San Fransisco, rotten cars?

[kouki fanatic]

so im looking into buying a kouki from san fransisco and a family-friend mechanic told me that the cars go somewhat "rotten" due to the moist weather. let me know if this is somewhat true. thanks guys.

and if im in the wrong section, please move/lock. thanks

[bl3ujay07]

if its true, then any car would. Its not like its made from some different materials that will cause it decay faster than any other car in frisco.

[coww-cho!!!!!]

if anything there would be a build up of salt, but cars should be able to withstand such things.
you can try to get some undercarriage shots if possible from the owner of the car, but salt builds up really quick a buddy took a car there for a week and there was a small layer of salt already built up

im sure someone from the bay area can chime in

[AWDJosh]

some of the dumbest shit ive ever heard of...you should slap the fuck out of your friend for his ideology.

only thing i would worry about it a vehicle with alot of salt spray, rust on chassis in san fransico.

id say if you bought a vehicle from florida, alabama, mississippi, or louisana...shit maybe even coastal lined texas id worry about flood damage.

[drift freaq]

some of the dumbest shit ive ever heard of...you should slap the fuck out of your friend for his ideology.

only thing i would worry about it a vehicle with alot of salt spray, rust on chassis in san fransico.

id say if you bought a vehicle from florida, alabama, mississippi, or louisana...shit maybe even coastal lined texas id worry about flood damage.

Wow you fail at reading. You live in Florida I bet you have never been to San Francisco and have not a clue.

His friend said nothing about Flood damage. He did mention cars being rotten i.e. rusty and having lived in San Francisco I can tell you its true. The moist salt air is what gets the cars more so on the foggier side of town.
I.E. the Sunset, Richmond, Parkside etc.. I would honestly say if you are buying a car in the bay area outside the city on the inland side of things is the better place.

Oh and this should probably be in regional.

[zugoi]

I never noticed my car rusting more then others. Ive only noticed cars that are normally parked by the beach that the frame has a shit load of rust. Whenever I work on a car and see the whole bottom frame rusted, I ask the owner if they are from Pacifica and 90% of the time they are. Thats because I worked in Daly city but im sure cars parked by ocean beach bakers beach etc etc have the same problem. I live in the middle of san francisco and I dont have a problem with rust at all. Id be more worried about buy a car from a place where it snows.

[drift freaq]

I never noticed my car rusting more then others. Ive only noticed cars that are normally parked by the beach that the frame has a shit load of rust. Whenever I work on a car and see the whole bottom frame rusted, I ask the owner if they are from Pacifica and 90% of the time they are. Thats because worked in Daly city but im sure cars parked by ocean beach bakers beach etc etc have the same problem. I live in the middle of san francisco and I dont have a problem with rust at all. Id be more worried about buy a car from a place where it snows.

Again you will note I posted the Ocean side area's of town. I forgot Saint Francis Wood which is very foggy as well.. I lived there for ten years and I saw rusted cars from those areas I listed.

[AWDJosh]

Wow you fail at reading. You live in Florida I bet you have never been to San Francisco and have not a clue.

His friend said nothing about Flood damage. He did mention cars being rotten i.e. rusty and having lived in San Francisco I can tell you its true. The moist salt air is what gets the cars more so on the foggier side of town.
I.E. the Sunset, Richmond, Parkside etc.. I would honestly say if you are buying a car in the bay area outside the city on the inland side of things is the better place.

Oh and this should probably be in regional.

Great thing that you fail at assumptions. I have traveled the country aswell as the world with my job. I know that sanfransisco can be super foggy and have been there and also along the coast line all over the place. But a vehicle being rotten from the account of fog...seriously. If your shit is wet inside it every morning from the bad fog or all day you need to check if your windows are rolled down.

reason i mentioned flood damage is because thats the only time i have heard of a vehicle to be considered "rotten" is when we pulled bodies out of flooded ass cars after hurricanes and trust me it fucking stinks hence the word rotten.

now they may be a bit mildewd but that can be fixed with stripping the interior and pressure washing/cleaning everything.

[tidus]

Since my car was bought from SF, that would explain my rust?

[ericcastro]

Great thing that you fail at assumptions. I have traveled the country aswell as the world with my job. I know that sanfransisco can be super foggy and have been there and also along the coast line all over the place. But a vehicle being rotten from the account of fog...seriously. If your shit is wet inside it every morning from the bad fog or all day you need to check if your windows are rolled down.

reason i mentioned flood damage is because thats the only time i have heard of a vehicle to be considered "rotten" is when we pulled bodies out of flooded ass cars after hurricanes and trust me it fucking stinks hence the word rotten.

now they may be a bit mildewd but that can be fixed with stripping the interior and pressure washing/cleaning everything.
gotta agree with driftfreaq here.
living in a coastal city, especially a foggy one will leave your car damaged from the saltwater mist coming off the ocean and blowing in. Not just the fog.

