rust proofing

[tnklvr]

Any opinions on rustproofing under a new Toyota? We were told by the dealer that they no longer seal and undercoat cars since 2009 because it saves the dealer money. Does anyone know anything about this or if it is true?

 

[MillauFr]

Sounds like the dealer is trying to cheat you. I wouldn't even buy a car from them since they are dishonest.

 

[tnklvr]

Sadly, we already bought the car. We only wanted the extended warranty. We specified we wanted the toyota brand extended warranty and when we got home and read all the paperwork he shoved in the envelope for us we found it is not the Toyota we were sold but a bogus company with all kinds of complaints Fidelity warranty service so we need to call tomorrow and try and cancel it if it is possible. We were debating on the rust proofing and thought we would research it first but I am only finding old articles pre 2009 on rustproofing and how it was not needed back then. My husband did look under the car and said only the wheel wells seem to be coated.

 

[xlxo]

To clarify.... Do you live at a place where they use a lot of road salt? How long do you plan to keep your vehicle? Once beyond the extended warranty... do you plan to keep it?

 

[daughtersrus]

Any opinions on rustproofing under a new Toyota? We were told by the dealer that they no longer seal and undercoat cars since 2009 because it saves the dealer money. Does anyone know anything about this or if it is true?

Sadly, we already bought the car. We only wanted the extended warranty. We specified we wanted the toyota brand extended warranty and when we got home and read all the paperwork he shoved in the envelope for us we found it is not the Toyota we were sold but a bogus company with all kinds of complaints Fidelity warranty service so we need to call tomorrow and try and cancel it if it is possible. We were debating on the rust proofing and thought we would research it first but I am only finding old articles pre 2009 on rustproofing and how it was not needed back then. My husband did look under the car and said only the wheel wells seem to be coated.

DH works for a dealership (not Toyota). At his dealership, the finance person in the one with the highest salary because he makes the commission off of the undercoat, interior coat and extended warranty.

After market warranty companies can be difficult to deal with and hard to find a shop that will accept it. Imagine if you're on vacation and need work done but can't find a shop to accept it. Repairs often take longer because many require that the tech take pictures of parts to show why the repair is needed or they need to send one of their inspectors to look before they approve the repair. In the meantime, the customer's car is sitting torn apart.

I believe that the law allows a certain number of days for you to cancel the contract.

For what it's worth, DH never purchases the undercoat, paint protection, or interior plans but always purchases the Premium Plan extended warranty. Although he can fix everything himself, one computer module makes the plan well worth it.

Call other Toyota dealers and ask them for their best price on the plan you want to purchase. The prices are not set in stone and you don't have to purchase it from the same dealer you got the car from.

People like this are what gives everyone that works for a dealership a bad name.

Good Luck!

 

[tnklvr]

I am in a snowy area that uses salt and plan to keep the car for 8-10 years. I think I will cancel and hope they allow it and then I will call around to other Toyota dealerships for price on the real Toyota platinum plan. Will think about that rustproofing too. I have half hour before the guy comes in for the day to see if he will give me a hard time about canceling this. I am hoping he will be nice and tell me no problem. Thanks

 

[Narnia_girl]

This is what Consumer Reports advises:

Dealer extras
Before they let you drive away, dealers may also try to get you to buy extra services that are usually overpriced. These include:

Rustproofing and undercoating. Don’t bother. Today’s vehicles are manufactured with good corrosion protection. In fact, Consumer Reports’ Annual Auto Surveys show that rust problems have almost vanished in modern vehicles. Standard rust-through warranties for most domestic and imported vehicles run five years or more, and many will cover you for an unlimited number of miles during the warranty period.


​

 

[ajwolfe]

My DH works at a Toyota dealership and we pretty much only drive Toyota vehicles. We've never had the undercoating done. Good luck with your new car purchase!

 

[a742246]

I live in Vermont, Toyota cars usually have no problems here with rust. I seen Toyota's that are 15-20 years old that doesn't have any rust on them. My Subaru on the other hand, after about 8 years rust forms over the back wheel wells. We put on about 30,000 miles a year so after 8 years the cars are pretty much had it anyway.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Many years ago when I shopped for my first new car (with help from my Dad) I clearly recall the salesman trying to sell rustproofing. My Dad's response, "this car shouldn't rust, if it does, I'm bringing it back." My Dad felt it was a bogus sales tactic. I've had three Toyotas (1988 MR2, 1995 4 Runner, 2005 Sienna) and my husband is on his 4th Toyota truck and we've never been offered rustproofing on any and never had a rust problem on any. I'm glad I came across this thread because of the extended warranty you mentioned. We will probably be trading in the Sienna for a Highlander at end of year. I've gotten extended warranties with my last two vehicles but they have been specifically Toyota brand extended warranty. Kind of sneaky of that salesman to throw that other one in there. I read EVERYTHING, good thing I do. Have to these days. I trust no one.

 

[amcnj]

If you are someone who does buy extended warranties, remember the vehicle has some years of warranty from the manufacturer. So for example, if they tell you it is only $1000 for 5 years of coverage, it may really only be for 2 additional years if the vehicle already comes with 3 years. So that is $500 a year for the extended warranty, not $200 per year. I just thought I'd throw that out as it might help you put a cost to the warranty and help you decide if it is worth it.

Ironically I was at a dealer a month ago that applies a paint sealant to every car on the lot, no exceptions, at an additional cost of $995/car. So I commented that this sounds like the old rustproofing pitch from years before, and the salesperson's comment was that rustproofing is not needed and was always a rip-off but, because of the quality of the paint now, the sealant is needed!

