pickup truck size

[Torvy]

Every few years, in the spring, I roll into the shop and hoist it up. I then get under and start cleaning, priming, and painting.
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It’s an ‘04 without any rust in Minnesota, owned since new. It is extra work to keep ahead of it, but it has been paid of for 14&1/2 years. If it was rusted out, I probably would of replaced it by now.

I spent years in South Dakota. People there do not knowingly buy vehicles from Minnesota. The amount of salt used by MNDOT is so much that vehicles rust so badly.

FYI, the name Rust Belt has nothing to do with auto rust. It is due to the idle factories rusting away when the economy started shifting away from manufacturing and into the Sun Belt. (literally something I am required to teach)

 

[goeduck]

Those that live in places were truck and car bodies last are usually
unaware of vehicle life and the increased maintenance and costs
that those who live in the rust belt.

^^ that is very true. Around here we can drive a truck until we get tired of it. My current is 22 years old and has a perfect body. If you regularly go over our mountain passes it is a little different but few do that on a frequent basis in the winter. I bought a Toyota FJ a few years back and the first thing I did was look for coats of primer/paint underneath and sure enough carfax had them all coming from eastern and midwest northern US and Canada. I ended up buying a 2008 originally purchased in this county and guess what? No rust to this day.

 

[scaredychicken]

RalphVa - I'm hoping to trade for a 1984 Dodge Rampage. Sounds like a cool little truck, a baby brother to my El Caminos

 

[Jstpssng]

There used to be a couple of brothers downstate who would go south with a car carrier, buy a bunch of rust free trucks, bring them home and put running gears in them from rust buckets up here.

 

[Cat385B]

There used to be a couple of brothers downstate who would go south with a car carrier, buy a bunch of rust free trucks, bring them home and put running gears in them from rust buckets up here.

We had something similar where I used to live, but the vehicles had drugs packed in various nooks and crannies. Came up from South Florida. Once, they brought home a mid-80’s Buick Regal T-Type. We thought we should approach them about buying it. The Sheriff’s department had a similar idea.

 

[CADplans]

There used to be a couple of brothers downstate who would go south with a car carrier, buy a bunch of rust free trucks, bring them home and put running gears in them from rust buckets up here.

There is a dealer in Roanoke, that does JUST the opposite
He goes north, buys rust buckets, and just puts them on the lot.

The "southerners" never even think to look for rust,, this is the south,,
The car is cheap,, they buy it.

He moves dozens of cars every week in that condition,,
I remember the first time I drove past the lot, and saw the rusty cars, that were not that old,,
AND, the price is so low,, you just gotta buy it,,,

I avoid that lot like the plague,, the vehicle seems to look nice,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Renze]

There is a dealer in Roanoke, that does JUST the opposite
He goes north, buys rust buckets, and just puts them on the lot.

The "southerners" never even think to look for rust,, this is the south,,
The car is cheap,, they buy it.

In Europe if you bought a car from the South (Italy) you knew your car rusted as soon as the brochure was printed. On the opposite end, a car from the North (Sweden) was most rustproof. Even within France you could see the production location from the rust, because Southern France Simcas rusted faster than the Renaults, which rusted faster than the Peugeot whose factory was in the northeast, closest to Germany. Fords from the Genk (Belgium) factory also rusted worse than Fords from Cologne, Germany.

My neighbour had a body shop, he said in the late 70s it was not uncommon to do body work on 3 year old cars due to rust... something i cannot even imagine, because i have driven rust free 20 year old Volvos all my life: My first car was a 1991 Volvo 440 built here in the Netherlands, with a few paint spots on the rear wheel arches but no serious pitting...

 

[hosspuller]

As the name says, I use a extended cab, full bed, dually truck to pull a horse trailer. The gas mileage is so bad the truck is only used for hauling, no joy riding. Bought it new, it's 20 years old and 70K miles on the odo. But it will haul 17,000 pounds with no problem and at 65 mph..

 

[Renze]

As the name says, I use a extended cab, full bed, dually truck to pull a horse trailer. The gas mileage is so bad the truck is only used for hauling, no joy riding. Bought it new, it's 20 years old and 70K miles on the odo. But it will haul 17,000 pounds with no problem and at 65 mph..

I hauled 13k combined with my old Volvo S70 140hp which does 50mpg+ commuting.... the same engine in a VW LT (MY '95 Sprinter with VW engine) was approved for 8.75 ton (19.300 pounds) but the LT got nowhere near 50mpg...
Though my hauling 6 ton with an S70 is illegal and i took only 2 miles of back roads...

You cant have it all in one vehicle...

Last week i went down south with a friend and his Eurovan to pick up an IH 644 he bought for tedding and raking. The Transporter is allowed 6200 pound tow, but the police dont know that when you tow 8k....

 

[ArlyA]

I spent years in South Dakota. People there do not knowingly buy vehicles from Minnesota. The amount of salt used by MNDOT is so much that vehicles rust so badly.

