Best place to go for a fly and drive? (2024)

I'm in the earliest stages of planning my next car project (i.e. dreaming). One of my primary goals is to not start with a rustbucket again. Since rust free older cars are rare (and expensive) in Ohio, I'm considering taking a week's vacation, flying somewhere, renting a car for a few days, buying a car, then driving it home. The plan would also be to enlist a friend/relative to join me in this adventure. I'll admit this has been partially inspired by watching Roadkill, though I'm hoping for less drama . I'm thinking 1970s-1980s RWD American car, preferably V8, but I'd consider an S10 pickup or blazer, too. If I fail in finding something I want while there, I'd probably just try to find something (like a pickup) that I know I can resell for a profit back home, in order to defray at least some of my expenses.

Based on where I can get cheap airfare, it looks like Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland(OR), Seattle, and Orlando. Atlanta is also a possibility, in that I can drive down there to go hunting for a deal.

Any suggestions on the best place to go looking? One concern I have is whether plates stay with cars, as Ohio does not provide plates for cars in transit. Here's what I've got on each location so far:

Los Angeles: Pro: Supposed to be an auto enthusiasts heaven, should have a huge variety of choices. Con: Dealing with the traffic as a tourist. Not sure how title transfer works there, especially as it seems there is something about dealing with any unpaid fines on the car before it can be transferred.

Phoenix: Pro: I have a relative there I can probably stay with. Con: Unknown

Portland/Seattle: Pro: Car interiors probably won't be baked too bad by the sun. Con: Car interiors could be "baked", leading to interesting interactions with police if I get pulled over on the way home.

Orlando: Pro: I have a place to stay an hour or so away on the east coast of the state. I could stop by the GRM HQ on the way home. Con: Not sure how many cars that I'd be interested in are going to be in the area at good prices. A lot of Florida cars may be from other parts of the country. Seems like a lot of the projects I see people from Florida post involve immediately removing the interior to power wash off the mold/mildew.

Atlanta: Pro: Seems a lot of deals pop up there frequently. Could drive instead of flying. Con: the no title thing on older cars will need to be resolved in order to get the car registered in Ohio.

Ideally, I'd like to get something cheap enough to have some leftover money that I can bring it to the $2017 Challenge, even if it won't be overly competitive, Failing that, I just want a good base for an 11-12 second drag car that is still reasonable for use on the street. And of course, something that will not require use of excessive amounts of PB Blaster, Kroil, and propane torches in order to work on.

Watching with interest. I hear inland Texas is a good car hunting spot too.

My understanding of the states with no title thing is that a current registration is valid as a title when bringing it into another state. I would talk to my home state DMV about it ahead of time. YMMV.

My understanding of the plates issue is that if the state the car originated in doesn't offer temp tags you can transport it back to your home state without tags, but make sure it's insured and has all other doc's in order. I would not recommend driving on plates that don't belong to that vehicle, that's a crime, no plates could be a misunderstanding in most cases.

I've never personally dealt with either scenario, the plate issue would bother me more (because of aggressive LEOs and enforcement for revenue areas) than the title issue.

HappyAndy wrote: Watching with interest. I hear inland Texas is a good car hunting spot too. My understanding of the states with no title thing is that a current registration is valid as a title when bringing it into another state. I would talk to my home state DMV about it ahead of time. YMMV.

Ohio is very annoying about this. It's title or nothing, which leads to dealing with title companies, but the state tries to crack down on this, too. I think you can get a title in GA, but it's up to the seller to do it, if I buy a car there, they won't issue a title to me.

HappyAndy wrote: My understanding of the plates issue is that if the state the car originated in doesn't offer temp tags you can transport it back to your home state without tags, but make sure it's insured and has all other doc's in order. I would not recommend driving on plates that don't belong to that vehicle, that's a crime, no plates could be a misunderstanding in most cases. I've never personally dealt with either scenario, the plate issue would bother me more (because of aggressive LEOs and enforcement for revenue areas) than the title issue.

Agreed, I'd run with no plate before I go with one not tied to the vehicle. My biggest concern regarding not having a plate is wondering if that'd cause any problems trying to get into National Parks.

HappyAndy wrote: I hear inland Texas is a good car hunting spot too.

There used to be a guy on another car web board I frequent who lived in Lubbock, TX. He was always posting pictures of old cars he found there, and they were amazing. The prices seemed pretty good as well.

