Comments
Sexy_Squid89 t1_iya93iw wrote
Today I learned that undercoating your vehicle was a thing.
HeySquirrelFriends OP t1_iyabf93 wrote
Maybe it's called something different where you are? Oil spraying? I grew up in a mechanic family and we do this yearly on all our vehicles.
Sexy_Squid89 t1_iyacb71 wrote
I grew up in a small city in the Central Valley of California. There was a lot of agriculture around me, so I can see if they did that, but I did not lol
Mydogdexter1 t1_iyacvsj wrote
Pretty popular in canada
Gemmabeta t1_iyacx1b wrote
Undercoating is practically a must if you are living in a snowy country that uses roadsalt in winter.
HeySquirrelFriends OP t1_iyad8cf wrote
I'm in Canada, we get Michigan type weather here.
HeySquirrelFriends OP t1_iyadgpi wrote
This is so strange, I'm just learning that not everyone undercoats their cars!
gastroboi t1_iyadqdt wrote
Is this a climate thing? I'm in Australia and like I said I've never heard of this.
Gemmabeta t1_iyagslf wrote
It's a road salt thing.
Lumpus-Maximus t1_iyaj8ct wrote
Not really a thing here in Miami.
Killianti t1_iyajz5r wrote
Most modern cars have frames and bodies that are completely galvanized with zinc, so corrosion doesn't spread like it did on older cars.
WesternOne9990 t1_iyanfhz wrote
Live in Minnesota and we’ve never done it to our cars but we should
RedSonGamble t1_iyassp1 wrote
Cars don’t rust as much as they use to. Mainly bc of lighter metals and more rust resistant metals.
People that religiously get their cars washed will hate this post though. I have a decent scratch on my car that goes to the metal. I live in Wisconsin. It’s been two years and it’s finally starting to rust. I should really fix it.
Sexy_Squid89 t1_iyay8t2 wrote
Ah, well that explains it. No snow whatsoever in the central valley lol
Sexy_Squid89 t1_iyayc4l wrote
You mean Michigan gets Canadian type weather... ;)
adamcoe t1_iyayqj7 wrote
No one except like half of Canada and a giant number of people in northern states, and I assume also large swaths of northern Europe.
But yeah outside of those 200 million-odd people, like no one
PeachSnappleOhYeah t1_iyb6yjk wrote
how much does this undercoating cost? asking for a friend with a car barely worth protecting
HeySquirrelFriends OP t1_iyb7dts wrote
It varies on the size of the vehicle, but most places are generally between $130-$160 CAD.
mohawk990 t1_iybaj19 wrote
Where in Texas? You must know my ex.
NetDork t1_iybdjzo wrote
San Antonio. But I'm a hermit and don't know anyone./s
Why? Does your ex have an ancient falling apart hoopty car?
eh-guy t1_iybgest wrote
Only a concern in places that get true seasons, not just four versions of summer
AirborneRodent t1_iybheb7 wrote
Too much.
Undercoating for years was synonymous with sleazy car salesmen selling you extra features you didn't need. "Bought the undercoating" was an idiom that meant you got swindled.
It's mostly forgotten today, because the metal and the paint on modern cars are far more rust-resistant than they were 40 years ago.
CanadianFooBarMan t1_iybhyt5 wrote
The eternal debate of spring undercoating vs fall undercoating.
IMHO, you only really need to get your car undercoated once every 3-5 years, as undecoating is not meant to be washed off/cleaned, and it doesn't really matter when you get it done as they clean the underside of your car anyway before applying it. What you do want to get every year done is your car rust proofed, where they spray rust proof liquid into the nooks and crannies of your car to push moisture out, and it's debatable when you want to get it done, but usually people do this in the fall because otherwise the weather warms up and that thins the coating a lot.
lifelikelifer t1_iybllb6 wrote
Pshhh. This is clearly big undercoat that posted this.
Ron Cadillac says "never get the undercoating!"
