Undercoating Options For Your Car, Truck, Or SUV

Undercoating your new car, truck, or SUV might not be something you had even considered but if you live in a part of the country where snow is common and the roads are salted regularly, undercoating can save your vehicle from rust and rot and is a great preventative measure. When you consider the cost of the vehicle and the cost of the car undercoating, the long-term savings make it worth the expense for most people.

What Is Undercoating?

If you have never heard of undercoating, it is basically a coating that is sprayed on the metal under your car. Most of the time it is applied to the body and frame but not the suspension or driveline parts. It is sprayed on in a thick coat and allowed to cure. Once complete, the undercoating will help insulate the body from corrosive salt and other road debris and reduces the noise inside the vehicle.

Professional Versus DIY

There are do it yourself alternatives for undercoating but the job can be messy and applying it with a brush or roller is going to make it hard to get in the tight sports of inside the frame. Having the undercoating professionally sprayed onto the underside of the vehicle not only gives you better coverage, it makes it possible to reach all those places you can get with the brush. Inside the closed frame of a unibody car is one critical spot that you can't reach with a brush. A professional installer will insert a spray wand inside the holes along the frame to get that area quickly and efficiently. The choice is yours. You can spend a weekend spraying inside the tight spots with messy spray cans or you can pay for the services of a professional.

Warranties Against Rust

One thing you do get with the professional undercoating systems is a warranty against rust for a period of time specified by them when they do the work. Some of these companies guarantee their work for as long as 20 years and if it is done right, it can protect your car for the entire warranty period or even beyond it. If you live in a snow belt, it is a good idea to get a price for having your car or truck undercoated as soon as you take it off the car lot.

New Versus Old

It is clear that you can have your new vehicle undercoated but what about an older car you bought used? Some places will do your used car but they will not include the warranty. Because they do not know the history of the car, there is no way to know that it has not been exposed to the salt and de-icing agents on the road for years. If the body is clean and rust free, the can may benefit from undercoating, even without that warranty.


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