Living in Michigan my whole life, I've come to loathe rust with a passion that borders on psychosis. Fighting it is a losing battle, all you can hope to do is slow it down for a while once it's started. I've lost count of how many fasteners I've ended up breaking or cutting off because they were so rusted they either wouldn't move or didn't have enough metal left for a wrench to bite on. When people "drive cars into the ground" around here, it doesn't mean they drive them until a major mechanical failure that would be more expensive than the car to fix, it usually means that the rust has weakened the structure of the vehicle to the point where it's no longer safe to drive. The Detroit area has to be about the worst in the country because of the sheer volume of road salt used around here in the winter (there are many salt mines under Detroit).
I hate rust.
So, my question is, how far south and/or west do you have to go to get away from this, or at least the worst of it? Obviously, I know the desert southwest is the best place to go to avoid rust, but that's a pretty long tow for a guy like me who just wants a cheap, rust-free car (say, a Miata, for instance). I know winters are considerably milder south of the Mason-Dixon line, but how far south must one go? I've also heard that it's good to avoid coastal areas because the sea air has enough salt in it to cause corrosion, as well. Any truth to this?
Thanks.
