Buying a vehicle on the East coast...for the first time

[Dvipercop]

The title pretty much covers it. I just moved to Washington DC (kind of a forced work move) about a month ago now and am in the market for a for a vehicle. Now, I've lived on the west coast my entire life so this whole area is new to me. I've heard that they put salt on the roads in winter here and that leads to some pretty bad rust issues with vehicles here. This could be just a rumor they tell on the west coast, but it sounds legit. Anyone that has lived in this area for a while shed some light on that? Are their any issues I should be aware of when vehicle hunting around here? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[redneckboarder]

im in DC also but ive been in new england my whole life. the roads down here arent bad in the winter, yes they do salt them a lil bit but nothin like up north. i wouldnt worry about buying a DC car or a northern VA car. make sure you give it a good lookover which im sure you knew anyway.
if you need to know anything about the dc area ive been here for 3 yrs and im pretty knowlegable. shoot me a pm if you need anythin
-Jon

 

[87manche]

floorboards and rockers are the most common areas you'll see rust, followed by the trunk area and the rear strut towers.

Those are the most common things rusted out here in OH and MI.
From what I've seen the eastern states don't use salt like we do, probably has something to do with us mining most of it. Sure is cheap to use around here.

 

[Tim Dog]

Good Question. I too am from the North East. The use some wicked steel eating salt on the roads. You look under some cars and the only thing holding them together are steel eating termites holding hands. A XJ will rot around the windows and drip rails. Of course the rockers will go. If you buy it stock be careful around the spring perches. Air impact could rip them apart making a big mess. Try to by southern vehicles.
I'm in NC now. Salt isn't a problem here yet. They use brine and sometimes in a liquid state and sprayed.

Good Luck and Welcome to the east coast.

 

[UNCC_99XJ]

As Tim mentioned, they use Brine now more than salt (basically salt water). I've heard of it being used around D.C., but I think the further north you go, the more they use salt and the less brine.

 

[xjtrailrider]

If you stay to the VA side of things you should be OK, we have had about 15 years of mild winters and very little road salt. Also in VA all vehicles have to pass the state safety inspection before being sold(by a dealer, not private party) so if you have any issues with safety equipement just take it back and get them to fix it. I always take a car that I'm looking at from a dealer and take it to a state inspection station and get it rechecked and then have the dealer fix it if needed or I walk.

Welcome to the east coast!

 

[Begster]

Yes welcome to the east coast. I've lived in New England my whole life, and they do put a ton of stuff down for the winters. I actually just saw a nice clean XJ parked out on the street yesterday from New Hampshire, clean, not a scratch on it, paint was perfect, until i got next to it and the rockers were rusted out. I'm sure you won't have to deal with that as much down in DC, but good luck.

 

[Stumpalump]

No rust out west means no rust. No rust in the East means no holes thru the paint yet. Don't look at a car at night and plan to crawl under it with a flash light. Pull carpet up on the floorboards if you can because the salt and water come off boots and onto the carpet. The salt and moister can eat away from both sides. It's also not just the salt because the vehicles get covered in condensation almost every night so look all over. The roads seem worse on the East coast also so 100k is a lot for a car and front end components will be in much worse shape than a western car. Look at tire ware real close for indications of front end problems. You'll be back so plan on selling your junk before you return.

 

[Ray H]

I think the east coast rust has to do with the summer humidity as much as the road salt. The two together kills anything thats metal. To add to that, any vehicle thats spent its life close to the eastern shore gets the salt and humidity at the same time, as well as the salt in the winter, that really does a number.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

Welcome to the East Coast.

Once you've made your purchase, plan on hitting the coin-op car wash a couple times over the course of the "salt season" and take the high-pressure rinse wand to your vehicle (especially the underside).

In my experience, knocking the nasty white crust down from time to time really helps hold off the inevitable. Considering it's 15 years old and only 13K miles short of a "lunar unit", my '92 is in pretty good shape. It has a little rust here and there, but I suspect it's presently more due to wheeling and mud than road salt. (the passenger floor pan is more a water leak issue)

Rob

 

[OverlandZJ]

Someone else touched on the southern part of the east coast. You'll be best to consider from that area vs anything north.

Picked up a rust free YJ in SC a year ago... from here on out, i'll travel south for anything i spend a good deal of cash on.

 

[Waterhammer]

It's not so much a east vs west coast thing, its the moisture content of the air. The higher RH in the eastern states really facilitates oxidation way more than the arid climates from say CO to CA. Salt is salt. Mag Chloride (which they use frequently on CO highways, liquid none the less) is heinous compared to some rocksalt/sand mixtures they use on the east. I have an east coast rig with no rust but I wash the undersides often through out the winter, I don't ever let the salt accumulate. I'd look to buy from someone who takes care of their rig

Welcome to DC I just moved to Baltimore myself...