Rustproofing

[Gurundu the rat]

Should I get what the dealer is trying to sell me (500$ but guaranteed 8 years) or just go to metropolitain rustproofing each year? Oil or grease?
Thanks...

[canuck]

i just bought a new SUV and for the very first time I opted to go with the dealer undercoating, paint protection and fabric protection. The cost for the undercoating wasn't too bad as compared to doing it every year with Rustcheck or someone like that. Figure it's at least $100 per year...if you plan on keeping your vehcile more than 5 years, than get it done by the dealer

[Pritch]

I hate rust with a passion- for for five hundred bucks garunteeing a rustless car for 8 years Id do it

depends how long you keep it for though.

Is it one of those electtonic jobbies?

[Gurundu the rat]

Dealer offers some kind of wax or grease mixture. But I heard it doesn't get into all the corners and cracks being a solid. On the positive side they don't pierce the frame, instead they remove the pannels and do them that way. Oil based treatments get into all the nooks and crannys but is messy and needs to be redone every year or at least every other year. I would like to keep this car for 15 years so keeping the rust in check will be my biggest problem. Has anyone had good or bad results from either method? Your thoughts?

[The General]

Best thing to do is get a grease based treatment. It will not run as much as the oil but it is still sprayed and will therfeore make into every corner of the car. No holes are made in the body either. These treatments are usually good for the life of the car but require a check-up every 3 years or so.

The trick is a proper application of the product. In my experience, a dealer will apply the stuff as quickly as possible to maximize its profits. Whereas a dealer has other sources of revenue, an independent shop's business is based on this specific work. If they screw up, you have a warranty and it will cost the shop money to repair the problem.

[Hammerjoe]

Should I get what the dealer is trying to sell me (500$ but guaranteed 8 years) or just go to metropolitain rustproofing each year? Oil or grease?
Thanks...

I didnt know at the time when I bought my new car and bought that extra care crap.

You pay $400-$500 for it and they do put in a undercoat in the veh, but when you come back to do it again the next year, you have to pay to do an undercoat.

You see, what you are buying is insurance, not service, you pay everytime you bring the car for service.
Never again...

[Al 1959]

My wife has a 2004 Rave4 with the rustproof deal with Toyota ($599).
Her vehicle is inspected every 2 years and all she has to pay is $25.
Warrantied as long as she gets it inspected every 2 years and it is transferable.

Time will tell! :)

[Huggyd]

I tend to think rust proofing is an overall cheap investment, epically when living in Canadian weather. The salt on the roads just eats slowly away your car and you will not notice it till the spring. As far as grease vs. oil, I have always gone to Krown where its an oil base treatment, and even they will tell you that, it will not stop rust from spreading but just delays it from happening. I guess what that means is if you already have rust on your car its to late to start treating it. The problem is that this oil treatment, they drill holes in your car (I think 3 and that’s just for one door jam) which I don’t like the idea of at all, but it still protects the warrantee.
I don’t know too much about the grease treatment. Do they still drill holes for that? And what really is the pros and cons for grease vs. oil?

[Gurundu the rat]

From the research I've done in the last few days, The guys selling oil based stuff claim it's the only way to go because the oil will get into every nook and cranny and the dripping can't be avoided if you want your car truly rustproofed. The grease guys claim their stuff is better since they don't drill holes in your car and it also gets into the tinyest hidden areas as it is sprayed at high pressure. They claim one application is enough since the grease stays in place instead of dripping away. One the other hand the oil guy will say the grease hardens after a few years and humidity will penetrate it. The car also flexes a bit and the stuff will crack and fall off in some places. Anyone else have an unbiased opinion on this subject? Oil or grease?

[The General]

As far as grease vs. oil, I have always gone to Krown where its an oil base treatment, and even they will tell you that, it will not stop rust from spreading but just delays it from happening.

Krown is an excellent alternative. They obviously know what they are saying...

[Icecube]

From the research I've done in the last few days, The guys selling oil based stuff claim it's the only way to go because the oil will get into every nook and cranny and the dripping can't be avoided if you want your car truly rustproofed. The grease guys claim their stuff is better since they don't drill holes in your car and it also gets into the tinyest hidden areas as it is sprayed at high pressure. They claim one application is enough since the grease stays in place instead of dripping away. One the other hand the oil guy will say the grease hardens after a few years and humidity will penetrate it. The car also flexes a bit and the stuff will crack and fall off in some places. Anyone else have an unbiased opinion on this subject? Oil or grease?

Ok, perhaps I can be of assistance. Point in case: my 2004 RSX. I decided to rust proof it myself. You gotto love Acura because every internal metal panels of the car is so easily accessible specially the front fenders and the rear quarter panels (via the rear speakers). As for the doors, the panels come off in 5 minutes tops!

Ok, so year one: I opened the door panels and used Rust Check. I RC every vertical "inside"panels there is. I bought cans of Rust Check. I bought the drippy light oil version.

Note that there are 2 versions of RC: one that is drippy and one that is greasy (called "Rust Check undercoating").