FYI, the name Rust Belt has nothing to do with auto rust. It is due to the idle factories rusting away when the economy started shifting away from manufacturing and into the Sun Belt. (literally something I am required to teach)

I buddy of mine is a auto body guy. His friend picked up a near new car from Florida and brought it over to show him. After looking at it a while he asked "you know the windshield columns are rusted out, correct?". There was no fixing of them, it was a total rust and he had wasted $$$.

Arly, no hurricanes here either A.

 

[4570Man]

I buddy of mine is a auto body guy. His friend picked up a near new car from Florida and brought it over to show him. After looking at it a while he asked "you know the windshield columns are rusted out, correct?". There was no fixing of them, it was a total rust and he had wasted $$$.

Arly, no hurricanes here either A.

I bought a 2005 truck from Florida. The sun hasn’t been kind, the clear coat is peeling in the hood and the dash is faded pretty bad but there’s zero rust.

 

[Jstpssng]

I was going to head south last year, as indicated in the "...6.0 diesel" thread which was recently resurrected. The global virus changed that plan...

 

[goeduck]

There is a dealer in Roanoke, that does JUST the opposite
He goes north, buys rust buckets, and just puts them on the lot.

The "southerners" never even think to look for rust,, this is the south,,
The car is cheap,, they buy it.

He moves dozens of cars every week in that condition,,
I remember the first time I drove past the lot, and saw the rusty cars, that were not that old,,
AND, the price is so low,, you just gotta buy it,,,

I avoid that lot like the plague,, the vehicle seems to look nice,,,,,,,,,,,,

I can just see this now....

Someone from up north buys a truck down south to get a rust free truck and the truck is actually a rust bucket from up north.

This could be a whole new chapter in "What Goes Around Comes Around"

 

[Torvy]

Nowadays, it usually pays to get the carfax. Not foolproof, but you will have a much better idea of where the car has been.

 

[4570Man]

Nowadays, it usually pays to get the carfax. Not foolproof, but you will have a much better idea of where the car has been.

The only vehicle I’ve bought from a dealer was still titled to the previous owner and the dealer just transferred it. Maybe it would pay to at least glance under the vehicle. My dad has a van that came from Arizona. It’s 16 years old and immaculate underneath. I put brakes on it and every bolt came out. Even the stupid torx head ones that always bust bits. What a joy to work on.

 

[Jstpssng]

The only vehicle I’ve bought from a dealer was still titled to the previous owner and the dealer just transferred it. Maybe it would pay to at least glance under the vehicle. My dad has a van that came from Arizona. It’s 16 years old and immaculate underneath. I put brakes on it and every bolt came out. Even the stupid torx head ones that always bust bits. What a joy to work on.

I crawled around under the last two pickups I bought and they both looked solid. After one winter in the crap they are putting on our roads now, the rust was coming off the frame in flakes.

 

[Torvy]

I fixed that problem and moved to Texas. If it sounds like snow, everyone in the city goes to the grocery and buys everything. Then they hunker down and wait for the blizzard. After a light dusting, they cancel all non-emergency activities and wait. TXDOT drives around spreading water on the roads to prevent icing. Plows are apparently illegal for Txdot. Fortunately, global warming comes and melts the white stuff before anyone dies of starvation. Then, people get together and tell stories about how they survived snowmageddon and make "I survived winter 202x" t-shirts and hot chocolate. To be fair this is in the DFW area. The panhandle gets real snow at times and I have heard stories of bootleg snowplows roaming the highways. But it is all worth it because we don't have to shovel or blow snow and our cars are rust free...unless you live on the Gulf Coast. The End.

 

[Grumpycat]

Long ago I was considering a used truck "from Florida". Carfax said it lived its whole life on the Atlantic Ocean side. Relatively new truck, underside was bright orange rust.

 

[Jstpssng]

I fixed that problem and moved to Texas. If it sounds like snow, everyone in the city goes to the grocery and buys everything. Then they hunker down and wait for the blizzard. After a light dusting, they cancel all non-emergency activities and wait. TXDOT drives around spreading water on the roads to prevent icing. Plows are apparently illegal for Txdot. Fortunately, global warming comes and melts the white stuff before anyone dies of starvation. Then, people get together and tell stories about how they survived snowmageddon and make "I survived winter 202x" t-shirts and hot chocolate. To be fair this is in the DFW area. The panhandle gets real snow at times and I have heard stories of bootleg snowplows roaming the highways. But it is all worth it because we don't have to shovel or blow snow and our cars are rust free...unless you live on the Gulf Coast. The End.

That sounds boring. A winter without snow is like breakfast without orange juice.

 

[Root Cause]

I 'was' looking around for a cheap commuter car until after the chip issues on new cars dies down. I found a suburu with 121k on it and looked near new. Carfax's last known report was 371,000 miles. I did some digging to find how easy it is to alter a odometer. I thought those days were gone. Now, like tractors, people are bringing out crap because of the car shortage. New car dealers will ship off the new cars to other areas where no one would think to look for flood damage. I decided to just run up the miles on what I have unless I find someone I know is selling their vehicle and buy a Ranger next year with a tow package (7,500 lbs - not perfect but I can flat tow it behind the motorhome.)