The Best States To Buy A Used Car

[macarose]

I operate a fairly well-sized retail dealership here in Atlanta, and I also have bought for the largest wholesaler in the United States. A lot of what I buy on a weekly basis ends up at other auctions all over the country.

A lot of folks from northern states have asked where is typically the best place to buy an older used car. Not everyone is savvy or lucky. But on average I have found Arkansas, Tennessee and Florida to be the three best states to get good used vehicles.

However no state is perfect, and no one can be saved from a lack of due diligence. Enjoy the article and keep in mind Florida can be an amazing place if you're willing to buy your vehicle by the pound and by the mile.

https://www.capitalone.com/cars/learn/getting-a-good-deal/the-best-states-to-buy-a-used-car/1743

 

[MalibuRam65]

New York is the best state to buy a used car . Try the NYC area

 

[Wolf359]

New York is the best state to buy a used car . Try the NYC area

I used to look nationally for cars and usually the best deals were either in New York or New Jersey. My state wasn't as good, maybe because it has tougher used car laws which makes it more expensive. But anyway, Florida was also good, but New York tended to have the options I wanted which was AWD, not that much of a need for that in those other states so less likely to find it on cars sold in those states.

 

[Ignatius]

Illinois and Kentucky have a reputation for scrubbing bad titles. I once had a vehicle that was totaled in Illinois (due to structural damage from a rollover) and came to find out 12 years later that the title had been scrubbed 5 times in Illinois. It was then sent to Indiana and rebuilt, only to be sold at a shady used card dealership.

 

[Pew]

However no state is perfect, and no one can be saved from a lack of due diligence. Enjoy the article and keep in mind Florida can be an amazing place if you're willing to buy your vehicle by the pound and by the mile.

When I was shopping around for a CX5, it seemed like the East coast, and most specifically Florida, had the best prices-to-mileage ratio while any comparable CX5 in the midwest was easily $3-5K more.

 

[SC Maintenance]

A lot of snow birds will title their cars in Florida where they live most of the time and then take them back to the rust belt for a couple months around Christmas to see the family. So your paying the rust free premium but not really getting a salt free vehicle. Can happen anywhere in the South but Florida would seem to be the most common.

If you try to find a used vehicle from a large dealer here in South Carolina an absolute ton of them get shipped down from the rust belt. 4 or 5 years old with no rust, but in a few years they have holes. They ship them down to capture the "rust free" premium.

Or at least it was this way pre-pandemic. I stopped looking when prices went crazy.

 

[eljefino]

When I was shopping for a "southern" car I looked to North Carolina as they still do safety inspections, unlike SC. SC would be a great place to unload a rotted out clunker.

I did well by it, twice. The airfare was only $110 at the time and NC issues temp plates to out-of-staters for $5 making it easy to drive home.

Florida has potential but is several hundred more miles for me. Very old people buy a wide variety of cars like Ford 500s, Rav 4s because they can get in and out of them without bending their spines.

Now the real question is where does one find a nice pickup truck? California has potential if it's an early 1980s carbureted vacuum hose spaghetti factory model that won't pass smog.

 

[97K15004WD]

Just went and looked at a vehicle in NC. Came from FL. Was a 2000 Nissan. Looked like it had been in a salt water flood. Had a "clear" NC title - not salvage. Had "weird" history when VIN tracked. Not sure, but most likely was title washed when brought into NC.

Buyer Beware

"Although title washing is a federal crime, several states either allow it or don't enforce laws against it, such as Texas, California, Washington, Tennessee, Mississippi, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Georgia. Mississippi has the worst title washing problem in the country, with one out of 44.6 cars having a washed title — over seven times higher than the national average.

One reason car title washing is easy is because each state has its own threshold for declaring a vehicle a total loss. For example, some states compare the repair costs of a damaged vehicle to its value in working condition, while other states compare the vehicle's repair costs to its scrap value. In addition, states often apply different titles for the same damage, such as junk, rebuilt, and irreparable titles."

Title Washing - What Is It and Why Should I Care?

Title washing is the unethical practice of applying for a title in a state where a damaged vehicle's branded title is not recognized. Learn more about title washing.

www.autolist.com

 

[Pablo]

Is this east coast leaning. I cannot discern a whole lot of difference in those 3 states.

Here? It is: Don't buy any car that sits near ocean spray! You can tell by the aluminum.

I have not done east coast biz travel for a long time but I remember when I was younger when visiting NE states and NY/NJ heck even upper midwest, the cars I did not consider to be old at all, thoroughly rot rusted, I mean NASTY. Near not driveable.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I lived on Hilton Head Island for 5 years - its a sand bar off SC for those who don't know. I never lived right next to the beach and still have 2 Nissans that spent the entire 5 years there, and neither has a spot of rust. Both still have most of their paint on the frame, and Nissan's are not known to survive rust well. Both have actually driven on the beaches in Florida many times as well. Road salt is not used here, but they might have seen in on a trip once or twice.

