes sense. Rust can make removal of any suspension components difficult, or any bolt really.

 

[Astro14]

Yep.

 

[AKhan87]

hmm I always look everywhere and I mean everywhere before I buy a car, the best cars seem to be buying from older folks who have garaged it and also have records of all the maintenance, and it seems to be around Chicago/lower Wisconsin, yes it is the rust belt but the best prices and as long as you can verify about rust before hand, your good to go.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

I consider it sometimes. Some states make it easier than others.

 

[Snagglefoot]

It was common to import rust free cars into Canada back when the Canadian dollar was strong. However, if you wanted to then register it in British Columbia you had to pay a 7% provincial tax, a 5% federal general sales tax (GST) and to get BC plates it had to get inspected. Sure as heck they would always find something, like your muffler bearings or windshield wiper grease. I was always amazed people even bought these things unseen. The inspecting garage would always try get to have it repaired there as it was "convenient".

 

[Wrenchturner44]

I think this is starting to happen more and more.

There are plenty of private car hauling companies that will bring your out of state purchase to you. The bigger obvious risk is not going there to see it in person before you make the purchase, but then again depending on your POV this may not bother you so much.

I drove two hours one way, to purchase the last used car that I acquired, and it is not a collector car by any stretch, but it did have low miles and had the specific options to the model that I wanted. The originating dealer was also in small rural town location, and sold it for much less than local market price as compared to the same make model in my metro market. Carvanna, Varoom, and other regional auto aggregators (Offleaseonly.com) are also making this trend more popular.

For those of you that may not be familiar with used car aggregators, I will attempt to explain. These are companies that may be owned or founded by multiple, multi-line dealer families who know what specific leased vehicle inventory exists within a regional market. They in turn pool their resources for managing, disposing, and reselling existing leased vehicle inventories.

Some of these may be fleet units, but the majority are privately leased vehicles where the lease end disposal option intent is well known before the lease expires. They have the unique advantage over regular retail used car sales in that they have the ability to increase the velocity of inventory turnover. They typically will have an end lease vehicle sold or disposed of before the existing lease on the vehicle comes due or expires. They save money by not having to floor plan typical used car inventory or trying to predict the regional market demand for that make and model. They also make additional profits on the other services ....especially extended warranties and service agreements. The big selling advantage that they have is they can market to buyers who are in search of a particular make and model of used vehicle.....right down to specific options and colors because they know in advance where the source inventory exists and when it will be available for sale. They are also not dependent on sending an off lease vehicle to auction and having to live with an uncontrollable low margin disposal proceeds.

I know of a start up company that is not yet ready to launch, that will be able to assemble a catalog of current lease vehicles available to browse before they come to market officially. Supposedly you will have access to detail like, originating dealer, maintenance data, and state DMV data if those records are available from the origin and destination states. Financing, insurance, extended warranties, as well as long distance (interstate shipments) will also be available post purchase to qualified buyers.

Given that auto leases are increasing I think that this will become a viable way to buy used cars in the future.

 

[mightymousetech]

Absolutely. Don’t have to travel far from here to see a big difference. Cars free m Kingston (1.5 hours away) are significantly better.

 

[Trav]

Yep, anything for myself is usually from down south or out west. I have bought local but usually cars that were garaged kept and no winter.
My old GTP came from AZ, the shell was mint but it needed an interior and paint to be 100% big time sun damage but no rust anywhere.
I got it all done with a custom leather gut and nice paint.

 

[Chris142]

I know a couple of guys that send west coast cars and trucks to the rust belt to sell.

 

[doublebase]

It’s getting more and more popular, especially with older cars that are very limited up here (because they’re usually rusted out). Ship them up here and resell them for profit. I’m seeing that. And I’m seeing people just shipped them up here for themselves.

 

[earlyre]

I did once kinda... but my source dried up.

