Houston Ferrari Owners, How do you keep your car from rusting?

I ask b/c I have a job opportunity in Houston and I'm considering taking it. Haven't work out all the details yet but I should know more by the end of next week.

I lived in Houston for 10-years (1980-1990) and now live in Kansas City (which I love by the way). I know the climate sucks for old cars down there and I'm wondering how much of a problem it is for the guys with older cars? I have a '77 GTB and we all know the older cars had not rust protection on them. My car has a few spots you can see in the engine bay, and one small bubble by the lower drivers side door (right behind the fender). I know here that I'm pretty much have no worries b/c I don't drive it in the rain, or on the roads after snow/salt. Only on nice days.

My dad had an Austin Healey 3000 when we lived there and I remember how much trouble he had dealing with rust.

I'm worried that as soon as summer hits, the humidity will show all kinds of fun rust spots up where I least expect them.

thanks

 

We don't. We just fix it occaisionally. No big deal.

Speedy "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust"308

 

If you drive fast enough, the rust can't catch ya!

Dr "Rust Never Sleeps" Tax

 

Da--, must have been that last stop sign. It all jumped on!

Last time I waxed the car, a tree fell on it! I give up.

Speedy "Hard knocks" 308

 

It's not that bad. I would argue KC is worse since you guys can get snow, etc.
If you stay away from the coast, it's no worse than anywhere else.

It's not like KC is dry (non-humid) in the summer. I felt very little difference while spending summers up there.

Take the job in Houston. KC is nice, but you can't beat the cost of living down here.

I had a '65 Shelby Mustang for years and zero problems with rust.

 

Scott, you're kidding, right? I mean, I'd prefer the Houston weather over KC's, but Houston's cost-of-living is by far higher than Kansas City, no doubt about it. Houston is what, 4th largest city in the US? Can't get around higher costs with that kind of statistic.

 

Cost of living in KC is pretty cheap. You can get more house for the money in Houston, but the property taxes there suck. My in-laws have a house about the same value as mine, and their property taxes were like 4x what mine were. Even with state income tax added to my property taxes they pay way more (almost double).

The climate in KC is much better than Houston. We actually have seasons here. Leaves change colors and everything. Except for 4-5 weeks of heat in the summer, and 4-5 weeks of cold/snow in the winter, the weather is great. I lose count of the 70-80 deg. days with little humidity where I can play outside with the kids until 9PM and later. Even in June we have days like that.

That maybe happens like 4-5 times/year in Houston. Otherwise it's really hot/humid from June to September, and rains all winter. At least, that's what I remember.

KC is like a big city with a small town feeling. I don't have to drive for 30-minutes to get to a store, traffic is non-existant (rush hour is like Sat. afternoon traffic in Houston), and the zoning laws do keep the nice area's nice (IE No trailor parks across the street from $300k home neighborhoods).

That being said, I wouldn't mind living close to Aggieland so I could go to more football games. One per year is not enough.

 

Matt, I'm not kidding. Houston is one of the lowest cost of living cities in the USA out of the top 50 cities in population. I believe it's near number 50. It does get around the fact that it's #4 in population. So you CAN get around the costs it appears.
Population does not necessarily affect cost of living.

KC is 3.3% higher than Houston. That's not a lot, but at least I wasn't totally wrong. (I was thinking it was more than that after spending 6 months there with a client)
Realistically it's a virtual tie, but remember, there's no state income tax in Texas and property and sales taxes aren't that much higher, which helps the cost of living a lot. I believe you can find that KC is lower cost of living based on consumer items alone, but when you factor in taxes, it is higher. The ACCRA index shows this, but it won't let me link to it since it's a paid service. It has Houston at 92 and KC at 88 w/o taxes included. With Taxes, KC is higher.

Check out this link. I did it with a salary of 100k for ease of math. And as if I was moving from Houston to KC.
http://usatoday.salary.com/costoflivingwizard/layoutscripts/coll_result.asp?presentsalary=100%2C000&presenthomemetrocode=75&presentworkmetrocode=75&newhomemetrocode=81&newworkmetrocode=81&x=28&y=7

 

Strange, according to http://www.homefair.com/homefair/calc/salcalc.html Houston is 13-17% higher than KC, depending on whether you rent or own. Guess it depends on which data you look at.

I do often here Texans talk about how much money they save with no state income tax. But it is my experience, from growing up in OK, that Texas does indeed have higher property taxes. Somethings up, because an $800 Dallas apt costs about $600 in Tulsa easy. Housing costs are quite different too.

