I am heading to the Huntsville Al area mid December to pick up a CNC Plasma table (yippee!) and thought I might try and find an inexpensive truck to bring back to rustsville.
Requirements are under 2k, rust free, tow at least 3.5k easily (plasma table is 2k plus trailer), not a dodge (I'm prejudice).
Anyone near there know of anything that doesn't suck?
I'm in range, but don't see good cheap trucks very often. They don't rust here, but we drive the hell out of them until the wheels fall off, then still think they are worth AT LEAST 5X the cost of a good coon dog.
Check with Alan McCrispin. He's in Huntsville.
wlkelley3, 93EXCivic and Racerdave600 also live in the HSV area.
Atlanta's not that far. I hear they have some trucks over here. But $2k is a pretty low target.
Yeah, I know 2k is low but that is really all I can afford. I can get a 90s Ford or chevy here for that kind of money most any day but it will be missing all its rockers. I just figured that if I had to be there anyway, I might ask the hive if they knew of anything in the area.
Good trucks are worth money in the south.
We have lots of rust free trucks in the South, but we are proud of them. Very few under $2K.
In reply to singleslammer:
BTW, as a "Northerner", you are going to have to accept something else...
Southerners don't mind high mileage.
Northerners typically think a car is pretty worn at 150K. Southerners don't think anything of 250K.
I think it's actually an expression of an unconscious attitude about rust. It's pretty hard for a Northerner car to go more than 150K without rusting out. It's a measure of overall wear and tear (regardless of whether it is a good one or not). Southern cars don't rust, so we don't care about mileage.
In reply to singleslammer:
Drive a bit further south toward the coast:
In reply to petegossett:
I think you just confirmed my mileage statement. 
In reply to singleslammer:
Are short bed standard cabs OK? They are worth a lot less in the South.
Yeah, short/short is ok. I am not going to do much long distance in it other than the drive back. High miles is fine as long as I am confident that transmission and engine are sound. That is a tall order in cheap vehicles though. I should probably just fix up the Ranchero and borrow a truck to get the plasma table.
Thanks Pete but those are too much out of my way and aren't vehicles near the ocean (gulf, whatever) susceptible to rust?
In reply to singleslammer:
The only one's I've encountered that have rusted due to saltwater all rusted from the top-down. If it looks solid outside it will likely be solid underneath - completely the opposite of northern vehicles.
In reply to singleslammer:
I agree with Pete. If a FL vehicle doesn't have a rusted roof, it's probably good.
I'll have to check. As stated, most around here at that price are beat on badly. Usually old work trucks on their last leg. Your point level is about at the beat to $### level, a bit higher and you can get a something that will make it home. Still not that purty but will drive. The icer looking at that price will have big issues. I've seen project/parts trucks around here for that much.
singleslammer wrote: I am heading to the Huntsville Al area mid December to pick up a CNC Plasma table (yippee!) and thought I might try and find an inexpensive truck to bring back to rustsville. Requirements are under 2k, rust free, tow at least 3.5k easily (plasma table is 2k plus trailer), not a dodge (I'm prejudice). Anyone near there know of anything that doesn't suck?
Possibly from Dynatorch? If so, Leon might know more about finding a truck.
I agree with SVreX. I now live in Huntsville area but originally from Pittsburgh area. Took me a long time to re-adjust my mileage/year to value standards. My brother who still lives in Pittsburgh area bought an 03 Chevy, diesel with only 50k miles. He asked me to look for him in Huntsville and I couldn't touch the price he was getting. He went ahead and bought it...rust and all. Now days I wouldn't consider ever buying a car/truck from that area no matter how cheap. There is a reason vehicles are that low priced after they get a few years on them. The winters are brutal on them
Yep, going to Dynatorch. Who is this Leon?
Viccath - if I lived in the south I would totally agree but at this end of the price spectrum, I either need local help or need to buy locally.
SVreX's comment about the mental adjustment of a Northerner buying high miles is spot on for me. He and I have had that exact conversation.
I have a BIL and a nephew in Huntsville who are automotive intelligent so I tend to keep an eye on the HSV CL when looking for clean car. In that watching, I have noticed that HSV seems to be an expensive used car market. Next closest large city is Nashville and there seem to be some better deals there.
Also, as a Northerner buying in the south, there will not be rust but expect harsh paint and some significant sun damage to the interior.
Last year I bought a 69k mile '00 Ford Focus out of Jacksonville. It has been repainted somewhat poorly (but okay for me.) Since I see no notable body damage I suspect this repaint was to improve old factory paint. When I got the car back north, I was at a northern junkyard to get a dashboard trim piece which actually came from a rusted out 180k mile Focus. Having never owned a Focus, I was amazed at the JY to learn that all the dash parts like AC vets and the grab handle to move the seat are not genuinely grey like they are in my southern car but rather are a deep black in the northern car.
My '05 Nissan Quest from Jacksonville has horribly sun damaged clear coat on all the horizontal surfaces. This bad paint was the reason that I went with vinyl wrap to cover the damage. Well both sun damage and race car were the reasons but a win/win.
$100 spent on vinyl wrap was a heck of a lot better than $100 spent on "rust repair".
In reply to singleslammer:
One other thing I thought of - are you bringing a trailer down, or were you planning on renting one one-way to make the trip back? One-way trailer rentals from U-Haul can be 4x or more expensive than round-trip.
I would have to rent one. Their website says 150ish to get one from Huntsville to Columbia. However, they don't have an open trailers in Huntsville apparently though. I would likely have to pick one up somewhere else. This is looking less and less likely.
In reply to singleslammer: Leon Drake is co-owner of Dynatorch. Also very much a car guy with racing interests.
Cool, I have just dealt with sales and logistics. I will hit him up.
singleslammer wrote: Yep, going to Dynatorch. Who is this Leon? Viccath - if I lived in the south I would totally agree but at this end of the price spectrum, I either need local help or need to buy locally.
viccath5 wrote: In reply to singleslammer: Leon Drake is co-owner of Dynatorch. Also very much a car guy with racing interests.
What viccath5 said. Into rallycross big-time. Also does other racing interests.
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