In October 2004, I applied a lot of the drippy Rust Check (one full can for both door, one for both rear quarter panel, another for the front fenders and another for the hood, hatch, and inside the rear wheel wells. The car dripped for 3 weeks! I obviously put a lot of this stuff. My wife loved me.. not (That October, I got the underside undercoated by Midas with a greasy product called Oilguard).

Year 2. July 1 2005 (Canada Day). 9 months later, I open the door panels to install sound dampening. I was expecting having to use some powerful cleaner to clean away the RC. No. It was all dry. In fact, it was extremely dry to the touch and not oilly at all on the inside panels, except perhaps in the bottom of the doors (in the corners). But I cannot even confirm this about the corner . So needless to say I was aghast that the panels were not even slightly oily. No residue I could fine, nor could my wife.

So I installed the dampening and then decided to apply the greasy product from RC (the one that is supposed to stay longer because it is meant for the underboady). Just for good measures, I also used the Drippy stuff over the greasy stuff. The car dripped again for 2 or 3 weeks! :-)

In late October 2005, I reopened the door panels to change speakers and everything is greasy like a old frying pan from KFCs. Just like I had left it 4 months earlier. Some of the greasy stuff had slimmed down a little, but this was not a problem. And that experience reassured me. I also decide to check under the car, where in October 2004 I had it undercoated and while the wells were all dried up, the underneat of car where *slightly* greasy (but only soo slighlty oily).

This summer I will reopen the door panels as well as check the other panels where I combined both the greasy and drippy products to check again, but mu gutt fell is that the greasy stuff is much better for vertical and horizontal inside panels).

Moral: Well, the drippy stuff may indeed seap into corners and all, but it eventually wears off and "dries" off. The greasy stuff may indeed stay longer -- only time will tell. I think DIY is better because 1) you can really put the product exactly where you want it applied, 2) you can put as much or as little as you desire 3) you do not have to drill holes.

I suggest perhaps "alternating" greasy/oily year to year. :D

[kilby]

I have been using Rust Check/Krown on our older cars and kids cars for years with amazing results, I have a 1981 BMW winter ski car that has a little bit of rust under the tail lights which was there when I got the car 7 years ago the rest of the car is totally clean...no little bubbles at all. Two things, one, I get it done every year, and two, I live in BC, not Ontario or Quebec and we are lighter on the salt here I believe.

[isit90u]

Do it yourself. Get a spray gun and a 2 foot attachment so you can reach into the various cavaties. Doors, sills, front windshield, wheel wells, around the headlite area,etc. I used varsol and automatic trans oil. Do not use used or engine oil. Smells too bad. Used AT fluid has no odor. The varsol is used to make the oil creep. You will have some dripping, but no rust. I have a 1983 with no rust and 450000 km.

[Crash]

Years ago I ran detail shops and this was part of the business.

In my opinion, if the car's brand new, go for a wax based type as it sticks better, Ziebart is proberbly one of the best around. If you want to apply it yourself, you can buy a product called waxoyl from any good British Classic car parts supplier, it's excelent stuff, us British classic car guys swear by it.

As for as paying the new car dealership for this service, ask them if it is done "in house" as many send the job out to a specialist shop. You could do that yourself and save the dealers mark-up. Salesmen often get commision for these ad-ons, so you end up paying more.

Once, a car gets a few years old, rust starts to form in the welded seams underneath and then the oil-based stuff works better because it soaks into these seams. It is also good at protecting the electrical componants. Krown is the best stuff that I've found but it all depends on who applies it. If it drips for days, then you know that they put plenty on. of course, that doesn't mean that they put it in the right places. If you can, look at other older similer vehicles and see where the rust is showing, the "known spots" if you like, then inform the shop what are the common area's that they should concentrate on. If you put this nicely to them, you won't offend them as most shops want to do a good job. I'm known locally as a Land Rover specialist and the local Krown guy calls me if he gets an unfamilier LR to point out to him where they commonly rust.

Another good tip, is hand wash the vehicle instead of running it through an automatic car-wash as you then get the chance to see the bodywork up close. If you see a stone chip, get some touch up paint and fix it before the rust starts.

While I'm on the subject of car washes. Up until last year, I ran my own automotive shop. Over the 3-4 years prior, I had about 7 or 8 vehicles towed into me that had died coming out of a car wash. The problem has been the high pressure underside sprays getting into the vehicles electrics. So far I've replaced 4 computors (big money) because of this, so beware. The underside of most cars are only designed to be splashproof, not totally waterproof and they were certainly not designed to have water spayed at them under 1000-1500 PSI.

[sarahluc]

Do it dude you will not regret it, and it does not matter how long you plan to keep the car it is only a personal choice. And it is best to have it done at a dealer then at a private garage. I had it on my Accord and when it was pealing off a bit they redone the under coding for free. $650.00 worth. I now own Acura 2006 TL and they did it before they delivered me the car and it is warranty for 10 yrs.

Mike
:evil: