Just want to pick the collective brains of the forum... Will be taking delivery of a new vehicle in a couple of weeks. Weather in Calgary for the past few weeks are not promising as far as even considering using ONR then apply any protection product in my un-insulated garage. I tried to clean the garage floor yesterday and do some shuffling of cars in the garage... ended up with a thin layer of ice on the garage floor on the "dirty" side of the garage... Anywho... I think undercoat for cars seem to be good idea in general. However, I'm a bit iffy about dealership applied ones. So, for now I have declined. I have tried Krown when I was out in Ontario. With the way I took care of the car and conditions which I drive the car in... not sure if the dealer applied undercoat or the Krown rustproofing worked. Drawback with the Krown rustproofing is... need to drill holes. Any other recommendations? Now, for the protection on the new vehicle. If I were to try to polish, seal and/or wax the vehicle myself, the weather needs to be at least around 10°C. Any recommendations? Enlist the help from local detailing facilities / members? The vehicle is a 09 Toyota Rav4 in black... Any suggestions are appreciated.
Regarding the undercoat, well this is what I've been told, now I'm just repeating what I've been told. A co-worker of mine purchased a Mercedes SLK, my co-worker requested to speak with the head mechanic, great guy by the way. Well the SLK that my co-worker purchase was not new, a year or two if I recall correctly, any who my co-worker went over the vehicle with the head mechanic, when it came to the undercarriage the head mechanic suggested to NOT get the undercoat protection. His reason was that on used vehicles if they are not protected right from the get go then moisture has already penetrated and by installing the undercoat protection then your simply locking in the moisture. I've had two people, who own dealerships tell me the same thing. Me personally, I didn't know this and all the vehicles I've purchased brand new I've opted for the undercoat protection, one thing i will say though is that it does reduce the amount of road noise. As the moisture, I'm no expert but it does make sense about locking the moisture, but like I said just repeating what I've been told. Oh about the dealership installing the undercoat, just know that they are making ridiculous profit from you. I had my SUV undercoated for about $200, just because of a good friend that owns a dealership, you pay double if not triple that at the dealerships. Regarding the rest of the vehicle, since we are in winter, I wouldn't polish just yet. Wait till the spring to polish your vehicle. A good seal/wax job would go a long way for it though, oh and what ever you do don't let the dealership "prep/protect" your vehicle, they do more harm then good, trust me I've seen there great "craftsmanship". As I'm sure others here can testify to that. Hope this helps.
An alternative to undercoating is use of an electronic rust inhibitor. RustStop Electronic rust protection and rust prevention. I used to reside in Hawaii and these devices were fairly popular amongst car enthusiasts. The high humidity coupled with ocean salt fostered the potential for rust. These products are legitimate as far as I am aware.
"oh and what ever you do don't let the dealership "prep/protect" your vehicle, they do more harm then good, trust me I've seen there great "craftsmanship". As I'm sure others here can testify to that." HEY!! i work at a dealership and i really do try and do a good job when i take care of somebody's car! I even told my boss that the cotton cloths they were using were garbage and brought my OWN microfiber rags in until he ordered some! but yea dont get your vehicle sealed at a dealership... its way more expensive than doing it yourself. as far as the undercoating goes im suprised it doesnt already have it if its an 09 Rav 4 i've worked on quite a few of those and never seen one without it! i have heard good things about the electro thing as mentioned in the above post.
Sorry to quote the long post; but this is absolutely true. I've witnessed it on many older northern cars that have had poor undercoat jobs. You're much better off to do a baking soda wash underneath (or get some specific road-salt neutralizer) and spray underneath the vehicle than to have poorly applied undercoat that makes you feel warm and fuzzy for a few years; or at least until you pull a Fred Flinstone one day coming to a stop...
So it is true, your the third person to agree with what I've been told. Interesting, thanks for the feed back eace:
