There is a HUGE climate difference here. VNT lives in New England and AMkeer lives in Florida. The winters take their toll, especialy now, since most of New England has converted over to straight salt in the winter with liquid calcium (a calcium salt solution stored in tanks and sprayed on road salt to loosen it up). This is extremely corrosive and was at it's worse through the late 80's and mid 90's. Besides the plastic Saturn, there isn't a car out there that does well against this.
To compare apples to apples here, I have 2001 F150 and my father has a 2001 Tacoma. Both driven in the winter, commuting, and washed weekly. I spend a little more time cleaning rust off my truck than he does, however I have 87,000 miles and he has 28,000.
So who is the rust champion? Well we both have comparable rust damage so far. Our radiator supports are starting to bubble. Both have limited frame & drivetrain rust at seams and bends. All doors' and tailgates' seams at the bottom edges are starting to bubble. There is no signs of rust on the outer body panels at all. Underneath, the body seams on the cabs and beds are weeping red. So my conclusion is that no matter what you get, it will rust.
To compare apples to apples here, I have 2001 F150 and my father has a 2001 Tacoma. Both driven in the winter, commuting, and washed weekly. I spend a little more time cleaning rust off my truck than he does, however I have 87,000 miles and he has 28,000.
So who is the rust champion? Well we both have comparable rust damage so far. Our radiator supports are starting to bubble. Both have limited frame & drivetrain rust at seams and bends. All doors' and tailgates' seams at the bottom edges are starting to bubble. There is no signs of rust on the outer body panels at all. Underneath, the body seams on the cabs and beds are weeping red. So my conclusion is that no matter what you get, it will rust.
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