What is G35Driver's collective/expert opinion on northern cars?
 

I've been shopping for a clean 06/07 6mt coupe, & believe I found one. Under 75k miles, 3 owners, clean title, no accidents, etc. It's still pending a more thorough mechanical check up, but barring anything terrible there, my only reservation would be that it spent about 22 months beginning in 06 (mfg date) in NY & PA.

It racked up about 15k miles in that time, and then spent the rest of it's life in VA (Richmond) & FL.

Would you guys be concerned about the car's exposure to the elements in NY & PA? My dad was from PA (Pittsburgh) & always cautioned me against buying northern cars due to the issues with cold weather/road salt, etc. On the other hand, it only had about 15-20k miles in that weather.

Thanks in advance for your input.

The real reason to not buy cars from the north is because douchebag NJ people might have driven it

Aka..eehhhhh

Fair enough. That aside, how cautious would you be buying a car that spent 22 months and 15k miles in NY & PA?

Depends if that was a daily car or not.
Mine spent it's life in IL before me and there isn't really anything rusted.
Your closer inspection will be able to verify its upkeep and condition.

Check to see if it's been undercoated and rust proofed. Most people who live in the salt belt get that done when buying new cars.

I see cars that are less than 5 years old with rust and cars that are >20 that look brand new. It all depends on how the PO took care of it.

Thanks guys. Any particular troublespots I should zero in on when checking for rust?

Well I live in Canada and the salt they put on the roads here really messes up a car. I'd check the rear fenders, the rear bumper support/impact bar idk what its called (look up where the license plate lights are), those are only my observations but you should do some more research. There are plenty of threads on here, and 6mt.

even with no pictures provided I have a hard time believing it would be in that bad of shape being there for so little miles

You should be able to get a good feel for how much salt damage there might be by taking a look at various parts of the undercarriage and it will seem obvious. Living in Mass. my whole life, every car I have ever gotten rid of was due to rust and body rot. That being said, I don't let my G touch the streets once the salt is out and it is a pure nice weather car for me. Despite not having a garage, there isn't one spec of rust on any part of it except for the brake rotors after sitting for a few weeks.

Rust on undercarriage bolts makes ot a real PITA to do work under there. If it looks like it has any rust under there you may want to keep looking. Rust only gets worse once it starts. Good luck!

Its not like theres no way to remove it lmao.. Its just annoyin. My undercarriage is rusted but it can be taken care of & removed by any proper mechanic. Im praying mine can be taken care of! im not good with cars so idk whats rusted & what part is what.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/g35driv...48d7f2c435.jpg



https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/g35driv...c811955c42.jpg

Here's my car with 122K miles driven up here in MA. I routinely drive in the salt/snow, so I by no means go out of my way to avoid it. The AWD works quite well in the snow, and I have a 50 mile commute so I've spent plenty of time in the white stuff.

I have 160K miles now. Underside looks about the same but the exhaust is really taking a beating. Only had ot do one patch so far, but I think the flex hoses are almost done.

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Most of it is surface rust, and you can see the body panels still look pretty dame good. It's just the exhaust that takes the bearing.


Of cars I've worked on, the G35 has faired quite well actually in terms of rust. For a coupe, especially one with 15K miles, i'd venture to guess it spent most of the winter in the garage and didn't even see much salt.