I'm in NW Ohio, My brother used to live in DFW.
back in 2010, I bought a 2005 Neon SXT from him. ($4k cash) Flew down with a buddy, and we drove it back.( the 2 of us had always wanted to take a "road trip/adventure")
2014 - I bought a 2009 Sable (originally owned in MI) from a local dealer. ($10k, $3k Cash down)
(sold the Neon to the above mentioned Freind's mother ($2300) for his Younger brother - still driving it today at Ft. Campell, Ky)
2016 Brother moved back to our Home town from TX.
2018 I traded the Sable in on my Current C-Max (originally owned in Northern MI (Traverse city/Cadillac), then NE Indiana) ($10k, $2k Trade-in)

if my brother still lived down in DFW, Heck yes I would shop down there again. (Free lodging!)

why am I buying MI Cars! THE RUST!
at least they're not from NY.

 

[Kruse]

I live in Kansas, where rust is common. I’ve purchased two cars from Texas and three from California. It helps to have family in those areas to help find or check out a prospective car. My daughter now lives in Phoenix, so that will be a new area to choose from.

 

[antonmnster]

the bmws I buy don’t tend to be very rusty even if they’ve been in Minnesota the whole time. the 14 focus we bought, on the other hand, is rusting horribly. I’m shocked how poorly it was constructed, it reminds me of the 70s gm products I grew up with that didn’t last 10 years.

That said, i scan ads from Denver to ca for cars. its hard to nail the sweet spot to find cars that haven’t had salt exposure but also have cold weather packages.

 

[IndyIan]

Absolutely. Don’t have to travel far from here to see a big difference. Cars free m Kingston (1.5 hours away) are significantly better.

Hmm, why do you think that is? Just less days snowing than your area and less fresh salt days? I've gone to Guelph from Peterborough for a my first Focus wagon and it was pretty good for a 6 year old car that had never been rust proofed. I went that far as it was a good deal compared to our local selection though, not because of less rust.
I was given a 1981 Omega that was in Vancouver its whole life in 2001, and every shop that saw it was impressed with how little rust it had.
I have been tempted to go to Alberta during the last couple oil price crashes to find a nice car and drive it home, but atleast the asking prices haven't really justified making the trip. The cars out west seem to have less rust compared to southern ontario as they have more cold days where salt doesn't even work.

 

[mightymousetech]

Hmm, why do you think that is? Just less days snowing than your area and less fresh salt days? I've gone to Guelph from Peterborough for a my first Focus wagon and it was pretty good for a 6 year old car that had never been rust proofed. I went that far as it was a good deal compared to our local selection though, not because of less rust.
I was given a 1981 Omega that was in Vancouver its whole life in 2001, and every shop that saw it was impressed with how little rust it had.
I have been tempted to go to Alberta during the last couple oil price crashes to find a nice car and drive it home, but atleast the asking prices haven't really justified making the trip. The cars out west seem to have less rust compared to southern ontario as they have more cold days where salt doesn't even work.

Simply less salt use. Ottawa uses more salt than any region in the world. Everything is better than here. I see cars from Kingston or Southern Ontario and it is immediately evident. Then I see cars from the west coast or Alberta and 10 year olds cars look better than 2 year old cars here.

 

[Donald]

Or buy pretty new cars and have them treated for rust.

 

[JHZR2]

Just did….

 

[CharlesInCharge]

By near default, I rule out any used cars that are from or spent significant winter time in the northwest or midwest and the south east gulf hurricane flooding states. And I almost exclusively only consider cars from the SW and Western states. And I will pay to have them inspected or travel to look at them in person, and RUST is one of the big ticket items I look for. RUST is not fixable and it is cancer. Everything else is generally fixable. Bad motors and transmissions are a hassle but can be fixed or replaced. Bad shocks, bad radio, etc. is all fixable.

 

[PF52]

Absolutely. Don’t have to travel far from here to see a big difference. Cars free m Kingston (1.5 hours away) are significantly better.

This is true. Things may have changed since then, but when I lived in Peoria IL they didn't use salt on the streets in the winter, and cars were by and large much more rust-free than cars in the Chicago area, 150 miles away. But if I understand correctly, they eventually stopped using cinders (or the plants closed and thus they weren't geeting them free any more) so they switched to salt.

 

[Rmay635703]

I always had to travel for cars because they never have what I want locally at an acceptable price