Hi Soren,

Of course the U.S. is a big place with many different climates, so rust is a major problem in some areas and not much of a problem in others.

I can tell you about our Amazon. My wife bought it in 1978 in Santa Barbara, California (one of the most pleasant climates in the world), and it had no rust at all.

From 1983 to 1989, the car lived in the San Fernando Valley -- inland Los Angeles. Summer temperatures are desert-like hot. The rubber floor mats melted into tar, and the seats and dash developed cracks. Still no rust, though.

In 1989 we moved to the beach near Ventura, where temperatures are about like Santa Barbara. However, almost every afternoon a big wind would come off the ocean and blow salty sand all over the car. Almost every night, a thick fog would form and make the salt drip into every possible place. Even though we had the car freshly painted as soon as we moved there and I washed it at least once a week, within a few years there was rust everywhere, with holes through the body.

In 1998 we moved to Washington State, and now we've restored the car completely. All the rust is gone, replaced with new metal, and it has a very high quality paint job. This part of the country is famous for being very wet most of the year, and unfortunately the car had to spend two winters outside (this winter is the first time since we've owned it that it finally has a dry garage).

So far, no new rust... Here's a picture from last winter -- the building to the left is the new garage, but it wasn't finished yet at the time.