Well, in the market for something different and wife says it has to fit 6. Outside of another minivan (I DON'T WANT TWO), it pretty much leaves me with larger SUVs / 4 door pickups.
Living in the rust belt I'm pretty familiar to with what to look for in terms of salt induced cancer. But, now I'm starting to look at vehicles in Pensacola, FL and Dallas, Tx where we have family.
What should I be looking for in terms of maintenance / decay? in 8-12 year old vehicles down there?
Sounds like it's time for a station wagon.
While the south can get you away from rust, watch for sun baked paint and heat damaged interiors. The roads are better down there so the suspension has taken less of a beating too.
I've purchased several southern vehicles. Something you have to look out for is that many times these vehicles are not undercoated or rustproofed. And man they rust fast when brought up north. So whatever you buy, get it protected once it's up here. And I second the comment about sun baking. I have a CRX that was from florida, and I can't count how many plastic bits have broken because of sun baking.
So ideally, you'd buy a northern rust bucket with good interior and a southern, rust free body with a lousy interior? That could work 
I am in the south, and my visits to the north immediately shocked me. I saw cars made in the last thirty years rusting! I don't just mean the mid 90's front drive GM and Chrysler sedans that lost all of their paint after ten years. I'm talking about almost everything on the road. The thing the south has is abject poverty, making cheap cars more universal examples of deferred maintenance and bodged repair.
i bought my avalanche from a chevy dealer in virginia. i found it on autotrader, asked via the chat box if they knew how to do an arrive/drive to get me proper ohio paperwork, and when they replied favorably i dealt with that salesman via email. once i had all the info i needed, i told him i was coming down in 2 weeks and if the truck had not sold by then i would give xx,xxx out the door if my inspection in person was good. called the day before i was heading out to check if the truck was available, it was, and i said see you tomorrow morning. got there, checked it out, drove it. it was even better than they described. almost brand new condition for an 8 year old truck. they had my paperwork waiting to go into the finance office, bought us lunch, wrote up the loan, and drove it off the lot.
i'd recommend them to anyone from up here looking for clean vehicles from a reputable dealer. dealer is pohanka chevrolet and salesman is clark sharp. i'll be contacting him when we need a new used wifemobile.
Gearheadotaku wrote: While the south can get you away from rust, watch for sun baked paint and heat damaged interiors. The roads are better down there so the suspension has taken less of a beating too.
This. When creeping under my car over the last month and a half, I was blown away just how clean everything was underneath. It all still looks brand new.
The paint is trashed, though; especially the plastic bumpers.
Keep in mind that 80% of Florida vehicles have tinted windows. I hear that's not nearly the case up north.
bravenrace wrote: I've purchased several southern vehicles. Something you have to look out for is that many times these vehicles are not undercoated or rustproofed. And man they rust fast when brought up north. So whatever you buy, get it protected once it's up here. And I second the comment about sun baking. I have a CRX that was from florida, and I can't count how many plastic bits have broken because of sun baking.
Are you talking about rustproofing IN ADDITION to the factory undercoat?
Yeah, you won't find that down here, because you don't need. But vehicles still have the factory coatings.
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