I live in Ohio in the heart of the rust belt. I want to my next project vehicle from somewhere not cursed by the scourge of road salt, but I dont have any particular place in mind. Basically anywhere in the lower 48, east of the Rockies. Searching craigslist or Facebook is super tedious, especially since I have a rough idea of what vehicle I want but not a specific year or anything. Basically I want a rust free GMT400 in 3/4 or 1 ton with 4wd. Is there an efficient way to search them without it turning into a full time job?
Forums or friends.
The black RX-7 was an eBay auction, the S60R was an Autotrader ad. But the rest of the long distance cars were forums or friends.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Exactly this. I've gotten all of my cars through connections. I don't buy midwest cars so I've been a regular to CA, FL, NV, and TN for cars for years.
On one hand, I understand not wanting to double the distance and go to Arizona or Utah or Nevada. On the other hand, I look at projects people pick up in the South and wonder why anyone would want to deal with that much rust. So maybe it's worth leaning on members west of the Rockies?
A quick list of areas that already have a local GRMer might give a shorter list of places to search.
I am near Ogden, Utah, for what that is worth.
I'd search close to major airports through Facebook Marketplace if I wanted to buy rust free. Charlotte and Atlanta are rich with rust-free cars and close to easy one-way fares. Bonus is I-85/I-77 takes you right back home to Ohio with relative ease.
I just set the city I want in the same searches I use locally. FBM, CL (although they suck anymore), Ebay, AuctionZip, etc. That's how I've found most of my cars. The problem with FBM is that you don't have many options to filter. CL and Ebay let you filter brilliantly. If you don't know what you want but you know you want it to be manual, 4cyl, and AWD, you can start to see trends in what is available on the market. Find what trips your trigger. THEN you can incorporate FBM since you know what three vehicles you might want.
If I have a specific area in mind, like a southern car to avoid rust, I might put in (for instance) Atlanta GA and set a really high radius so I get FL, AL, SC, MS, etc. Then I might switch the same search to New Orleans, then Austin TX, then Phoenix, Santa Fe, Vegas, Los Angeles, etc. It's a bit tedious, but if you're willing to put in the time, it usually gets great results.
You can also enlist our help. I've done a few "what car" threads, and after the brilliant folks here offer advice, I have it narrowed down to a couple possibilities. Then I can post another thread with "help me find." There are tons of absolute nerd/losers here (like me) who have nothing better to do than go car shopping with you. Divide and conquer. My current van was found by John Welsh. He was just a nice guy with a free moment to help me search.
Autotempest is my suggestion for searching Craigslist across multiple cities and states
https://www.autotempest.com/
Out here in Cali, the GMT800 is cheaper and easier to find than the 400 but there's a decent selection in Sacramento and the inland areas
A lot of car ads moved to FB because it's free :(
Atlanta or DFW for me since they are both easy trips from Milwaukee and have been weekend fly-n-drives. THey are also huge metro areas and inland enough to not see a lot of flood cars.
I look on ebay, auto trader, and cars.com. I would be hesitant to do private party long distance from FBM or CL because of the amount of flakes and liars out there. At least with most car dealers you can wire them a deposit without much worry that the car will be there when you show up. Ebay also adds a little more legitimacy to a transaction and gives you recourse for refunding the down payment if INAD
I have also done some car shopping when I travel down south for work, if I have the time I can cruise the classifieds in the hotel room.
Lastly, always do a carfax on anything you are looking at from out of state, just because it is being sold at a southern dealer doesnt mean it didnt spend the first 10 years of its life in upstate New Yorkl.
amg_rx7 (Forum Supporter) said:
Autotempest is my suggestion for searching Craigslist across multiple cities and states
https://www.autotempest.com/
Out here in Cali, the GMT800 is cheaper and easier to find than the 400 but there's a decent selection in Sacramento and the inland areas
A lot of car ads moved to FB because it's free :(
This is the way. Autotempest searches FB, CL, Autotrader, Cars.com, eBay, and a few others. You can give it a zip code and a radius.
But, based on what I'm seeing these days, 95% of the cheap cars that are out there are on FB. CL is a ghost town now.
In reply to gearheadmb :
I stumbled on this GMT400 in Ohio and remembered this thread. 39k miles! Pretty well fits your description.
I'm not saying its cheap, but I'm also not saying the seller will get that price. The ad says its been listed for 8 weeks.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1621791774960385/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A87b07309-b85f-4cf1-9a6d-8c40014dae51
What are you interested in. This crowd will happily enable with links and first looks at local cars if they know you are looking.
In reply to John Welsh :
Holy shnikeys that's gorgeous. Too gorgeous, I cant justify $25k but the truck is definitely what I had in mind. Good looking out. Thanks
In reply to gearheadmb :
Yeah, $25k seem high but then I started playing with the numbers...
The original window sticker say $26,000 when new. Selling it now for $1k less some 24 years later.
But also... $26,355.50 in 1999 is worth $47,749.33 today
Then, build and price a 2023 Silverado 3500 WT with cruise and power windows has a retail of $48,720
In just 2 years that 2000 truck qualifies for Historic Plates in Ohio. Register for $35, once, and never have to renew. Sure, its intended for car shows and parades but it's not like you'd bring this out for winter!
In reply to gearheadmb :
Not by looking at ads. You need someone you know and trust to put eyes on it before you commit to getting it.
A truck like you're looking for ( especially a 3/4, 1 ton) is going to be used hard and put away wet. While rust might not be an issue, wear and tear certainly is. Trucks like that are typically used commercially. Very few companies have dependable maintenance departments. ( a few do but most replace trucks when reliability is questionable).
I open GRM, where folks constantly post stuff that's far away.
Somehow, when I went to sell a car, the problem was that it was far away as well.
Sorry, not useful, just feels like a core Murphy's Law element of the forum. 
In reply to gearheadmb :
That truck I listed above with just 35k miles for 22 years, and in red, got me thinking that was likely a Fire Dept Truck. You might want to keep an eye on https://www.govdeals.com/ and similar sites.
Fire Dept trucks are usually very well maintained so they can be ready to go at a moments notice. But, the reality is, often in small communities, the trucks just sit most of the time. When they are used, they really don't drive that far away typically staying in the small towns city limits. On top of that, they are stored indoors all the time.
Pickups from Parks Depts and Road Depts do actual work and lead a rougher life. Fire Dept trucks wait and then take short drives, quickly, and are never overloaded with gear. If the truck has an hour meter, try to find out what that is to see how much of it's life has been idling.
Toyman! said:
This one is a little gussied up but not terrible. 6.5 Diesel. $6500.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/587030783453797/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A6d456cea-8b27-4eee-9b92-3541a328ea4b
Wow - run far, run fast.
-Tahoe door
-Black paint on the cab corners because they are rotted out
-Autozone flares because the box sides are gone
-Doesnt have a diesel bumper and headlights look like a southerner's smile so its been tagged at least once in the front.
-Questionable teenager mods like light bars, tow mirrors, confederate flag
