Salt, Rust, and the value of a diesel engine

[Mickeyfan0805]

OK - I don't want this to become a diesel vs. gas debate, so I'm going to try to be very specific with my question.

We might be in the market for a used truck in the next couple of years. Most gas or diesel HD trucks are going to be fine for our usage (we currently tow with a 2006 Suburban 2500). Many of the options out there, of course, are diesels, while some are gas. My question is simple...

We live in the great lakes region, which means salt (and thus body and underbody rust) are a norm to our vehicles. It looks like I'd be looking at trucks that are 7-10 years old, most with 100k or so in miles. I know a diesel engine will (theoretically, at least) last longer, but will the body and frame rust out from under it anyway? We won't put more than 12k a year on it, at most (only about 3-4k towing). Is it really worth buying a used diesel in this area, for that kind of usage, or will the truck's body and frame give in to rust before a gas engine runs out its life anyway?

[4bearhug]

I wouldn't rule out any truck from upper midwest until I found out how it was used. Lots of folks use their HD trucks to snowbird during the winter months so the trucks are not exposed to the hard winter weather. You would be surprised at how many RVs head south in the fall and north in the spring.

[ppine]

I would be willing to fly to a desert state to buy a good used truck and drive it home, just like for a collector car.

[Grit_dog]

Fluid film is good stuff. I use it once in a while on things. It sticks. I've never used it on areas exposed to repeated "washing" like the exposed underside of a vehicle.
But yeah, even as much as I don't like the thought of a gross oily undercarriage, I'd be very tempted to do the oil spray thing on the chassis if I had a nice winter vehicle in the land of salt.

[DiskDoctr]

Another strategy that may help either choice would be an annual wash down and treatment with something like FLUIDFILM.

A lot of work to properly cover all the spots and inside box frames and such. Well worth having a professional do it.

Shouldn't be too much once per year and definitely helps preserve your investment.

Let us know what you choose and good luck!

[whjco]

Why not buy a used truck from Texas, Arizona or some other southern state where rust is unlikely? Then flush out the body and have a rust-proofing treatment performed on the truck?

Bill J., Lexington, KY

[6_2Superduty]

My advice is to find a truck from out west or down south. I picked up a 2012 f250 two years ago that came out of the western side of Colorado. Didnt have a spot of rust underneath.

[Lessmore]

We always Ziebart our vehicles from new and the bodies seem to keep in pretty good shape. We live in a area that has very long, cold winters and although sometimes the winter turns mild for a bit...you know ice turns to slush...mostly I think the preponderance of -20 and colder days makes sure the salt doesn't get a chance to work that much during the winter.

They do salt some, probably not as much as those places with warmer winters as I believe salt in order to be effective at melting ice, does not work well in very cold temps.

As others have said, probably the best place to find a truck with little rust would be in the SW parts of the USA, like Arizona, New Mexico, etc.

[ShinerBock]

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
Well I guess I'm the exception to the rule than. My 04 with 150K+ was spotless inside and out and 100% maintained better than the factory recommendations. I don't keep vehicles past the 150K mark because I'm tired of them by than. Even my wifes lease vehicles are maintained to the factory specs.

Funny if someone does not maintain their vehicle they should NEVER complain about how it runs or doesn't runs!

Don

If you already plan to trade it in before problems arise from lack of maintenance then there would be no need to complain. You are also not the exception to what I said. From my experiences, most who do both are those that keep their vehicles for the long haul and therefore their vehicle would not be for sale in the first place.

This is why I am stay away of a low mileage one to two year old vehicles with 30-60k on them unless I see verified maintenance records. Vehicles today can go that long without proper maintenance and show no signs of issues. As I said before, it is more common than many think from what i have seen at the dealer level.

[bguy]

It doesn't matter the brand. Only the truck itself will be the answer.

[time2roll]

Ignore the engine and get the best body/interior. As you said any will do the job.

+1 for a trip to the desert to pick up a truck that has not yet started to have salt rot.

