US vehicle locations - where to avoid ?!?!

[Russ]

G'day all ... time is coming closer to finally being able to afford my wanted US Muscle car. Unless when the time comes I happen to find one in Oz, I will be importing.

What I'd like to know is, what areas of the US should I look at, or avoid, trying to find one? (looking online, I won't actually be going there in person, unfortunately)


I know not to go anything that lived in New Orleans during Katrina, but what else should I consider?

I found this map on UStoAUS concerning the "rust belt" (http://www.usatoaus.com/rust.html) - anybody had a differing experience or is it pretty accurate?


Any other problems/difficulties that seem to be geographically specific?


Appreciate the time.


... oh, and the vehicle will be a 1970 Dodge Challenger :D


http://www.usatoaus.com/images/rust_map.gif

http://www.usatoaus.com/images/rust_map_key.gif

[Nev68]

I suppose rust is the biggest enemy for the old muscle cars so I'd reckon that the pink area is where they have extreme weather.
High humidity and hot in the south-east and freezing cold in the north-east.
All the salt and crap they put on the roads in the states that get snow is defintiley going to be bad for the old girls.
Dry hot state are probably better for the metal, you can easily replace a buggered motor, trans or rear end but rust is going to cost you at some stage. (or at least make you very unhappy when it start poppong through the paint)

[anychevy]

That map pretty much sums it up but, just because it's being sold in the warm, dry areas (white on the map) dosen't mean it spent all of it's life there.
There's a few of the upper middle states like Montana and North and South Dakoda I'd steer away from, because of the altitude (mountains = snow)
Oregon and Washington are marginal IMO, it rains non stop and snows occaisionally, but having said that, my car spent the last half of it's life in Seattle and it's o.k. :confused:
I would stick to the lower left quarter of the country, simply because of the huge distances you'll drive. The US is basically the same size as OZ !

[Russ]

Cool. So Cali, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and maybe Utah & West Texas are all good places to start.

I understand that it's not a guarantee - as how the car has been stored & cared for over the last 40 years plays a huge role (always garage vs never garaged etc).


Should help keep transport costs down too, since they're shipped from the West Coast.



Cheers!

[skywalker]

G@@D luck with your searching:cool:,

[nqkjw]

Steer clear of any of those northern states.
Salted roads in snow country kills cars.

[cluxford]

Steer clear of any of those northern states.
Salted roads in snow country kills cars.

I was in Boston last year and have a colleague who lives there, he reckons most new cars are lucky to last 5 years before they are riddled with really bad rust...

those salted roads, honestly being there during winter I for the life of me can't figure out why anyone would ever live there

[anychevy]

I was in Boston last year and have a colleague who lives there, he reckons most new cars are lucky to last 5 years before they are riddled with really bad rust...
those salted roads, honestly being there during winter I for the life of me can't figure out why anyone would ever live there
Try living in Canada :confused: Montreal summer 30*C 90% humidity - winter -30*C snow 6 foot high ! F#$% THAT !

[6pakdave]

Just avoid Compton in LA ! lol. You may not get out alive homie.
Im in LA in 3 weeks time.I'll try not to find any 70 Challengers OK.

later Dave

[anychevy]

Just avoid Compton in LA ! lol. You may not get out alive homie.

Your mate Stu got us lost in Compton late one night :mad: nearly got us killed

[xxxtowing]

Your mate Stu got us lost in Compton late one night :mad: nearly got us killed



LOL nah iam here now , i bought a car from compton 3 days ago , just dont drive a flash car around , dont stop in front of any1's house , try and avoid going there after 8pm

BUY A GUN !!!!!! LOL

[S[_]SPECT]

I've been told to also check the title history...
Just cause a car is currently titled in say Arizona, doesnt mean I didnt get sold after Katrina and retitled in Arizona.. if you know what I mean ?? :confused:

[snap_point]

Try and buy from the desert Arizona is top on my list.

And get them to send heaps of pics from under the car, what the yanks recon isn't bad rust, is serious rust in our eyes here in Oz. Just my experience when I was looking for my car in the US.

Good luck with the hunt!

[NT Bandit]

Wish mine had not come from Wisconsin......yep, rust issues

[Classic 57]

Its all about the car and how well its last owner looked after it, i bought my latest toy out of New York where its cold and wet, but the car was stored in a heated garage that i would be happy to live in, the car never went outside unless it was dry and sunny so rust wasnt an issue.

The other consideration is its a lot cheaper to ship from the West Coast than the East Coast, my last 2 imports have come out of Chicago and NY and the freight costs were a lot higher than if they had left from LA, even to transport the car from NY to LA by road to pick up the cheaper shipping deals was about 2K.