I think you would need to live right on the ocean for it to be much of an issue. My small sample data - FWIW.

 

[wag123]

Arizona or Texas (except from areas near the coast or in the panhandle) where vehicles do not rust.

 

[macarose]

Just went and looked at a vehicle in NC. Came from FL. Was a 2000 Nissan. Looked like it had been in a salt water flood. Had a "clear" NC title - not salvage. Had "weird" history when VIN tracked. Not sure, but most likely was title washed when brought into NC.

Buyer Beware

"Although title washing is a federal crime, several states either allow it or don't enforce laws against it, such as Texas, California, Washington, Tennessee, Mississippi, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Georgia. Mississippi has the worst title washing problem in the country, with one out of 44.6 cars having a washed title — over seven times higher than the national average.

One reason car title washing is easy is because each state has its own threshold for declaring a vehicle a total loss. For example, some states compare the repair costs of a damaged vehicle to its value in working condition, while other states compare the vehicle's repair costs to its scrap value. In addition, states often apply different titles for the same damage, such as junk, rebuilt, and irreparable titles."

Title Washing - What Is It and Why Should I Care?

Title washing is the unethical practice of applying for a title in a state where a damaged vehicle's branded title is not recognized. Learn more about title washing.

www.autolist.com

Georgia has the strictest titling laws in the country when it comes to salvage vehicles. They do not accept salvage vehicles as being roadworthy if they have not been inspected in Georgia no matter what. It takes several months and tons of beauracratic hopes to get a salvage or rebuilt vehicle titled in Georgia. Our former governor, Nathan Deal, used to own an auto auction that handled salvage vehicles and most of the regulations came from all the potential lawsuits and bad events that happened with putting rolling turds on the road.

I agree with you on Mississippi. But Georgia is very stringent when it comes to salvage units.

 

[ripcord]

What is a 10 year old car NY worth if it's a few years away from the crusher due to rust? Here on the west coast, there are all kinds of 20+ year old cars on the road without a lick of rust. There's no comparison.

 

[Wolf359]

What is a 10 year old car NY worth if it's a few years away from the crusher due to rust? Here on the west coast, there are all kinds of 20+ year old cars on the road without a lick of rust. There's no comparison.

For me, it's more like 15-20 years before they rust out so even a 10 year old car is still good for at least another 5-10 years.

 

[Andrew1972]

For me, it's more like 15-20 years before they rust out so even a 10 year old car is still good for at least another 5-10 years.

One or two body repairs and vehicle only has another 5 years. They never fix it right and that area rots and rusts first and out.

 

[billt460]

Anywhere that has the least amount of rain or snow. Snow, along with seaside environments = salt. There is nothing more corrosive in nature that will destroy a car faster.

 

[Andrew1972]

The closest state has the car you want at the price you want.

 

[SC Maintenance]

When I was shopping for a "southern" car I looked to North Carolina as they still do safety inspections, unlike SC

I lived in NC for about a decade moved to SC in 2009. The "safety" inspection used to cost $45.00 and that included the emissions testing. They checked the lights, horn, tires and windshield wipers. It never went on a lift, and it took about 3 minutes. Its not what you think unless its changed significantly in the last decade.

SC would be a great place to unload a rotted out clunker.

I am sure this happens. I have never bought a used car here because there mostly auction buys from the rust belt anyway.

 

[Pablo]

I lived on Hilton Head Island for 5 years - its a sand bar off SC for those who don't know. I never lived right next to the beach and still have 2 Nissans that spent the entire 5 years there, and neither has a spot of rust. Both still have most of their paint on the frame, and Nissan's are not known to survive rust well. Both have actually driven on the beaches in Florida many times as well. Road salt is not used here, but they might have seen in on a trip once or twice.

I think you would need to live right on the ocean for it to be much of an issue. My small sample data - FWIW.

Well maybe you were indeed blocked from prevailing on shore ocean winds, because I can assure you any vehicle within several hundred yards of the west coat USA, any exposed unanodized aluminum will have growth and pits within a short period of time. Someone posted pics of a Gen 2 Tacoma (I think) several years back. Nose toward ocean for 6 months or so. Not pleasant.

On a positive note, these conditions are not so harsh that a good coating really helps.

 

[Andrew1972]

My prior 2007 Acura MDX was pretty rusty underneath after 4 years when I got used. I found an old service receipt with address I google mapped. Satellite shows It was parked outside(no garage) oceanfront In Manchester by the Sea, MA with boat also which explained why hitch was so rotten.

In 2020 the MDX pretty much rotted thru but at spots were body work was done.