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How well is Prius protected against rust?

Discussion in 'Prius v Main Forum' started by syscon, Jan 18, 2012.

  1. syscon

    syscon Member

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    How well is Prius protected against rust?
    Do they use all galvanized sheet panels?

    Due to hybrid system, dealer will not do any undercoating.
     
  2. Bob_Stan

    Bob_Stan New Member

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    while you can argue the merits of undercoating, the dealer provided undercoating for my 2009 GenII and 2011 GenIII with no problems. In fact I am sure it is a cash cow for the dealer.
     
  3. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    My 2004 Prius has long term dings and scratches, no undercoat and still at 216,000 miles, NO RUST. This is not a concern with recent model Toyotas.

    JeffD
     
  4. kornkob

    kornkob New Member

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    I live in Wisconsin, a place that gets lots of ice and snow and is filled with municipalities that love their salt trucks. Madison, WI loves their Prisues.

    I've never seen a rusty Prius.
     
  5. RunnerCNY

    RunnerCNY Junior Member

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    We live in the snow belt and the roads are heavily salted. Our 2005 Prius with 155,000 has absolutely no body rust. However, like any other car, rust is a problem on the brakes and some suspension parts.
     
  6. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    I'm just impressed that someone evidently found a dealer that DIDN'T want to offer undercoating.

    I think most modern vehicles are pretty well protected against rust. No manufacturer wants the publicity that their vehicles are rusting prematurely.

    I live in the Pacific NW...which is as close to living underwater as possible. And rust has really never been a problem on any vehicle I've owned.
     
  7. parnami

    parnami Member

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    My dealer made not a single inquiry about my interest in any of those flaky types of dealer options. Everything was on the complete up and up....and the transaction completed exactly as I would want it to be completed. Kudo's to Ardmore Toyota.
     
  8. Gary in NY

    Gary in NY Member

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    My dealer didn't try to sell me any undercoating or rustproofing either, and I also live where the town highway dept. just overloads the roads with salt.

    I did get dealer rustproofing on my 2 previous cars, both rusted anyway. I've concluded it's pretty worthless. Both were warrantied against rust, but I didn't get either one repaired (too much hassle, restrictive warranty terms, replacement sheet metal to fix it right was no longer available).
     
  9. natashahillier

    natashahillier New Member

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    My dealer just told me the same thing, is there a particular reason they won't do it? They recommended Diamand Kote 9000 but I have only read bad reviews on them...
     
  10. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    The trouble with rustproofing is NOT that it doesn't work.

    The trouble is that it was most often sold as a panacea and ineptly applied, either through ignorance or lack of attention to detail.

    I recently applied rustproofing to my brand new Prius"v." The only way that I know it was don right is that I did it myself.

    I've had over 50 years of experience with rust and cars. Of the 10 cars that I've own, I kept each for 10 years or more. Each was rustproofed and each was 99% rust free, when I either sold them or scrapped them.

    When rust appears on the outside of a vehicle, it is too late. A speck of rust on the outside means major hidden rust on the inside.

    My rust proofing jobs take one to two weeks to complete. No business can afford to spend so much time to do a job like that. I would only recommend rustproofing that is done by one fully knowledgeable or corrosion, automobile body structure and automobile systems. And, only this kind of owner may want to do it.

    Rustproofing outfits sell it as a panacea and only "go through the motions" to present an image that they are doing it correctly.

    Undercoating is NOT rustproofing. Rustproofing must be applied, and undercoating should be applied after rustproofing has surface hardened.

    80-90% of the ebnefits of rustproofing can be had by using a "spray can" product like Noxudol "cavity wax."

    NOXUDOL 750 - 500 ml - Aerosol

    I'd spray it into the lower cavities of doors rear hatches and trunk lids , quarter panels, rocker panels, and under frame cavities. I'd also apply a light coating to all fasteners, brake lines and fuel lines.

    I would NEVER drill holes anywhere. There are enough factory access hioles for that.

    Yearly, I'd inspect the "drain holes" at the bottom of door and cavities to make sure that they are free to drain any water. I's also clean the intake vent areas to make sure that they are clear of leaves and other debris. The area in from of the "front doors" is an area of a large volume of debris collection.

    If you live in a high road salting area, I'd wait until the first day that the car would not be subject to "nighttime" freezing to wash off the underbody with a high pressure hose stream of clear clean water.

    My thoughts.
     
  11. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    Cars just don't rot like they used to. We salt our winter roads here and when I was a wee lad a car was lucky to make it to 8 years of age. Now you get 15 or even 20 year old cars that are rust free, though usually with lots of dents and faded paint.

    Also the Prius bonnet and boot (hood and trunk?) are made of aluminium (aluminum?) so don't rust. My front bonnet is peppered with stone chips, some quite bad, but its not rusted at all.
     
  12. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    What you say is true, but very few, if any, owner really looks inside the "inner bowels" and cavities of car bodies. They would be surprised on how a car that looks so good on the outside, has internal cancerous growths.
     
  13. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    If they're bigger than a inch then my car would fail its annual inspection.