Undercoating - Rust Prevention The Old Fashion Way

[jbumps wvu mntrs]

This will be my first post to PC so I'm excited to see what everyone can offer me for advice. I purchased my 2008 Prius just over a week ago and have never been so excited about a car. I traded a 2002 ford focus in and, unlike most other cars of its age that spent their years driving in Vermont winters, the car was spot less when it came to rust. I always had the old fashion undercoating (heated bar and chain oil and a parafin wax mix) applied every year or every other year. My dad has done the same with each of his last three trucks (which he keeps for 6-10 years) and they are all still on the road and in excellent shape, despite the harsh conditions in the winter. My question concerns whether or not this could potentially interfere with any of the technology on the prius. The issue of trapping salt/corrosives shouldn't be an issue with this type of undercoating but any opinions to the contrary and other advice would be greatly appreciated!!

[Bill Merchant]

Welcome to PriusChat, jbumps wvu mntrs! Wow, what a name!

I don't think undercoating is needed, but I also don't think it could hurt any of the HSD technology, since that's all in the motor/engine/power-split-device up front. One thing to be aware of, though: the Prius has plastic panels on the underside of the car to increase aerodynamics. You'd want to remove those so you could get undercoating on the body, not the plastic, and then replace them to cut the wind drag under the car.