I live in an area where the roads are often coated with brine and salt during the winter. Obviously, not good for corrosion and the future of my 460's body. What opinions do we have about undercoatings? Are there any good ones or are all a waste of time and funds?

 

I don't know of anyone around here that has that done. You can buy that in spray cans and do it yourself. I haven't heard of anyone doing that in years. Do they still use that in the East Coast?

Craig

 

I have no idea. As you said, haven't had it done in years, but wondered if there were any new hi-tech products someone has hear of or used.

 

One of the issues with aftermarket undercoating in the past was the application. If it wasn't done right, some lamination could occur between it and the factory sealants which could trap moisture and lead to hidden corrosion for the floor pans. The drilling of panels and doors also caused some grief to anyone who would try to service these zones. Ziebart was considered one of the leaders in this industry, and I believe they are still in business, but it's been years since there's been anything said about this technology on the West Coast as car manufacturers have stepped up their QC in this area, and backed it up with long term perforation and corrosion resistance warranties. I'm sure this business is alive and well on the East Coast though...

 

The 3 year lease on my LS600hL is up in August and I'm seriously considering buying the car.

I live in a heavily salted and sanded area (Maine) and had assumed that the rust and corrosion issues were not issues these days.

If I plan on keeping this car for an additional 3-6 years, will rust/corrosion be an issue? That might be a decider.....

HBH

 

The manufacturers have made significant anti-corrosive progress since the pre-90's, I wouldn't worry about it. Still do keep the vehicle and under carriage clean though.

 

I lived for a while on the eastern side of Lake Huron where we had lake snows and the largest salt mien in North America. But I noticed that I was not seeing a lot of salt damage on some very old cars. Their secret was "Oil Guard" undercoating. It is a waxy, oily material sprayed into panels and underbody. I ended up getting all my vehicles undercoated with their heavy grade material at less than $100 per car. I recently sold one of those cars (12 years old) that had no rust except where body work had been done and not recoated. I traded in one vehicle (21 years old) that had no rust at all and still have the third vehicle, a 10 year old RX-8 in pristine condition. I have not yet made a trip to Ontario so my 2015 RX450h is still not Oil Guarded but it will be.

 

Undercoating may have had some benefit many years ago but car building and body warranties have improved a lot over the years. Undercoating along with sun visors was one of first of today's many dealer add-ons who's sole purpose is to enhance profits. I wouldn't be concerned with it.

And having said that, just the other day I saw a "relatively new" Mercedes with a lot of visible rust on the lower body and my thought was it must have been a rebuilt salvage car that was not done right.

Dave Mac

 

I have used 3M undercoating ( ) on both ES and GX.

Applied on both cars around Nov 2013. It held up during severe winter in 2014 and still holding up. Recently took some picture of ES undercarriage, will post them later. I am very pleased with that application.

 

Something to consider is how hard this car would be to undercoat, you ever look under these things? The car is covered with sound insulation which would all have to be removed. I also wonder how the plastic panels, insulation, etc, helps or hurts the corrosion that you receive from the salt/moisture, etc?

I'm in the same boat, I live in New England and the salt on the roads is horrendous right now. What I've been trying to do is spray the underside of the car with water at least twice a week. I also read somewhere on here that it is actually better to park the car outside in the cold to slow down the melting of ice and snow attached to the car. That way the corrosion process will be slowed or even stopped for a time being, as opposed to parking it in a heated garage where the stuff gets wet and the corrosion is allowed to take place. Either way it's awful. Personally I'm not going to be parking my car outside in temps at or close to zero...to me that does more harm than good on items like your battery, the leather seats, moldings, etc.

I can't wait for this winter to end, we have another 12-18 inches coming our way on Monday. I will say that I've been pleasantly surprised at how ell my RWD LS has done with snow tires on it. Yesterday I drove through 3 inches of snow with zero problems.

 

I think when you applied that undercoating is absolutely key in the process. You did it before the winter really hit. If anyone tried to do it now they'd be trapping particles of salt under that coating, making things worse.

 

Two of the cars I had undercoated with Oil Guard had been through several Chicago winters. The Oil Guard gets into the metal folds along the door edge and body panels and keeps the water and air away from the surfaces. Sault can not cause rust without water being present.

 

As promised, here are couple of photos, took them one year later (coating survived through 2013-14 winter).

 

I wouldn't worry too much on modern cars. If you look, everything under is already coasted and a lot is covered in plastic panels.