 

You're right, it's one time too many! Yuck, A&M! You know, your're much closer to real football in Norman, OK

I'm going to have to take Pepto Bismol just driving into College Station next weekend for the Italian car event. Guess it could be worse--it could be Austin! haha

 

Sources could vary. I wonder where they get their data. ACCRA is the official data that I've always seen quoted in USA Today, Wall Street Journal, etc. Homefair may not be taking taxes into consideration.

Note: Dallas is quite a bit more expensive than Houston. Home owner's insurance for one is a lot more because of all the hail they get.

Here's a link put out by the state gov in MO in order to attrack people. Notice Texas is #3 in cheapest states as a whole. OK is #4. MO and KS are 11 & 14.
There is something to be said for no state income tax for sure.

http://www.ded.mo.gov/business/researchandplanning/indicators/cost_of_living/index.shtml

Since you're not a home owner, you may nove have had much exposure to it, but also be aware that comparing rents does not necessarily comparing housing costs and especially cost of living. I'm sure I could find other apts in Dallas for cheaper, so you're not necessarily doing apples to apples.

 

Maybe you missed it, but the state income tax does not come close to equaling the cost of difference in home owner taxes between Kansas and Houston (Missouri is even LOWER). Homeowners insurance costs more too.

Food, clothing, etc. seems about the same. Sales tax is higher in Texas too (8.25% vs 7.25%).

And the weather is TONS better. 4-weeks of miserable heat + 4-weeks of miserable cold (and it's 45 today!) versus year round humidity and 4-months of summer. Forget it guys. KC wins hands down. Much more Ferrari driving weather in KC than in Houston.

 

c'mon sean - i grew up my whole life in kansas and there is no way there is more ferrari driving weather in kansas than houston! we can drive 365 days per year. last i checked, winters in kansas were a LOT longer than 4 weeks. that's like saying you can golf more in kansas than in houston.

now if you want to compare quality of roads in order to reasonably drive your ferrari... whole different story.

ps - our summers are not 4 months, they're at least 6 months

 

I really enjoy your opinions, but I haven't seen stats to back it up. This cost of living thing is something I've done a lot of research on at different times.

Did you read anything that I referenced including data from the state of MO? Come on man. I know you have your bias, but give us some facts please. And as Tim said, the weather there isn't that great. Winters suck, and the summer is not that much better than in Texas.

 

Winter, 4-weeks, maybe 6. Summer, again 4-weeks of heat with gorgeous weather on either side. I lived in Houston for 10-years and the thing I remember the most is that the summers are LONG and HOT. Throw in a lot humidity and you've got the makings for a miserable 3-months. Add in the additional 10-inches of rain that all seems to fall in March, April and May, + it seems every day from April to August had "chance of rain" in the forcast. Used to drive me nuts. Anyway, that's just my opinion.

The cost of living I've found really depends on where you live in the Houston area. Most costs are similar to KC but It seems home taxes are killer in some areas, not in others. My in-laws live in the cy-fair area (out 290) and their taxes are 2-3x what mine are. Another friend lives in Sugerland and his are about the same as mine. +5% for Houston seems to be what I've found.

And I live in Kansas, not MO. I work in MO though.

Things are still pending so I've got plenty of time to make up my mind. Heck, the 1st interview went really well and I think I'll get an offer by the end of next week. But until I get it, this is just my imagination talking.

I will say this, you can get some good house for the money in the Sugerland and Pearland areas, as well as way out NW (but that's too far from where I'd be working). $250k will buy a lot of house. Overland Park, not as much (but in MO yes - but MO sucks eggs). I like the detached garages and upstairs gameroom that a lot of houses seem to have. Mixed feelings about the downstairs master BR. Kids are not quite old enough to be that far away but I guess we'll deal with it when/if we need too.

Thanks

 

Glad we could help with the rust issue. Try Ziebart.

 

Good luck on the job interview process.

You're right about the area of town. I'm in Sugar Land. And my subdivision is about as good as you can be commute-wise in the city without actually living in the city.

In some areas, for 250k you can get 4000 sq ft. It is a relative bargain.

Some years you're right about that damned 'chance of rain' every freakin' day. I hate that so much it makes me want to toss the TV.

Then other years it doesn't do that. It's very odd.

Our summers are definitely longer, but oh well, we have no snow either which I hate more than anything. (unless I'm skiing)

good luck w/ your decision.