What's the best city/region for rust-free, sporty cars?

I live in Ohio, where the road salt is ankle deep four months out of the year and rust appears on new cars before the lease runs out. I'm planning a week-long trip sometime this winter to find a nice, rust-free sporty car (Miata probably, but open to anything interesting.) So, what's the best city or metro to do this in? Atlanta, Miami, Dallas? I'm not going any further west than east Texas.

I'm leaning toward Miami/S. Florida because I like the idea of a place full of Miatae that have never seen a hint of snow and are driven by meticulous 75 yr. old car guys.

Depends on how old you're looking for. Southern cars are usually clean, but Southern people never seem to buy (new) anything other than domestics or Japanese appliances. Here in Atlanta you might find something, since the place attracts folks rich enough to have bought cool cars when they were new (there were so many SAABs here in the mid 1990s that I thought they were a much bigger carmaker than they actually were).

I see why you're looking, though. One of my Corrados is originally from FL, the other's from MI. Ask me which one I'd rather work on.

I've lived in both MI and OH, honestly, Ohio is worse. Local governments here are obsessed with road salt/sand. It's not uncommon to see piles of sand and salt just hanging out in shoulders and medians weeks after the last real snow.

I can find anything I want for a good price here in Dallas.

It's a numbers game. There are a few million people in D/FW. If you're looking for a one in a million deal then you'll have a few to choose from.

Plus, around here, cars less than 30 years old don't have rust.

Cars tend to last pretty well out here (Nevada) but obviously it's a little far.

I'm not so sure that I'd want to buy a car from the coastal area of Florida, I've seen in the UK what the salt spray from the sea does to cars...

Hot and dry is better than hot and humid...

Despite our humidity, you can always tell when a car is from out of state down in Florida. I would check out the Orlando metro area; it's pretty far away from the dreaded (in this case) coasts.

One problem though, taking it back to OH, how long will it last as a rust-free car?

Clean, rust-free Miatas with low mileage are easy to find in the North -- many people buy them for summer cars, only.

I'll second Zoo's comment. A t recent Miata club meeting one fellow was selling his car. He told us it had been rained on 3 times !! I'm a heathen in the club because I drive mine year round.

We've purchased 3 or 4 early (mostly 1990 or 1991 model) Miatas over the years from various parts of FL, including one from Miami. I don't think a single one had any rust on them anywhere.

As note, Dallas might be a good choice too. Easy to fly into, probably lots of Miatas there too.

Today on CL South Florida, there are 424 listings for Miatas.

And most of them have been rained on once with the top down!

There are a lot of Miatas in Texas. Lots and lots and lots.

San Francisco. Really. The gay population equals lot of Miata (I keed, sorta.)

Arizona New Mexico Nevada So Cal... The heat in az takes a toll on interiors though. Cal has the wealth, climate and car culture for cool stuff (I'm not much of a fan of ca, but there are cool old cars there).

GA's been really good to me so far. Florida is a crap-shoot. 3/4 of the cars I bought there had no rust issues. The 4th, from Tampa, is the rustiest berkeleying thing I've ever owned in my life. In my experience, on the coast, cars that stay garaged seem to generally do okay, but stuff that's parked outside may as well have seen multiple Ohio winters.

My buddy bought a decent Miata with a hard top here in GA last year for under $2k. Drove it for a year. Sold the hard top for $800, then sold the car for $2k.

I once looked at a saab from ohio.. I was amazed at the amount of rust under it galvanized bodywork. The one I bought in DC that originally came from Boston was relatively rust free

DeadSkunk wrote: I'll second Zoo's comment. A t recent Miata club meeting one fellow was selling his car. He told us it had been rained on 3 times !! I'm a heathen in the club because I drive mine year round.

I'm assuming that was Lloyd? I'm sure he's exagerating. That thing could not have seen rain more than once!

And oh yeah, I agree with the whole northern thing. One of my Miatas came out of northern Ohio, where it had been stored winters. No rust. It's still rust free after 3 years. I store it as well.

Joey

Note to people of the world! Florida is NOT the sunny all the time place you see on the post cards. It rains here, A LOT!

As stated above, unless it was garaged all its life don't trust it. Oh, and when its not raining the sun is frying the crap out of the interior.

So Cal?

GA is pretty good, unless it was a farm vehicle or spent a lot of time driving on dirt roads (unlikely for a sports car).

FL is good, but the coast can be tricky. Ungaraged FL coast cars tend to rust from the top down (salt air).

AZ and NM are very good. No road salt, no sea salt, and minimal farm chemicals.

Why don't you entrust one of the GRM Florida brethren to locate one for you?

The Gainesville guys (Dyintorace, Mr. Joshua, etc), seem to know where every Miata bargain is in the whole darned state.

I'd trust them implicitly. Well, at least with a car.

I'll sell you mine.

I would fly into Miami and rent the cheapest car you can find. Get on Crazedlist, craigslook, autotrader.com, etc... and map out a Miata shopping quest on your way north. I guarantee that by the time you hit Gainesville you will have found 2-3 in the condition you want for several thousand less than up north. Heck, we bought our first one (91 NA) off of a used car lot in South Florida for $2,500 nearly 7 years ago. Since then we have bought at least 6 more for $400-$1,500 each, and most in running condition. Bring a couple of friends and buy one each. Caravan home and sell the spares up their and you will pay for the car and the trip.

I had decent luck here in central/eastern KY and TN for cars. It just really depends on how good of care the owner put forth. I have seen absolute rusted up junk to pristine condition. My wife had, before the car literally went up in flames before the engine compartment fire recall, a 2000 Monte Carlo SS with 169k on it. Not a freaking spot of rust ANYWHERE on it, except the tailpipes. Prices vary a bit, but it again depends on how the previous owner took care of it and who is selling it.

Brian

SVreX wrote: Why don't you entrust one of the GRM Florida brethren to locate one for you? The Gainesville guys (Dyintorace, Mr. Joshua, etc), seem to know where every Miata bargain is in the whole darned state. I'd trust them implicitly. Well, at least with a car.

I appreciate that...I think.