I have a 2017 Corolla le, bought from the dealer in 2022. Car was and is spotless. I had Toyota do the “only one time needed” rust treatment. However, at Jiffy Lube they recently added a comment on my invoice: :undercoat recommended. What do you think? Do I need to have it done, or is the Toyota treatment enough? Thanks
No, and do not go to jiffy lube for any thing. You might have been lucky in the past, but the people at fast lube places are usually not mechanics. Undercoating is usually not desirable.
I really question this rust treatment the dealership applied to a five year old car.
If you live where salt is used on the roads, rust has already started long before you bought the car.
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I’d be concerned what sort of undercoating product they’d use. If it is a thick type, rubberized, it can trap & hold water thrown up from the road, and cause rust problems. I believe there are thin-layer applied undercoating products, wax-, or oil-based. Those make more sense imo. One of my high school friends sprayed the underside of his car with the used motor oil from the last engine oil change. Made a bit of a mess, but was probably a pretty effective rust-repellent. On a 2017 Corolla, the best option is probably to do nothing. I’ve never applied any undercoat product to my 30 year old Corolla from day one.
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I second that. I would not let Jiffy Lube wash my windows let alone change my oil.
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What they said. Jiffy Lubes are infamous for recommending unneeded work, doing it, often badly, or not doing it and charging for it anyway. Run away!
Undercoating is applied for sound deadening, and if not done right can promote rust.
Cars today don’t need rust proofing either.
Tester
I think they are upselling. IMO you never needed the rust treatment to begin with and don’t need a second treatment now. I used to use JL for oil changes and they always tried to sell many other things. I always said no.
Cars in buffalo NY need rustproofing if you drive them to commute in the winter and want to get more than 10 years out of them. We use tons of salt and other chemicals, have a lot of snow and the temp is usually going from below freezing to jusr above freezing most of the winter in the temps when rust is most active.
Use real rustproofing, not undercoating. Ziebart is the most widely known, the Canadians swear by Krown.
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I live in MInnesota, and nobody rust-proofs their vehicles.
Why?
It’s no longer required.
Tester
Agreed. Certain areas of the country like Buffalo or Syracuse or upper Michigan where they get a LOT of snow and thus a lot of road salt…it’s a good idea to get rust proofing. Here in NH, we only average 1/3rd the snow Syracuse receives, so I don’t recommend rust proofing here.
Your conditions are not your conditions. I agree , most areas of the country don’t need rustproofing. But we get a lot of snow witg warmer temps than you do and use a loty more saly because our highway departments have a bare roads policy. Getting car and inderbody washes don’t help much because you can’t get it home without the salt bath that is our streets even when it isn’t snowing because of the melting,salt laden snowbanks thet line our streets. Our left side brakes freeze up from rust because we splash the salt slush every time we pass a car going the other way. My 2012 Camry had a frozen left rear caliper after only 2 years and 21,000 miles. The right side has never needed replacing. Once I stopped commuting, things got much better because I did not need to go out in the winter if I did not want to.
My sons’ 2007 Sonata needed a rear brake job at 17,000 miles and one and a half years old. The dealers around here recommend disassembling, cleaning and lubing the brakes yearly on new cars. I have never done that because the new parts every 2 years are cheaper that the service.
My son moved to Florida with that car afteranother brake job and never needed another brake job on that car for the nexr 8 years when it was totaled.
I live in Minnesota!
Here’s what it looked like here a month ago.
If I didn’t say where this is, would you believe it could be Buffalo, Syracuse, or upper Michigan?
And still, nobody wastes their money on rust-proofing.
https://www.cartalk.com/blogs/dear-car-talk/just-say-no-rustproofing
Tester
As I said before, the differences are the warmer Buffalo temps, the frequency of the snow and the insane amount of salt and other chemicals. Your pic looks like there is a lot of sand on the road, which works better in the cold but is seldom used here in Western NY.
Most people here don’t buy rustproofing either. They lease
their cars which is one way to deal with the salt.
He said extra rust protection is no longer done by manufacturers, since cars are sold in various climates.
. That stuff about different climates is complete claptrap, Barb.
BOGUS!
Tester
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I would use woolwax or fluid film, not a rubberized undercoating, that will just lead to more rust as moisture gets trapped under it.
Or like said, if you live in an area that gets lots of road salt and snow, maybe not even bother, it’s a fight you will not win.
@YoshiMoshi3 are you and John Smith 0909 the same person ? And if so why do you have to accounts ?
Bill Russell had two accounts, Where’s Rick had three, are they in jail now?
Rustproofing is not a rubberized product, it is either oil or wax based, very clingy and with lots of creep. It is sprayed all over the undercarriage and covers brake and fuel line plus all the sheet metal.it is also sprayed inside doors and rockers and other enclosed areas. Yes, you are going to lose th4e rust battle, but you are trying to delay it as long as possible.