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Any rust on your prius from salty roads?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by ski.dive, Nov 10, 2009.

  1. ski.dive

    ski.dive Active Member

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    ***rust report:
    I'm going to take my prius to 'snow country' this winter and i will like to know about rust on your prius from winter driving.
     
  2. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    None so far.

    Tom
     
  3. NYPrius1

    NYPrius1 Active Member

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    I have an 07, After 2 winters in snowy upstate NY None so far, :rockon:
    Hope This Helps.
     
  4. bufffy21798

    bufffy21798 Junior Member

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    I have an 04, have none so far. The first owner before me was in Wisconsin..
     
  5. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Do any of you have aftermarket rustproofing?
     
  6. markderail

    markderail I do 45 mins @ 3200 PSI

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    NADA !!! Color me surprised. Silver Prius, with plenty of dings and scratches. Bought in Sept 2006.

    The only place I can actually see something like rust, is on the front disks. Not the calipers or the pad or the wheel, the actual disk that doesn't come into contact with the pads.

    Now, I've done 60k KM's and about to do my fourth winter here in Montreal - what many consider to be the Winter Salt Capital of the World.

    I don't keep my car inside the garage during the winter.

    I had the 3M invisible bra done in the front and the sides up to the doors. I'm thinking that other than saving scratches, it was not worth it. However it only cost me 300$ - including the two headlights and fog lights.

    hope this helps
     
  7. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    No. I don't consider it a good idea on a Prius.

    Tom
     
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  8. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    None so far here either, visible from "topside". Underneath, the engine rear support has some. It sticks down quite a ways and probably has been "cleaned" by road debris and I suppose it's the part that has bottomed out on some particularly large mall "speed bumps". The rest of the underside is also rust free (other than the exhaust, of course).

    No extra "rustproofing".
     
  9. Philosophe

    Philosophe 2010 Prius owner

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    Could you explain why? I'm still wondering if I should do it or not, assuming I would ask that they don't spray any on the orange cables and probably the same for the hatch door and hood (they can't rust).

    (Also see this thread: Oil based rust protection not recommended by Toyota Canada)
     
  10. 2009Prius

    2009Prius A Wimpy DIYer

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    One annoying place is between the wheel and the hub. They rust and fuse together, making it difficult to remove the wheels. :( Last time when I rotate tires I put a very thin layer of grease. Hope it helps. :)
     
  11. firepa63

    firepa63 Former Prius Owner

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    Aftermarket rustproofing is not needed on the Prius. Nor is it needed on any new car ... well, maybe the Yugo, if you can find a new one.
     
  12. 2009Prius

    2009Prius A Wimpy DIYer

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    I also read somewhere that the nuts and bolts on the underside tend to rust.
     
  13. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    What is this rust you speak of? :madgrin:
     
  14. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Apparently it is a form of steel with a somewhat reduced tensile strength.

    Tom
     
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  15. sandsw

    sandsw Member

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    AKA [FONT=&quot]ferocious[/FONT] oxide

    Warwick
     
  16. BAllanJ

    BAllanJ Active Member

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    Well, my '88 corolla is rusty enough that I've been getting it sprayed with a bilayer oil annually to keep it from getting worse, although any car old enough to vote doesn't really owe me anything. I'll think about getting my prius oil sprayed in a decade or so. Kingston's winter specialty is slush, followed by ice, so they spread a lot of salt here. If global warming accelerates, maybe that'll end soon.
     
  17. Palmetto

    Palmetto Junior Member

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    None so far on my '08. We experienced a very snowy winter last year...lot's of salt put down.

    I try to avoid commercial auto washes, but, I will clean the dried salt off the car when it needs it.
     
  18. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Modern cars from reputable manufacturers have very good corrosion resistant materials (galvanized steels, aluminum, plastics) and very good protective paint jobs. Any aftermarket rustproofing will unavoidably punch holes in those factory anti-corrosion layers and not perfectly seal them, and probably block up drainage holes that should be left open. This does more harm than good, and it's just not worth it.

    Punctures through coatings down to bare steel of course have to be repaired promptly in any case.
     
  19. BAllanJ

    BAllanJ Active Member

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    I'm definitely against those old rust proofing sealers, since they held the moisture in... but I'm ok with the bilayer oil treatments on older cars, after they've started to rust a bit. People who think cars don't rust anymore just don't keep their cars very long, or don't spend 5 months of the year driving in the electrolyte spray we do here. One thing that will definitely lengthen the rustfree life of your doors is keeping those little weeping holes at the bottom inside of the doors clear (toothpicks can work). Water will get inside your doors at the window seal.... gotta let it out.
     
  20. Philosophe

    Philosophe 2010 Prius owner

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    In my case, I was refering to Antirouille Metropolitain, whose technology came from a para-public research center about 30 years ago. They cover both the underside/fenders, inside of the doors, and the interior of door bottoms (complete list here). Cars treated by them won't rust from the inside out in 15 years (from personal experience).

    I guess my original question relates specifically to the relative usefulness of the treatment on a car with an engine compartment "floor", aluminum engine, aluminum hood and trunk doors and special high voltage orange cables that Toyota recommend not to be sprayed on (to avoid them becoming gunky and unidentifiable over time).

    At the moment, I'm thinking about doing annually, but specifying that I don't want the hood, hatch door and orange cabling to be sprayed. Maybe the whole engine compartment should not receive any oil also...