Looking to do a fly and drive for a winter project or flip. Name some candidates that have a large enthusiast following but are absolute rot boxes up north where salt is used abundantly.
And before anyone says it - I'm glad you live somewhere that doesn't use salt, too.
GMT400
Any square body truck. Ford or Chevy.
Toyota Pick-ups.
Southern MINIs and Miatas fetch good money up here. You can get a premium for any vehicle if you can say "never seen snow" in the ad. A higher end vehicle will provide a bigger premium for your efforts, so I would look at loaded SUVs and pickups.
Miata Is Always The Answer
Youre in Pittsburgh, the land of hills and we're headed into winter. Any answer should be 4wd/awd.
Subarus rust like crazy but have a loyal following that will pay. Old CRVs are rust prone and have a loyal following. Even more loyal and fanatic is Honda Element fans. Find an AWD Honda Element.
Any truck 4x4. Most SUVs especially anything with a popular following
mblommel said:Miata Is Always The Answer
Not this time of year. Down south temps are getting mild making it a great time for convertibles. This prime time turns into prime prices down south. But, up north it is off season for convertibles as things get cold. As such, demand is down and prices are down in the north.
All good advice for 4x4/awd vehicles. This time of year, the panic sets in of "oh God I need an awd vehicle for the snow!" so premiums run high. The thing about Miatas is up here they are all almost always parked for the winter and are typically rust free. Same goes for other convertibles. With exceptions of course. Off to find a CRV or Element. Those are excellent suggestions thanks JW!
GC8 Subies.
In reply to John Welsh :
Makes sense. For what it's worth NB prices in Central Florida seem to be returning to more normal levels. Nature is healing.
RAV4, CRV, basically any 4wd truck, GM Duramax trucks up to 2007 especially. If you can find a clean one, factory 5 speed IS300s should sell easily, same with the 8th gen Civic Si.
Honda Element hysteria is real. I'm not sure you can find a good price Element anywhere but in Pittsburgh you probably can't find a rust free one at any price!
Scotty Con Queso said:Looking to do a fly and drive for a winter project or flip. Name some candidates that have a large enthusiast following but are absolute rot boxes up north where salt is used abundantly.
And before anyone says it - I'm glad you live somewhere that doesn't use salt, too.
It is easier to identify what does not rust.
The thing that sucks is, rust free cars are worth the same as garbage. I think a lot of it is that cars are taken care of very poorly where things don't rust. I haven't seen a car or truck from Southern states that wasn't a complete nightmare mechanically and/or needed $2-3,000 worth of repair to make pass emissions.
California has Smog checks , but no safety check , so non rusty piles of junk are driving everywhere !
But if it does not pass smog you can probably get a good deal , like Prius with the "Cat" missing as we have to get Official approved Cats , not the cheap $100 ones.....
Is there a list of states that do have safety checks ?
Check out Denvers Craigslist. Fly in and check out the mountains and drive back. You even have some peeps that live there and can scope out the cars.
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/one-day-in-denver/258526/page1/
$6000.
Anything that has been driven in the winter in the rust belt is rusty to some degree. The only rust belt exemptions are cars that get put away for the winter. So things like Miatas and Corvettes, you can still get one that's not crusty.
Pickups, especially GM and Ford ones from the 1970s or 1980s.
They don't season the roads in Colorado? I bought this F-100 from the Phoenix, AZ area, I would do it again. Also bought a Samurai that moved here from New Mexico, the underside was shinier than my DD! The only drawback was this red, baby powder dust coming out of the vents and about 2" deep inside the doors.
It cleaned up nicely, I would absolutely do it again.
914Driver said:They don't season the roads in Colorado?
They very occasionally pre-treat roads with spray, but rock salt is rarely used around here. It's typically too cold for it to be effective. Instead, they spread traction additive in the form of Pikes Peak granite in pieces just large enough to crack your windshield. As a result, windshields are a consumable part.
JoeTR6 said:914Driver said:They don't season the roads in Colorado?
They very occasionally pre-treat roads with spray, but rock salt is rarely used around here. It's typically too cold for it to be effective. Instead, they spread traction additive in the form of Pikes Peak granite in pieces just large enough to crack your windshield. As a result, windshields are a consumable part.
Same for large swaths of Michigan, Wisconsin, etc. Too cold for salt to work, so they just grade the roads and call it good.
The RX-7 I got from Wisconsin was cleaner than the one I got from Alabama, and the cleanest car I ever bought was from just south of Grand Rapids.
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