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Hi Subie techies:

 

I just bought a 2002 Legacy L wagon and was wondering about the undercoating. I was told that there is a 5 year corrosion warranty and the vehicle was factory undercoated. Just curious if I should get it undercoated again as I live in part of the world where lots of salt is used on the highways when it snows.

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In theory, additional undercoating may seem like a good thing, but I have grave reservations about adding it. Some of my reasons are:

 

(1) Drainage is critical to rust avoidance, marginal application of aftermarket undercoating can plug drain holes.

 

(2) Some apoplicators creat new holes to spray their products. Not sure that's a good idea

 

(3) Unless the car is absolutely dry when new undercoating is added you can be sealing in mosture.

 

FWIW: I also live in an area that uses a lot of salt. Rather than more undercoating, I try to occasionally high pressure wash the underbody of my cars in the winter period in an attempt to wash off salts.

 

Bill

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My unlce lives in michigan were they use alot, alot of salt, he drives to work 5days in the week and uses his truck to get there winter and summer. I was amazed why his truck has basicly no rust on it when it was 10 years old and 200,000 miles, when i see 2 year old cars with rust holes in the fenders he said he just washeses it twice a week in the winter. He has owned many trucks/cars nad has never had a rust problem.

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King Bee, your manual should state something like be careful what type of product is used because it may dissolve the factory coating!

 

I would stay away from internals, but keep an eye on the actual underside of the car, especially the wheel wells. Once the original black coating starts to disintegrate, it's time to re-apply an undercoating. Steam-cleaning the old stuff off first is always a good idea.

 

I would also like to express my belief in washing cars often during winter! Come spring time, make sure it gets rinsed all over, since any salt left behind will have a real field-day during the warmer months.

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Hi Subie techies:

 

I just bought a 2002 Legacy L wagon and was wondering about the undercoating. I was told that there is a 5 year corrosion warranty and the vehicle was factory undercoated. Just curious if I should get it undercoated again as I live in part of the world where lots of salt is used on the highways when it snows.

I live in eastern Canada...Road Salt capital of the world. Here in Quebec, a lot of people have their cars sprayed with oil,(it's actually a mixture of hot oil and wax). It gets sprayed in all the places where humidty could form,(and not just salt), such as inside the tailgate and doors.

I bought several cans of this stuff here..http://www.rustcheck.com/products.asp It comes in a spray can. I sprayed the underneath of my 98 O/B along with the entire engine compartment,(not the engine of course), inside the doors, rockerpanels, tailgate and everywhere else I could get to. The stuff is liquidy enough to run into all the nooks and crannies but not enough to drip all over the ground.

It doesn't attack the existing undercoating or the paint. You don't need to drill holes in order to get it between the panels because there are already access holes you can use,(for wiring etc).

It's a good idea to re-apply every 2nd year or so.

 

Cheap insurance indeed. I also sprayed my Jeep TJ,(Jeeps start rusting before they leave the factory).

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Can you buy these products off the shelf in the US? I looked at the website but they didn't seem to have it for sale. How much is a can of rust check?
Up here, a can is somewhere around 7 or $8 Cdn. I looked around and found this stuff here..http://www.boeshield.com/index.htm

 

It looks to be the same kind of oily-waxy mixture...you might want to check it out.

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