 

[HM]

I got one of the warranties that didn't work at every dealship once a long time ago. I had a problem that fell under the warranty but the dealership in the state I was in couldn't take it. I either had to drive back to where I bought it (400 miles) or let them fix it there. I chose to fix it there and never bought an extended warranty again.

Also, as far as the extras go (like undercoat or stripes)...if they've already been added to the car, my DH has had luck getting them to take the cost off the price of the car since we wouldn't have bought them after the fact and we won't buy it with the added cost on it.

 

[HockeyMomNH]

This is what Consumer Reports advises:

Dealer extras
Before they let you drive away, dealers may also try to get you to buy extra services that are usually overpriced. These include:

Rustproofing and undercoating. Don’t bother. Today’s vehicles are manufactured with good corrosion protection. In fact, Consumer Reports’ Annual Auto Surveys show that rust problems have almost vanished in modern vehicles. Standard rust-through warranties for most domestic and imported vehicles run five years or more, and many will cover you for an unlimited number of miles during the warranty period.


​

This really surprises me. I work in an auto repair shop in NH and we see a lot of rust on vehicles.

What we recommend here is to make sure that you wash your car regularly during salt season. We have a car wash in town with a good undercarriage spray. I do that on my vehicle once a week or so in the winter.

We also do seasonal under spray with an oil based product. Depending on the vehicle it might be just brake and fuel lines, or the whole frame. We are using a product called Fluid Film mostly. It's lanolin based.

It's important to keep a regular eye on the underneath of your car. It's easy to prevent rust from being a problem, but once it starts it is amazing how fast the rust can spread.

 

[tvguy]

This is what Consumer Reports advises:

Dealer extras
Before they let you drive away, dealers may also try to get you to buy extra services that are usually overpriced. These include:

Rustproofing and undercoating. Don’t bother. Today’s vehicles are manufactured with good corrosion protection. In fact, Consumer Reports’ Annual Auto Surveys show that rust problems have almost vanished in modern vehicles. Standard rust-through warranties for most domestic and imported vehicles run five years or more, and many will cover you for an unlimited number of miles during the warranty period.


​

I don't live in rust country, my 28 year old Chevy doesn't have a speck of rust. But last 2 new cars I bought, a Mercury and a Ford the dealers did the extended warranty sales pitch, and I told them I didn't want that or a rust undercoating. Both dealers said they don't offer undercoating anymore because it voids the manufacturers corrosion warranty. I guess the undercoating can block the drain holes in the body.

My FIL used to faithfully Ziebart his cars in Texas and have them inspected annually. The pattern was the same, after 8 years the first warranty rust repair was needed, and then the phone calls from car dealers trying to sell him a new car would start. They always knew what kind of car he had, and that the trunk or whatever had been repaired was freshly repaired and painted. Guess Ziebart was hoping he would trade the car off and they would be off the hook for the warranty.

 

[tnklvr]

Wonderful advice from everyone. Thank you all. This morning I called the shop to ask about what the rustproofing is about and asked what chemical is used. Since I found it is sprayed into the back of the doors and seals them which is the opposite of what the finance manager told us it was. What he described was undercoating. The service guy had no clue what was in the rustproofing so I called the finance manager and told him I wanted the Toyota warranty not Fidelity Mutual that has tons of complaints about them online. He said Fidelity mutual is the same thing which I know is BS so I said we would like to have this and the rustproofing taken off our contract and would appreciate if he can write up a new contract minus these things. He said well if you insist we can look into the warranty through Toyota but it will cost a lot more. I said no thanks, knowing I can buy it anywhere else and I found a dealer that sells the policies for $100 over his cost which is low. I want to get a 10 year and realize it comes with 3 years and the powertrain warranty is like 6 years or more. I worry about all the electronics and computer systems in these cars. I did buy the extended warranty for like $700 on our Corolla but never had to use it on that car but it made me comfortable knowing I didn't have to worry about repair costs on it for 7 years and I owned it for 8 and still never had a problem with it that needed to be fixed. I have 3 years to decide so I am going to wait. So he reworked our contract minus these things and we saved like $50 on our monthly payment. I was thankful they were willing to do that without a fight but very disappointed in the way they are very much less than honest all around. The only man I think is honest and trustworthy at this dealer is the parts manager so I will be buying parts from him but getting my maintenance and other work done at a different Toyota dealer in the future. I won't be buying from them again either.

 

[tnklvr]

This really surprises me. I work in an auto repair shop in NH and we see a lot of rust on vehicles.

What we recommend here is to make sure that you wash your car regularly during salt season. We have a car wash in town with a good undercarriage spray. I do that on my vehicle once a week or so in the winter.

We also do seasonal under spray with an oil based product. Depending on the vehicle it might be just brake and fuel lines, or the whole frame. We are using a product called Fluid Film mostly. It's lanolin based.

It's important to keep a regular eye on the underneath of your car. It's easy to prevent rust from being a problem, but once it starts it is amazing how fast the rust can spread.

I am careful in the winter after it snows to get to the car wash, if it is not way too cold, to get the under carriage washed.

 

[amcnj]

Glad to hear you were able to get the dealer to refigure your deal the way you wanted it. And that you got the warranty you wanted and it gives you peace of mind. Enjoy your new vehicle!

 

[DVC-Don]

Waste of money nowadays for rust proofing.

 

[DebbieB]

I had a 2003 Toyota Camry, purchased new, they never mentioned anything about getting it rustproofed. I live in Pittsburgh, definitely a snowy area. I sold it in late 2011 with no rust problems.