Dan Kuechle

I get the impression that undercoating has lost a lot of its popularity over
the past few years, as there are very few listings in my local yellow pages.
I'm sure this is due to the auto manufactures doing a better job, but I'm
still considering getting my new (to me) 2002 - XG350 undercoated, and would
like to get the net's opinion as to whether its worth it. Most of these
undercoating companies want you to come in every year and get it "touched
up". I'm not a big fan of taking my car anywhere, as I prefer to do the
work myself (if I can), and I doubt I'd get the car back to the undercoater
every year. On a related note, has anyone tried the undercoating kit
available thru JC Whitney? If looks like for around $150 you can get the
equipment to do a car yourself. It comes with two dozen hole plugs, which
means you need to drill about 20 holes in the car to get the job done which
I worry about. Comments?

Thanks
Dan

Brian Nystrom

Dan Kuechle wrote:

> I get the impression that undercoating has lost a lot of its popularity over
> the past few years, as there are very few listings in my local yellow pages.
> I'm sure this is due to the auto manufactures doing a better job, but I'm
> still considering getting my new (to me) 2002 - XG350 undercoated, and would
> like to get the net's opinion as to whether its worth it. Most of these
> undercoating companies want you to come in every year and get it "touched
> up". I'm not a big fan of taking my car anywhere, as I prefer to do the
> work myself (if I can), and I doubt I'd get the car back to the undercoater
> every year. On a related note, has anyone tried the undercoating kit
> available thru JC Whitney? If looks like for around $150 you can get the
> equipment to do a car yourself. It comes with two dozen hole plugs, which
> means you need to drill about 20 holes in the car to get the job done which
> I worry about. Comments?

It seems like you're confusing "undercoating" with "rustproofing". The
former is exactly what it sounds like, coating the underside of the car.
The latter involves drilling holes in the car and spraying the interior
of body panels.

It seems to me that undercoating has some merit (and you can easily do
it yourself), but with the new steels and paint processes being used
today, plastic fender liners and such, rustproofing is probably a waste
of money. With either, be careful that you don't plug any drains or you
can end up causing more trouble than you prevent.