Here in Canada due to our winters our cars are subjected to an annual spraying of road salt. Needless to say rust is a concern for those who want to keep the car for a long period of time. Do you think its worth buying an after-market rush protection package (which has to be re-applied every year)?

Also has anyone hear of an electronic box which repels ions, and thus rust? I know it sounds wacky but two dealerships i went to mentioned it as an alternative rust protector.

My personal opinion, I say nay. Not worth the expense.

The negative ion thing was around many years ago. I don't think that I've heard of it for the last 20 years. Ask me, snake oil then, snake oil now.

This post has been edited by DAYMX5: Apr 11 2006, 10:08 PM

My dad use to apply rust proofing at a Ford dealership part-time, after he retired. ('90-'96) They paid him $125 for his time, and he figured the material cost another $25-50. The dealership then charged $800!!! I think a can of Scotchguard, for the carpets was included! This is a fantastic money maker for a dealership.

One time, my dad sprayed a Ford half ton, and a year later the owner traded it in for something else. The salesman sold the new owner of the truck the rust proofing package. When the truck was on the hoist, my dad said, "hey, I did this vehicle last year." The salesman said, "just touch it up, to make it look like new." TRUE STORY. My dad lost all respect for car salesmen, whatever shred there was, needless to say.

motd

This post has been edited by motd: Apr 11 2006, 10:24 PM

if i were to do it, i would do it at Krown partly b/c i get a discount with my APA membership and partly b/c they seem to be respected in the businesss. but like i'm said i'm just not sure if its worth it.

MrDisco, an electronic box that you mentioned is likely a scam. See this thread over at CarTalkCanada:

http://www.cartalkcanada.com/forum/index.p...ic,43470.0.html

Krown is the way to go.

In the old days, up to about a decade ago, it did make sense. But newer cars are painted in several layers of paint, and going thru special anti-rust treatment, and you really don't see rusty cars that much anymore.

Save your money. It's a waste.

It may be true in Chicagoland, but not here in the Great White Rusty North. TONS of salt on the roads in the wintertime ==> the car bodies start to rot long before the drivetrain shows any signs of wear.

I should know. My 1994 beater still runs fairly strong, but it has rust holes big enough to drive through a Mini.

This post has been edited by Elliot: Apr 11 2006, 10:53 PM

First thing I did, was to take my car to aftermarket rustproofing. I don't know how much salt they put on the roads in the US or Canada, but in Finland the amount is massive.

Almost all car manufacturers today are boasting how they galvanize their car chassis or how they use protective paint under a car etc. The fact is, new cars rust.

This is a link to a one of the leading Finnish rustproofing companies "rust-gallery".

"rust-gallery"

It is in Finnish, but you can still find the car make, year and mileage. Click on the photos to see them larger.

My last car was Nissan and it was 4 yrs. old when I sold it last spring. Then the bottom of the car was complitely ****d up with the rust..

So I think that if you're driving on roads that salt is used on, the rustproofing should be considered. On the other hand, if you're planning to sell your car after 2-3 yrs, why bother. Rust will be next owners headache..

It took three days to proof my car. One day to wash the car thorougly and then dry it. One day to apply the rustproofing stuff. And one day to let it dry again. They put the stuff pretty much everywhere, inside of trunk and trunklid, bonnet, doors and under the body. Even inside of the body beams (don't know if this is the right word) got sprayed with the stuff.

It costed 600€ (expensive, yes!) and they gave me 12 yrs. guarantee against rusting. The car will go every two year in the check and they will apply more that stuff if they found out that it has worn out some places. They used stuff called dinitrol.

Ixnay on the adgetgay.

Even undercoating is a waste in most modern cars, and even a bit scary if they start drilling. :(

bobad: I welcome you to come to Finland and drive on our roads for a couple a winters. :D Let's then see how your Sonatas bottom looks.. I agree with you, that if one drives mainly for example in Lousiana, the rust proofing is waste of time and money.

But if your thinking about keeping your car for a longer period and you drive on roads that have salt on, then I'd get a proper rust proofing. I've seen too many rusted new cars here, galvanized chassis or not.