And Ron Cadillac IS FREAKING EPIC!
kozmonyet t1_iybpamx wrote
Um, no. It's the salt.
Only recently did they start using salt compounds in soaking-wet Washington state...and only recently did undercarriage rust start showing up more than superficially. Magically those both correspond.
Old-school undercoating is a huge nasty problem of itself but that's another debate.
RespawnerSE t1_iybrdcc wrote
In nothern europe, undercoating has a 50’s sound to it.
a_crusty_old_man t1_iybsecq wrote
Maybe all his exes live in Texas
NetDork t1_iybt5nj wrote
And he hangs his hat in Tennessee?
LipTrev t1_iybuj8e wrote
This is just plain false.
Places with lots of rain, lots of humidity, and no snow, that are far from salt air do not rust anything like cars that drive on salted roads, or live in a salt air environment.
And those two (salted roads versus salt air) have different rust patterns from each other.
The linked article is a Canadian website. If they lived in the American South they'd know they were lying.
LipTrev t1_iybuppw wrote
> I grew up in a small city in the Central Valley of California.
People specifically buy cars from the Central Valley due to them being usually rust free even when they are 20-30 years old. With no undercoating needed other than the usually soundproofing coating.
The coastal regions get salt air.
LipTrev t1_iybuwo4 wrote
Only true in places without road salt or salt air.
JamesDChambers t1_iybzg4h wrote
Bullshit, its a 60-100% humidity here alot and no salt on roads, but in the morth tgere is salt, all the used cars from up north are rusted, tge ones here take 20 years to.
bill1024 t1_iyc3x9q wrote
My undercoating guy says get it done when the temperature is over 10C, or it it won't creep until the spring. Up here in Canada, we won't see that temp again until next year.
bill1024 t1_iyc46bb wrote
Can confirm. In NS, we use tons of salt, and the damage is very apparent.
BabyTRexArms t1_iyc8tp9 wrote
Fellow WA state here. I noticed we recently started salting roads and I am pretty pissed about it. It doesn’t help, is bad for the environment and horrible for vehicles. I don’t remember voting for it.
[deleted] t1_iydh2in wrote
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[deleted] t1_iydh5fp wrote
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TraditionalSell5251 t1_iydjiut wrote
It doesn't help? Was under the impression the salt added traction, lowered the melting point, and absorbed some of the water, is that not the case?
BabyTRexArms t1_iydqq2t wrote
In theory, but the drawbacks heavily outweigh the benefits. They oversalt the roads here, and that mixes with meltwater and runs off into all of our water sources. Not to mention how bad it is for pretty much any surface whatsoever lol. I've never benefit from salted roads, sidewalks, anywhere.
Ewesmakepoos t1_iye4h4n wrote
I second this. Ireland is much wetter than England but we don't ice our roads like they do and the main issue with imports is rust. Changing the brakes on an English import is a nightmare due to rust where as there's almost no rust on Irish cars
Underwritingking t1_iyefjr3 wrote
I live in the UK. I haven't had to get a car undersealed since the first one I bought, back in the 1980s.
Sexy_Squid89 t1_iyegc0t wrote
Huh, I never thought about that. Interesting.
Brokinnogin t1_iyf2sg5 wrote
Its more that vehicles in areas with salted roads have this issue once the salt is hydrated.
LukeyLeukocyte t1_iyfawrd wrote
There may be bad side effects, but those roads and sidewalks would be FAR more treacherous without the road salt, no? Do you live in an area where everyone has tire chains? I guess that would make the salt less-needed.
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I always think about all the damage salt does (especially since my job is to fix parking garages - which get destroyed by road salt) but I always wonder how the heck we could live without it because society would come to a screeching halt when snow hits in my area without it. Would love an alternative but it seems far away.
LukeyLeukocyte t1_iyfbc7y wrote
You are my favorite comment of the day. Like a poem; that hit the spot so well.
happydgaf t1_iya8wlv wrote
No one undercoats cars anymore.