[chevelle]

I know not to go anything that lived in New Orleans during Katrina, but what else should I consider?


Those cars are spread around worldwide now. They were selling a heap of Katrina cars on ebay years ago. Some were honest in stating it was a Katrina car, but others just bought them and tarted them up and resold them. Cars that sat under salt water for a min of 3 months plus.

I think As Classic 57 has stated, it's all about the car. Lots of West Coast cars have been bought for many years by East Coast guys and shipped back East, so you just dont know.

[d_pic]

G'day all ... time is coming closer to finally being able to afford my wanted US Muscle car. Unless when the time comes I happen to find one in Oz, I will be importing.

What I'd like to know is, what areas of the US should I look at, or avoid, trying to find one? (looking online, I won't actually be going there in person, unfortunately)


I know not to go anything that lived in New Orleans during Katrina, but what else should I consider?

I found this map on UStoAUS concerning the "rust belt" (http://www.usatoaus.com/rust.html) - anybody had a differing experience or is it pretty accurate?


Any other problems/difficulties that seem to be geographically specific?


Appreciate the time.


... oh, and the vehicle will be a 1970 Dodge Challenger :D


http://www.usatoaus.com/images/rust_map.gif

http://www.usatoaus.com/images/rust_map_key.gif

That would be a proper map ... but double check the vehicles from up north and north west ... lost of rain, and snow and you know what that does to these precious cars ...
You've got lots of good advice here. Nevada, Texas, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, all those dry states are way nicer to 'em.

[timsmothers]

That would be a proper map ... but double check the vehicles from up north and north west ... lost of rain, and snow and you know what that does to these precious cars ...
You've got lots of good advice here. Nevada, Texas, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, all those dry states are way nicer to 'em.

Guys, you will want to stay away from Utah cars... salt on the roads in the winter causes major rust!

[tezza101]

Gotta love those for sale ads with cars actually sitting in the snow...

[Twisted67]

Guys, you will want to stay away from Utah cars... salt on the roads in the winter causes major rust!

Hiya Tom,
Welcome to the forum,can you tell me if theres any good speed shops in Vegas as we'll be over a bit later in the year for SEMA??
Thanks and welcome.
Maybe an intro about yourself and your car(s)??

Paul

[Russ]

That would be a proper map ... but double check the vehicles from up north and north west ... lost of rain, and snow and you know what that does to these precious cars ...
You've got lots of good advice here. Nevada, Texas, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, all those dry states are way nicer to 'em.

They one I bought ended up coming from San Diego, and has been a Californian car for most, if not all, of it's life. :D

Very little rust.

[timsmothers]

Hiya Tom,
Welcome to the forum,can you tell me if theres any good speed shops in Vegas as we'll be over a bit later in the year for SEMA??
Thanks and welcome.
Maybe an intro about yourself and your car(s)??

Paul

What kind of speed shop are you looking for exactly? There is a so cal speed shop here, but most of the employees feel that they are too busy to help customers. There are some other shops around, just depends on what you want... the economy has gotten so bad here, alot of the decent guys have left.
I dont own a camaro at this point, but have been working on two of them... both 68 coupes (for friends). my daily driver is a gmc truck with a 6 inch lift. Ive been tinkering with cars since before I could drive, and probably will until I die. I also dabble with harleys! Ill try to post some pictures soon.

[rs/ss 396]

What kind of speed shop are you looking for exactly? There is a so cal speed shop here, but most of the employees feel that they are too busy to help customers. There are some other shops around, just depends on what you want... the economy has gotten so bad here, alot of the decent guys have left.
I dont own a camaro at this point, but have been working on two of them... both 68 coupes (for friends). my daily driver is a gmc truck with a 6 inch lift. Ive been tinkering with cars since before I could drive, and probably will until I die. I also dabble with harleys! Ill try to post some pictures soon.

We will be in Vegas from the 16-19 August in our 32 Roadster. Were heading down after spending a couple of days at Speed Week.
Are there any cruise nights on during the week?

[timsmothers]

We will be in Vegas from the 16-19 August in our 32 Roadster. Were heading down after spending a couple of days at Speed Week.
Are there any cruise nights on during the week?

ill look into it and get back to you... i do know of a couple of informal gatherings on saturday and sunday mornings, but give me a few hours, and ill check into the rest. if nothing else, theres always a night cruise on the strip if you dont mind bumper to bumper sloe traffic in the heat!

only one near your time frame is the day after you leave... pm me... ill talk to the guys and see if they would like to meet up on the strip for a cruise...

www.lasvegascarshows.com