Depends what you are looking for. Texas can be really good for some older iron. They will have titles usually too. I know I have a title for my 66 barracuda. One thing to watch for is that there have been so many transplants that texas cars are rarely lifelong texas cars.

Inland Texas is basically desert so the problems you will have is less around rust and more around burnt out soft materials and sun scorched paint. My life long austin MR2 I had was 100% rust free when I sold it a couple years ago. I know it ended up in Michigan when I sold it.

I wouldn't expect a challenge priced car to fly and drive without some really good feet on the ground to look it over. We are getting more and more people swiping up Texas cars for northern restorations so it's getting thinner on the ground here for really cheap solid runners.

Plates normally stay with cars in CA, so that should be the easy button. Title transfer is as easy as both you and the owner filling out the title and them sending off their portion. From that point you can drive around legally for 30 days before re-registering the car in your name provided that the registration is not expired and you have insurance for the car in your name.

Things get problematic if the car doesn't have current registration and has back fees due. To register one of those in CA you'll have to pay the back fees and that can get pretty expensive if the seller flaked out and didn't register the car as no-op. At that point it's usually trailer time if you take the thing out of state.

If you happen to come across an unplated car it's mostly because the PO had a personalised plate on it and retained that. You can get trip permits from the DMV (that's how I picked up my 996) but IIRC they're only good for a day and you get the full benefit of hanging around a CA DMV office for far longer than you'd ever want to.

Couple of other things to keep in mind:

• Anything pre-75 is smog exempt and commands a premium because of that
• Legally the seller is required to smog the vehicle before selling it to you. Sometimes you'll see cars advertised as "buyer smogs" (I'm sure you can figure out why...) and they can be a good deal if you're planning to register it somewhere where they don't bother with emissions. Of course it's still illegal in the eyes of CA so I clearly would never consider anything like this, especially with a car that's got a rotary in it...
• Interiors and paint are often a problem with cars from the 70s and 80s out here unless they've always been garaged. The sun does bad things to cars out here in exchange for keeping them mostly rust free.
• I'd expand the search outside LA as well. LA does have a good choice of all sorts of vehicles, but for older American Iron I'd also look in popular retirement spots as well.

All that said, prices out West seem to be higher than in, say, Atlanta. Not high enough to ship cars from Atlanta unless you have a multi-car trailer, but still noticeably higher.

I think I can get a cheap flight to Austin, but that's as close to the desert as I can get, easily.

Not really interested in cars that have passed too far from "old" to "collectible".

Top choices (in order):

1. 1981-1987 Olds Cutlass Supreme or Buick Regal (2 door only)

2. Square body RWD S10 Blazer (or the GMC equivalent)

3. 2 door Crown Vic or Grand Marquis

4. Square body Caprice (or other B-body)

5. 1982-1993 S10 or S15 shortbed.

6. Anything that has a SBC or SBF (or is easy to engine swap)

7. Miata/240SX/2nd gen Supra.

I think having someone on the ground to vet the cars would be nice, but good deals disappear fast enough that I think I'd need to be in the area and have cash in order for it to be worth it for the seller to deal with me.

eastsidemav wrote: Los Angeles: Pro: Supposed to be an auto enthusiasts heaven, should have a huge variety of choices. Con: Dealing with the traffic as a tourist. Not sure how title transfer works there, especially as it seems there is something about dealing with any unpaid fines on the car before it can be transferred.

DMV can be restrictive, but I've found it easy to navigate. Go to the DMV website to schedule an appointment and it can all be handled there. The appointment just basically means you can cut to the front of the lines.

Cars there are really nice, and variety is amazing. You can find anything there. There are two reasons I loved buying LA cars: Plenty of rich folks practically giving them away and high gas prices reduce demand on the cool old stuff. I bought a rat-rodded 62 Caddy from a guy (shaved door handles, flat black, fat whitewalls) in running condition for $1500 because he couldn't afford the gas to feed it.

Hit up the "free" section of LA craigslist and type in "car." Then hit up the cars section and type in "free". You might be surprised. I got a free E30 with 100k because it broke a timing belt. $400 in parts and a weekend of work and I sold it for $3000. I once saw a Mercedes E-class W210 for free because the guy couldn't get it to pass smog. Knowing that generation of Merc, it probably needed cats for $600 and then it could have been sold for $5000. I bought a 74 Maverick 302 for $300 because the guy tried everything and couldn't get it to charge the battery. So I moved the alternator wire to the correct side of the solenoid and drove it for years.

