Known rust areas? Considering cars from up North

[Tucano]

Hey all, have admired the 5th gen SS Camaros for a few years now and am finally in a position to buy.

I'm in Dallas but we get people/cars from all over the country passing thru here (even more so in the past few years).

Sometimes I'll spot a 5th gen from the rust belt but with fairly low mileage. Are there any underside areas I can check for clues of whether the car was garaged or driven during the winter (e.g. places where salt/debris is prone to accumulate or get trapped)?

In general, now that this generation has been out for over 10 years, have y'all begun to notice common areas for rust (regardless of geographic location)?

My adventures in owning old cars have made me especially wary of layered sheetmetal, and some manufacturers/generations seem to be much better about avoiding that kind engineering in their body panel design...

[Valkyrie14]

Wisconsin can originally from IL, I use it as a DD. The only spot that is showing the first signs is at the pinch welds just behind front wheels.

[2013ZL1FUN]

Get a low mileage Z L 1 instead, chances are it would have been a 3 season hobby car and not a driven in the winter car.

[Tucano]

NGL I considered a ZL1 for that reason, but overall doesn't appeal to me enough to be worth the extra fuel usage and maintenance needs including eventual s/c rebuild (yes I recognize the irony of this stance, given we're talking about V8 muscle cars).

Also I had heard the s/c's shape and location lead to some headaches when doing the clutch.

[Cheap Guy]

Generally speaking, northern cars take the hit in the pinch welds and in the rear wheel wells. Surface flash rust isn't usually a problem - other than showing the previous owner was too lazy or cheap to flush the undercarriage occasionally.

[myold88]

These cars don't rust like the old days. My '10 SS is now 12 years old and spent 7 winters
in Northern Ct. There's not a bit of body or undercarriage rust anywhere. Your concern
should be finding a 5th generation that's hasn't been the neighborhood donut queen.
Read some of the comments here to see what I mean.

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

I’ve only seen one car on here that had any semi major rot out on the body. The factory didn’t get the seam sealer right in the top of one of the rear wheel Wells and it rusted out the sheet metal and needed a minor repair, there was another where there was some minor rust in the bottom of the engine crossmember, but now that the earlier cars are 12 years old, that’s pretty damn good odds, 2 cars is peanuts compared to all the cars on here.

[Rock-It Man]

Lots of Northeast Camaros, like mine for instance, are NEVER driven in road salt conditions.

How would you recognize such a car? Well, look under the car: there's no rust on any bolts, exhaust brackets, or even the subframe members, which have just a thin coat of black paint.

The underside of my 2010 looks mint. It has 77,000 miles and is routinely driven in the rain. It's all about putting the car away in time and keeping it away until all the salt has been washed away. That makes it a 6 month car, more or less.

[BuddyLee]

Pacific Northwest roads are salt free.

[joekono]

Originally Posted by Rock-It Man

Lots of Northeast Camaros, like mine for instance, are NEVER driven in road salt conditions.

How would you recognize such a car? Well, look under the car: there's no rust on any bolts, exhaust brackets, or even the subframe members, which have just a thin coat of black paint.

The underside of my 2010 looks mint. It has 77,000 miles and is routinely driven in the rain. It's all about putting the car away in time and keeping it away until all the salt has been washed away. That makes it a 6 month car, more or less.

So true!! Mine does this for a few months.

[kevint]

Originally Posted by Cheap Guy

Generally speaking, northern cars take the hit in the pinch welds and in the rear wheel wells. Surface flash rust isn't usually a problem - other than showing the previous owner was too lazy or cheap to flush the undercarriage occasionally.

I'm starting to get some on the rear fenders, just above/outside the wheel wells. I think the bumper cover rubbed through the paint, but I haven't investigated yet.

[kevint]

Originally Posted by Cheap Guy

Generally speaking, northern cars take the hit in the pinch welds and in the rear wheel wells. Surface flash rust isn't usually a problem - other than showing the previous owner was too lazy or cheap to flush the undercarriage occasionally.

I'm starting to get some on the rear fenders, just above/outside the wheel wells. I think the bumper cover rubbed through the paint, but I haven't investigated yet.

[redcoats1976]

mines a florida girl,she goes to the beach all the time...

[Greenhornet2]

If it's low mileage it probably wasn't driven in the winter. They have good undercoating though. like others said between pinch welds you might see some. but if its just a little surface rust no worries. mine is an 11 and I see no rust anywhere but it doesn't see salt/winters and is garage kept.