Rust: where these cars rot, salt-belt versus sunbelt

Rust is the primary condition concern on Eastern and salt-belt cars: floor pans (an under-body insulation blanket traps salt and destroys the floor), jack points, frame rails, rocker bottoms, fenders, and areas under the headlights. Buyers demand on-lift underside photos, and bodies were galvanized from around 1983, improving wet-climate durability; dry California and Southwest cars command premiums.