Cons: Don't worry about traffic. You're not living there, you can deal with two hours of it. LA drivers for the most part are Jeff Gordon level skilled. They drive fast, cut lanes, and make E36 M3 happen, but they don't die or kill. Think of it like Mario Kart. Have fun.

Phoenix: Pro: I have a relative there I can probably stay with. Con: Unknown

I bought a W210 diesel out of Phoenix. I don't recall any particular cons, other than upholstery damage. (its the rust of the southwest). I don't recall finding any bargains though.

Portland/Seattle: Pro: Car interiors probably won't be baked too bad by the sun. Con: Car interiors could be "baked", leading to interesting interactions with police if I get pulled over on the way home.

I found Washington's DMV to be a royal pain. I felt like I stepped back into 1984; paperwork, lack of electronic options, notary needed for sneeze disclosure in case the previous owner had allergies... but that might have just been the one car I bought. It was a 57 Belvedere with no odometer.

Orlando: Pro: I have a place to stay an hour or so away on the east coast of the state. I could stop by the GRM HQ on the way home. Con: Not sure how many cars that I'd be interested in are going to be in the area at good prices. A lot of Florida cars may be from other parts of the country. Seems like a lot of the projects I see people from Florida post involve immediately removing the interior to power wash off the mold/mildew.

I found FL to be great for cream puffs; If you want a flawless 1994 Lincoln Town Car Cartier with BBS wheels and 24,000 miles for $3000, its your place. Mildew unlikely due to old people's tendency to store everything with 25 lbs of moth balls.

Atlanta: Pro: Seems a lot of deals pop up there frequently. Could drive instead of flying. Con: the no title thing on older cars will need to be resolved in order to get the car registered in Ohio.

I have not had the same experience with deals. Every time I shop for a car I look at Atlanta because everyone raves about it. I have not found a bargain there in 20 years. Seems like the things I'm looking for sell for 20% more than they do anywhere else.

Consider Texas. I found tons of deals there. I was in Austin which had its share of quirky cars, but Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio were flush with loads of cheap, common cars.

Also consider Louisiana. The rural/suburban towns around New Orleans (Slidell, Chalmette, Metarie, Mandeville, etc) are full of nice cars. The economy is a bit slower in those areas and cars tend to be cheaper. New Orleans isn't bad for cars but they tend to be used and abused (and sometimes ghetto-tastic). Its kinda like buying a car in NYC. They've usually been rode hard and put away wet.

In reply to BoxheadTim:

Thanks for the California info. Part of my thoughts on that was trying to get a deal on something that wouldn't pass smog, but obviously it'll still need to have some time left on the registration in order to get it back east.

In reply to penultimeta:

Not a bad idea. I do try to keep my eyes on the Lexington and Louisville craigslist pages, since they use less road salt. Maybe I should add a few more cities down I-75 and I-71.

Ok. Those are doable for under $3K. Dallas also has a lot of choices. You can get an easy flight into DFW i'm sure. I tend to look there for cheap stuff too. Still very rust free.

Be very very careful of stuff in louisiana. Too many of those got flooded and dried out. I wouldn't touch a car older that 10 years old without knowing a lot about it.

I too am from ohio, in my searches it seems like southwest cars while rust free are fairly high priced. It seemed like you could buy clean cars locally for similar prices, especially when you start figuring in the cost to get it home.

One thing that has caught my attention lately is that it seems like v8 swapped s-10 are cheap around here. Especially if you get one that isnt finished. If the engine and headers are there then completing the project should be a breeze and cheap to do.

I would love to see a comprehensive explanation of how to handle the georgia no title situation. I believe I've heard that GA will issue a title to the owner, so if you were willing to pay the cost of that and some extra for the hassle that would be the way to go there.

Also from a cost standpoint I'm usually suprised at how cheap it is to have a car shipped. When you consider the possibility of breaking down hundreds of miles from home it is hard to justify the fly and drive.

Ranger50 UltimaDork
8/1/16 11:57 a.m.

Jacksonville, FL has been good to me. I've gotten 3 out of there in the past 2 years. (I'm also in Ohio)

True, still some paint or trim sun damage from Jacksonville.