Also, you should know.
Florida cars are shit too.
Lotta rust damage and alot of times they are from car rental places.
Beware anything from the north east coast, SF, Florida.
thankgod we dont have to salt the roads in the NW :)


Since my car was bought from SF, that would explain my rust?
exactly, lol


check the underbody when buying.
Also under the wheel wells,
look for typical rust bubling on rockers and such
look around under the hood for rust and under the carpets.

[DALAZ_68]

isnt there some kind of spray you can buy for the undercarriage these days?

[drift freaq]

Great thing that you fail at assumptions. I have traveled the country aswell as the world with my job. I know that sanfransisco can be super foggy and have been there and also along the coast line all over the place. But a vehicle being rotten from the account of fog...seriously. If your shit is wet inside it every morning from the bad fog or all day you need to check if your windows are rolled down.

reason i mentioned flood damage is because thats the only time i have heard of a vehicle to be considered "rotten" is when we pulled bodies out of flooded ass cars after hurricanes and trust me it fucking stinks hence the word rotten.

now they may be a bit mildewd but that can be fixed with stripping the interior and pressure washing/cleaning everything.


LOL I fail at assumptions? Wow what a weak come back, oh mister I have traveled. By the way you talked one would think otherwise.

You seriously are an idiot. As I stated and others stated above moist air in ocean specific area's is quite often heavy with salt. Especially foggy area's.

Seriously you are in Florida you would think you know this basic atmospheric fact.

I have first hand experience witnessing what I talk about. Though you say you have traveled here. If you have not lived here for a given extended period of time you lack the experience to speak upon the subject.

[spooled240]

kouki fanatic, I would say that cars near the ocean in general will have more of a chance of rusting...when i was in Okinawa there were a lot of skylines with badass parts in the junkyard i wanted to pick up but the salty ocean air ate up all the metal so aluminum calipers were unusable and if the exhaust systems weren't stainless steel they were full of holes lol

I guess you can check out the undercarrage, spare tire space, and some bolt and screws here and there..they seem to rust fairly quickly.

[ronmcdon]

this might be somewhat obvious, but not all fog is bad.
I live up in the mountains in Los Angeles.
I've owned more pos cars than I've cared to admit.
No exceptional rust damaged as of yet.

Good info on this thread.
We shouldn't automatically assume all CA cars are rust free.
I'd imagine the same might be true of any coastal city.

[brndck]

like ANY used car, do a thorough inspection, inside, and out, top to bottom, and underneath, before you purchase.

i bought both my current s13's in florida, neither one appeared to have any rust upon inspection, but i did find some rust on my coupe, right at the bottom corners of the windshield. any coastal area is more prone to salt corrosion (when i lived in atascadero, everyone who was from morro bay experienced salt corrosion to some extent, especially if you surf and were parked at/near the beach for extended periods of time)

dave is right, yet again!!!

[ryguy]

isnt there some kind of spray you can buy for the undercarriage these days?

I don't trust that spray on undercoating, I feel like it makes tiny crevices that hold salt to the chassis in places.

[silpena]

I don't trust that spray on undercoating, I feel like it makes tiny crevices that hold salt to the chassis in places.
yup, using that spray on undercoating will only make it worse. You have to fix the rust and salt deposit issue or else u can trap it in. Some under coating can actualy absorb anad trap the moisture and salts but thats usally was in the old days when they use it to deadened the sound vibrations.

If ur worried about rust, just check areas like rocker panels, windshiel trim and corners, spare tire wheel, battery tray. If the owner who has the car made sure to clean the under carriage from the salts then it shouldnt rust too quickly. Also check the carfax on it. It might not have been in the area for long or if its been repainted/damaged. I wouldnt like a body shop in the area to work on my car if the metal is gonna be exposed to al that moisture and salt in the fog. Ive heard of paint jobs bubbling months after from lack of protection from the weather.

[!Zar!]

lol these fools.

OP, If you REALLY want, you can compensate me some how and I can check the car out being as how I'm from the bay area.

What Driftfreaq said is true. But I'd imagine it couldn't be anything too horrid. Though I have seen some piles from sunset and what not. Don't even get me started on cars from Pacifica...

AWDjosh, your best bet is to keep quiet. I see what the city has first hand on a constant basis. Not to mention a friend of mines car is rusting all over due to the mist.