Undercarriage Spray: Worth It?

"Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again." (sir-stig) 07/20/2014 at 14:21 • Filed to: None

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What do you guys think about it? I live in the Canadian prairies (Calgary) and I'm not sure if it's worth it to get it done, or just make sure I spray the undercarriage every week during the winter.

daender > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. 07/20/2014 at 14:30

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Get it done it's a great long-term investment, don't have to worry about rust as much as long as you rinse off the underside when you rinse off the top. My Miata has been sprayed for its previous coastal life and it's saved it from being rusted like its old muffler.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. 07/20/2014 at 14:39

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Having crawled under a 12 year old car today, which has lived in a salted area all it's life and had no rust protection applied, do it. This thing looks like it was found in a lake underneath.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. 07/20/2014 at 14:50

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Get it done but from a place that isn't the dealer. It's usually the same price but it's also done to a higher quality.

thebigbossyboss > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. 07/20/2014 at 15:20

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I live in eastern ontario our winters are like yours. That shit is worth it's weight in gold dawg.

I spray every year. My car is 11 and I'm just getting a little surface rust now.

lonestranger > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. 07/20/2014 at 15:21

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I'm a little unclear. Your words sound contradictory:

"Undercarriage Spray: Worth It?"

"make sure I spray the undercarriage every week"

I assume the title is referring to rubberized undercoating, and "make sure I wash the undercarriage"?

I was a professional detailer in Kamloops and applied both undercoating and rust protection for 5 or 6 years. I'll discuss both products.

By "undercoating", I am referring to the black tar-like rubberized product that is sprayed onto the underside of the car's body on the floor, wheelwells, and frame (if equipped) and dries to a semi-soft layer.

"Rust Protection" is a waxy cream-coloured liquid that is sprayed with hoses inside the steel body panels, such as inside the doors, hood, and rocker panels.

Personally, I would not recommend undercoating on a car such as the Fiesta. It's fine, I mean, it won't do any harm to anything other than your wallet, but the benefits on most unibody cars is negligible. Body-on frame vehicles such as pickup trucks? Yes, by all means, as neither the frame nor the underside of the body have anything other than paint and/or clearcoat applied from the factory. Conversely, virtually all modern ('90s+) and many older vehicles with unibody construction have some form of rubberized undercoating applied during assembly. In most situations, this factory undercoating is sufficient. I lived in Calgary for a few years, and for my money, I wouldn't undercoat a unibody car there. Ontario or Quebec? Yes. I've seen many rotten cars from back east. I guess it's up to the individual how much their peace of mind is worth.

I would recommend rust protection on any vehicle in any climate and road conditions, provided that the process does not involve drilling holes . I'm not sure if they still do it, but companies such as Ziebart would drill numerous holes (3/8" or so) all throughout the car, in the doorjambs and such and plug them with round plastic covers. Not only is this unnecessary (body panels have moisture drain holes built into them), but each drilled hole creates a new place for rust to easily form.

lonestranger > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 07/20/2014 at 15:24

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Or, it may be of identical quality at a lower price. Smaller dealers that don't have their own equipment have to send the car to a specialist.

lonestranger > thebigbossyboss 07/20/2014 at 15:29

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Generally speaking, Ontario & Quebec cars are way worse than out west. I don't know if it's the road salt, lake air, acid rain, or what. I detailed cars in Kamloops for years and could tell if a car came from back east just by looking under the hood.

thebigbossyboss > lonestranger 07/20/2014 at 15:33

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Yup. When I brought my 1992 Ford out here in 2008 everyone knew it was a western car. By 2008 most of the 1992's had rusted away.

lonestranger > thebigbossyboss 07/20/2014 at 15:45

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Everywhere's different. When I moved from Kamloops to Calgary in 2003, I also had a 1992 Ford. The other '92s hadn't rusted away, but all were smashed to shit. It seemed that 1 out of every 10 cars there had major body damage.

thebigbossyboss > lonestranger 07/20/2014 at 15:49

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That....is kind of weird.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > lonestranger 07/20/2014 at 19:26

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Sorry, I meant wash every week. Yeah the black paint stuff is what the dealer is trying to sell, the rust protections seems like a better choice here. Do you think the clear coat they are pitching is worth it? It seems somewhat unnessissary.

lonestranger > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. 07/20/2014 at 20:21

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By "clear coat", I assume they're referring to a polymer paint sealant.

