Community Forums:

I just returned from Phoenix where I bought my second Volvo in the past 8-months. I look for cars in the desert southwest for the simple reason that they are rustfree. Rubber parts, including bushings, and dashes are usually toast, but all these things are much more repairable than rust - it's the difference between a zit and cancer.

I looked at a car a couple of years ago in the pacific northwest, and although they don't use salt on the roads, it does rain. The car was loaded with bondo.

Generally, I would look to the desert southwest, and the interior of the southern states - about 75 to 100 miles inland of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. I live on the Gulf of Mexico; the salt air, rain, high humidity, and intense sun are hard on cars - but nothing to compare to the rustbelt.

Joe K
84 245GL
73 1800ES