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

Well I guess I'm the exception to the rule than. My 04 with 150K+ was spotless inside and out and 100% maintained better than the factory recommendations. I don't keep vehicles past the 150K mark because I'm tired of them by than. Even my wifes lease vehicles are maintained to the factory specs.

Funny if someone does not maintain their vehicle they should NEVER complain about how it runs or doesn't runs!

Don

[ShinerBock]

valhalla360 wrote:

ShinerBock wrote:

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:


If you find a super clean truck you can be sure the owner also took care of it mechanically also.

This is not always the case. The contrast between my brother and I is a prime example of that.

He keeps his truck spotless at all times both inside and out washing every week and even sometimes twice a week. When it comes to maintenance, he will constantly go over the recommended interval and use the cheapest thing possible. He does not care about the mechanical side because he usually trades his trucks within 100-150k miles in before the problems from neglect arise. All he cares about is how pretty it looks in the mean time.

Heck, he even had a clamp missing on the intake box after the filter when I looked at his engine on one of his old trucks. I asked how long its been like that and he said for at least the past six months. I immediately went to one of my parts stores and got a new clamp for him thinking he will put it on. Nope, it was another month until I put it on because it bothered the heck out of me even though it was not my truck.

I, on the other hand, will go months without washing my truck, but you better believe that everything mechanical is in tip top shape and I am strict on maintenance intervals. I keep my trucks for the long haul, and being a utilitarian I care more about usefulness of material things than how they look. I feel sorry for anyone buying his truck paying extra because it looks clean thinking he took care of it.

Buying from a stranger, you never really know, so you use this type of info statistically to suggest someone who takes care of the body and interior is more likely to have taken care of the drive train.

While there may be exceptions, the truck that looks really clean is more likely to have been maintained.

Not from what I have seen.

Though not as bad as my brother, most of the people I know who like to keep their truck spotless spend more time doing that than taking care of the maintenance in my opinion. Mainly because they don't plan on keeping it past a certain mileage anyways so they don't care about maintenance just as long as it looks clean enough to get a high resale/trade-in value.

When I worked at a few Ford dealerships a long time ago. We had many trade-ins with 30-60k on them still running the factory oil filter, air filter, fuel filter, and so on, but they were spotless inside. They were mostly decked out vehicles with all the options on them from well off people who traded their vehicles in every other year. Working at several dealers since then, I can tell you that it happens more often than you think.

The ones that do keep them clean AND take care the maintenance generally are the ones that will keep them until the wheels fall of so they are not for sale anyways. This is just from my experiences.

[dodge_guy]

What I was going to do was go south and buy something with no rust. I found plenty of 2013,2014 Ram Hemi`s with up to 100k miles. I found one very clean one with 140k miles, quad cab long bed 2500 for $12,900. But we ended up going a different direction and bought a class A.

[valhalla360]

ShinerBock wrote:

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:


If you find a super clean truck you can be sure the owner also took care of it mechanically also.

This is not always the case. The contrast between my brother and I is a prime example of that.

He keeps his truck spotless at all times both inside and out washing every week and even sometimes twice a week. When it comes to maintenance, he will constantly go over the recommended interval and use the cheapest thing possible. He does not care about the mechanical side because he usually trades his trucks within 100-150k miles in before the problems from neglect arise. All he cares about is how pretty it looks in the mean time.

Heck, he even had a clamp missing on the intake box after the filter when I looked at his engine on one of his old trucks. I asked how long its been like that and he said for at least the past six months. I immediately went to one of my parts stores and got a new clamp for him thinking he will put it on. Nope, it was another month until I put it on because it bothered the heck out of me even though it was not my truck.

I, on the other hand, will go months without washing my truck, but you better believe that everything mechanical is in tip top shape and I am strict on maintenance intervals. I keep my trucks for the long haul, and being a utilitarian I care more about usefulness of material things than how they look. I feel sorry for anyone buying his truck paying extra because it looks clean thinking he took care of it.

Buying from a stranger, you never really know, so you use this type of info statistically to suggest someone who takes care of the body and interior is more likely to have taken care of the drive train.

While there may be exceptions, the truck that looks really clean is more likely to have been maintained.