I'd definitely want paint sealant, though personally I'd save some money and apply it myself. If you're comfortable using carnauba wax, you can apply polymer sealant. Wax and sealant are very similar in purpose an application. Sealant is just more expensive and lasts much longer before it needs reapplication. If you were in B.C., I'd suggest going to Lordco and checking out their selection, but I know from living in Calgary that they're non-existent there. See if CT, PartSource, Auto Value or Mopac carry Meguiar's Mirror Glaze line.

Having undercoating, rust protection, paint and fabric protection applied by a professional (either a dealer or an independant shop) has the benefit of it being covered by an additional warranty. However, yearly inspection and partial or full re-application is required in order to keep that warranty valid.

The advantages of buying them trough the dealer is that if you have a car loan, you can just add the protection package's cost into the loan.

P.S. I just realized that your lede pic is of a modern unibody car, and it doesn't have any factory undercoating. It's worth having a peek underneath and seeing how well covered yours is. It's usually white or grey, with or without paint on top. I'm still assuming it's a Fiesta ST we're talking about? If so, it looks as though it's partially undercoated:

http://blog.edgeautosport.com/installation-h…

I'd have it done, if I were you.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > lonestranger 07/20/2014 at 22:12

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Okay, so get the undercoating done, but through a 3rd party? I'm assuming I should wait to do the rust protection until it is under coated? As far as paint sealant goes, I haven't done wax on any cars, is it something that will take practice to look good? Or is it easy to pick up? I feel like I could do the interior stuff, I'm assuming it's just some spray for the fabric and a balm/lotion for the leather?

lonestranger > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. 07/21/2014 at 00:05

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Unless you need to include it in your car loan, there's no need to get it done at the dealer. A third party shop will do as good (or likely better) a job, and almost certainly cheaper.

Undercoating and rust protection are applied separately and to different areas, so you could apply either one or both. If you're getting both, you can get them both done in the same visit. They'll likely do the rust protection first, because fresh wet undercoating is very messy if it's disturbed. If you're doing one at a time (say, because you're on a budget), it doesn't really matter which order you get them in. If you can't decide which to do first, ask the shop what they recommend.

Get the pros to do the paint sealant.

You can do the fabric protection yourself. The pros use what's basically a small automotive HVLP paint sprayer, but a can of Scotchgard from Crappy Tire would likely suffice. The fumes are nasty. Assuming the fabric is already clean , there's virtually zero prep or cleanup. Don't apply it to dirty fabric.

The leather conditioner is just a lotion, yes. The stuff we sold as part of the protection package* was actually inferior to Lexol that you can buy off of the shelf. Just put some on a soft rag or sponge (or better yet, a terrycloth-covered sponge) and rub it in.

*All of the protection products we applied were supplied by the same company, who also administered the warranty. Otherwise, we'd have just used Lexol on every car, as we did when detailing leather-equipped cars.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > lonestranger 07/21/2014 at 09:10

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Alright, thanks for the advice. One more question: the dealer is using protex for the clear bra, is that a good campany/film to use?

lonestranger > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. 07/21/2014 at 11:30

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I'm familiar with the name, but I haven't personally seen or used their product, so I can't say. They seem popular, and they're a Canadian company.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > lonestranger 07/21/2014 at 16:31

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Would you just go sealant? Or sealant and front end wrap?

lonestranger > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. 07/21/2014 at 16:45

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The sealant is basically nothing more than a fancy wax, dpso it can't protect against rock chips. Get the clear bra as well. It's probably better to get the clear bra before the paint sealant, so that the mylar adheres to the paint.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > lonestranger 07/21/2014 at 17:03

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Awesome, thanks a ton for all the advice!

Edit: should I get the wrap all the way up the hood?