Though the rust proofing company have to know exactly what they are doing, or the proofing can do more harm than good. "Lets' spray some stuff somewhere" -attidude won't work.

Ya, you're probably right Carnivore.

The ideal solution would be to drive over a fresh water spray each time you drive on salted roads. But I guess that would be a lot of trouble when the temps are around 0F.

Don't know if you're familiar with spray-on truck bed linings in Finland, but we have a product here called "Rhino Lining". It's very thick and rugged. Now THAT would protect your underbody! :)

Thick underbody coating is the type of rustproofing that Canadian dealers push heavily to every new car buyer. The trouble is, in 3-4 years the coating usually dries up and starts to crack. Salt and water seep through the cracks and get trapped between the underbody and the coating. This is much worse than having no rustproofing at all.

As an aside, I find it very funny that someone living in Louisiana feels qualified to talk about rustproofing. :grin:

Maybe you and your Sonata should come up here for a winter or two :frozen:

Well.. Actually my car looks underneath much like that "spray-on truck bed lining". They used two different stuff that were different densities. First they sprayed every possible place with the thinner stuff that penetrates well in small holes and parts. Then they used much thicker stuff to fenders and bottom of the car. (plastic mudguards was removed during the spraying and then put back on afterwards)

The thicker stuff is elastic, almost tar-like material. The layer is several millimeters thick.

Elliot: I think you're absolutely right about coating drying and cracking. That's why the coating has to be checked regularly. And if there's anything wrong with it, it should be replaced. So this type of rust proofing is not "once in a lifetime" solution. It needs maintenance.

I would be so happy if I haven't have to worry about these things.. But I like my car and I intend to keep it as long as the current gas prices allows me, (1.35 EUROS per LITER by the way..) so why not to take best possible care of my new cruiser.

Salt free Finland. Now that's an utopia..

In my opinion, it's not worth it. The only place you're going to get rust is where the paint has been chipped off, and bare metal is exposed. They coat the bare metal with Zinc Oxide to prevent rust, and then the paint seals it. If you get a scratch that goes all the way to the metal, you need to address that quickly. Unfortunately just using touchup paint will not give you the same protection as the original coat. Even having a profession body shop work on it will still not restore it to it's full protection.

I've had a couple of friend who sold cars, and they both agree that it's basically 'snake oil'. One friend said really the only good thing about the 'black goop' method of rustproofing is that in most cases it will help deaden road noise from underneath the vehicle.

Besides that the Sonata has a 7 year rust warranty. Anything they put on the vehicle on day 1, probably won't be very effective on day 2500. They wouldn't offer 7 years unless they trust the rust proofing in the vehicle. How's that for an interesting question to ask the rustproofer.

I don't why a Canadian is more authorized to discuss rust-proofing than a Chicagoan... We get TONS of salt on our roads every Winter.

As a matter of fact, Chicago, which is known as a very well-run city, is getting MORE salt than more northern cities, like Madison WI, for instance... My daughter who attends the university there, has been complaining that every snow storm there is a nightmare, 'cause they hardly clean the roads, and use salt rarely... Maybe that's because they are more environmentally-sensitive there, I don't know.

In any case, I can only tell you what the Chicago Tribune's Transportation section editor has been telling letter writers every year: IT'S GOOD ONLY TO ENRICH THE CAR DEALERS.

But, of course, if one wants to feel good about rust proofing his beloved new car, let him do it. It's his money.



This post has been edited by mamamia: Apr 12 2006, 10:28 AM

so it sounds like 55/45 split amongst people who say no vs yes. lol.

I actually never get the rustproofing either but this time round I did get it. I talked the dealer down to $300 for the undercoating, (which is not the old really thick stuff that used to crack). It is now a thin rubberized layer. Also for the $300 they sprayed the oily stuff up into the doors and inside the quarter panels to coat the insides with product.

I figure for a $31000 car the extra $300 wasn't too too bad ... both products are from LusterGlaze - I checked them out and the product does seem pretty decent for the price.

They seem to use sand here instead of salt in the winter. Can sand do any damage like salt, besides getting where it shouldn't? :mellow: