Care for Classics and Exotics in coastal environments?

So I’m back in the frozen north after a week in South Florida. As you would expect in the land of real-estate, drug money and banking, fancy cars are all over the place. Living up to the Miami Vice stereotype you can’t move on déclassé South Beach for Ferrari’s, Lambo’s, McLarens etc. Up on Palm Beach it’s more restrained. I think Mercedes and Land Rover are the two most popular manufacturers there, but without doubt the single most common type of vehicle is the Bentley Continental. Between drop top and Coupes I bet they make up 3-4% of the total cars on the island.

This brings me to my question. There are literally thousands and thousands of cars in the $200k+ bracket all over South Beach Miami and Palm Beach. How do these cars survive in the humid salty air? It must be absolute murder on anything made of metal after a few years. Even if the car spends 16-18-20 hours a day in a climate controlled garage, it’s still in and out of the salt, and even if your de-humidifier is running once in the garage, salt is everywhere. You lick your lips and you can taste it. How do these people look after their cars. Or more likely what do the people the owners pay to look after their cars do to keep them from corroding away in just a couple of years. I’m guessing if you’re in the market for a used exotic, don’t buy one form South Florida!

The salt is only a problem within a few hundred feet of the beach. Unless they're kept that close, they'll pick up little rust like any other car that doesn't have to deal with winter.

Humidity by itself isn't that hard on the cars. They won't last as long as desert cars, but the negative effects of a tropical climate are minor.

I think humidity is more of a car interior issue (mold etc), but you really have to neglect the car or have issues (leaks) to get to that.

Sea salt can rust cars from the top down, but again simply washing / waxing and taking care of the car in general should prevent that also.

BTW, for some practical examples, I've had both of my cars parked at a beach house many times, sometimes for weeks at a time, and I've even driven my Samurai through salt water a couple of times. Nothing terrible happened...although it's kind of hard to tell with the Samurai

A guy near my office has an S2k with a Rocket Bunny body kit parked at a beach condo. That's close to a quarter-mil of car around these parts

I grew up within a few hundred feet of the beach. Salt air is only an issue when the wind is really blowing. On a nice summer day, you get more dust and pollen than salt.. now when the wind is blowing off of the ocean, that is a different story. I once saw a book turn it's pages from white to yellow in the course of an afternoon. It was left outside on a very windy day and you could feel the salt and humidity in the air.

Also remember, humidity is a function of how much moisture is in the air.. when water turns to vapor, it leaves the salt behind

For an example just look at Cuba with all those old American cars, or at least bodies still rolling along. The humid air hasn't caused them to rust away.

GameboyRMH said: A guy near my office has an S2k with a Rocket Bunny body kit parked at a beach condo. That's close to a quarter-mil of car around these parts

DUDE- what currency? Does that reflect the cost of importing? How would you like to go into business importing vehicles such as that? Just consider me your "President of U.S. Operations"

Hahaha, that is in US dollars, and that does reflect the cost of importing. The government here gets all that extra cost though, the foreign company selling the car gets nothing more than they would selling it to anyone else.

Called up the Toyota dealership here about a Toyobaru for E36 M3s n' giggles and they told me $100k-$125k to bring one in. A couple of people have brought them in though, one owns a cleaning company and the other co-owns a big local conglomerate.

You had my hopes up for a second there... I assume black market importing is right out then? Taking them apart and reassembling your new "kit car"?

Sorry for thread jack, my eyes turned into dollar signs briefly.

Black market importing can happen if you have friends in the right places...but that saves the buyer money, it does nothing for the seller.

In the past, people actually did bring in motorcycles in pieces to save a bit (not all,..maybe 20~25% cheaper this way) until customs caught on. A few people have tried it with cars, but with the difficulty and problems of reassembling a car from half-cuts, it's not really worth it - and I think the laws have been updated to make this legally more difficult as well.

In reply to GameboyRMH:

Are you in Puerto Rico. Do those costs count for importing your own car that you already own for use there if people were moving from the mainland? where does the cost come from? Does the government take 400% of the vehicle value in tax or something?

I live near the ocean, but just on the other side of the Intracoastal Waterway, which is a big river that runs nearly the entire length of the East coast. The ICW is brackish, as fresh water rivers flow into it, and the ocean runs into it at various inlets up and down the coast.

Here in Daytona, if you are beachside, your car will rust---quickly! Because the waves are fairly big, they throw more salt-spray into the air, which attaches to every part of your car. Unless you wash your car thoroughly a few times a week it will rust. This goes even if it's in a garage.

However, being on the other side of the ICW, nothing rusts. It's like we are in central Georgia, no excessive rust, as the salt-spray doesn't travel over the "river". I've left cars outdoors for years with no rust issues.

If I drive a car I care about over the bridge to the beach-side, it's getting a wash immediately afterwards--- undercarriage and all. Same goes if I drive on the beach--- which I never actually do in a car I care about.

Those rich guys down in South Beach probably just sell their cars after a year or two. Besides, once the new Bentley, or Ferrari is out.....the old cars become passe'. Those folks aren't enthusiasts, to them, cars are fashion--- to be changed frequently.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: Does the government take 400% of the vehicle value in tax or something?

Pretty much, yeah. The owner of the only real megacorporation in the region has a lot of sway here...and he owns car dealerships, so dirt-cheap used cars from elsewhere would be bad for business. And now here we are.

The costs are split between import duties, various "environmental fees" and a few other items, and they only increase further as the car gets more expensive. For example, a Suzuki Swift costs about $30k locally, while an R35 GTR would cost about $350~$400k...and there is one of those here too.

Returning nationals get a break on importing A used car. As in, just once. They often bring in things that are hilariously unsupported here (like American or Swedish cars, LOL), on top of being LHD which is wrong-hand-drive for these roads!

I bet that most of those continentals are on lease or on over-extended debt. In other words, they're repaired rather than maintained.

Mitchell wrote: I bet that most of those continentals are on lease or on over-extended debt. In other words, they're repaired rather than maintained.

And the rest of them are owned as conspicuous displays of wealth, so the owners couldn't care less about long term issues because they will be be traded in for the next fancy shinny must have thing long before the corrosion becomes visible.

I grew up by the ocean and have lived on several barrier islands where you are never very far from open water and you can taste the salt in the air but never really noticed any hideously detrimental issues. If you park right on the beach 24/7 it will be an issue but really only if you do not actually wash your car once in a while. The cars you do occasionally see with rusty rockers and wheel wells are either driven onto the sand which abrades the finish quickly and exposes metal or are just plain not cared after at all.

I just did a total brake job on a car that spent the past 12 years in those conditions and didn't have one stuck bolt nor spot and real rust underneath the car (and I looked carefully). Much more pleasant than working on one of my New England cars...Surface scale comes on quickly to every surface but it never really gets beyond that stage.

The only issue I have really noticed from coastal cars is that aluminum can get ugly really fast in those conditions. If you do not maintain a clear coat / paint on you wheels or other stuff like valve covers and such they can corrode pretty quickly. Of course, they do not really rust per se, but the surfaces get messed up in short order.

I have never seen much of any issue with humidity and interior degradation at all. It is much more important to protect the inside from too much sun exposure!

HappyAndy wrote:

Mitchell wrote: I bet that most of those continentals are on lease or on over-extended debt. In other words, they're repaired rather than maintained.

And the rest of them are owned as conspicuous displays of wealth, so the owners couldn't care less about long term issues because they will be be traded in for the next fancy shinny must have thing long before the corrosion becomes visible.

I'm not so sure in Palm Beach, it's seriously seriously wealthy down there. As for conspicuous displays of wealth, it's very restrained compared to Miami. I 'only' saw one Ferrari (a California) and one McLaren as really flashy cars there. As I said, in South beach you couldn't move for exotics.

jimbbski wrote: For an example just look at Cuba with all those old American cars, or at least bodies still rolling along. The humid air hasn't caused them to rust away.

I put that more on the perseverance of the owners. I grew up in Puerto Rico with a very similar environment to Cuba's, and I assure you that cars did rust out due to the environment. Probably much less with modern cars.