Need help: Is this car's undercarriage in bad condition? Looking to buy soon.

looks like some kind of undercarriage coating, but i can't be sure from the pic. what does it feel like?

it also looks like some of the aero covers are missing. ask them to include in the purchase price.

prius doesn't have a ton of rust problems, although things can look rusty

 

no, the entire underbody has plastic covers for aerodynamics. there is an oil flap that often breaks, and sometimes, people just remove the whole front section for service, and never replace it.

those circled sections don't look too unusual. see if you can find one to look at for comparison.

is it a one owner, always registered in ny?

 

Typically a car that has been treated with “Fluid Film” will collect dust like this. Although the dust looks unsightly, the “FluidFilm” is probably the best solution for rust preventative maintenance. It’s an oily product so you can expect a build up of road film and dust. Your picture seems to look like this is the case.
A good test would be to rub your finger across a section of the undercarriage. If your finger comes up with an oily dirt mixture you should be fine.

 

Yeah, it looks like under body coating. If you can touch the part with you finger and comes off it is likely something similar to Fluid Film mentioned above.

 

Let sleeping dogs lie.

 

not sure on the costs, depends on what is missing. probably a few hundred.

 

If it is Fluid Film, then they do recommend annual "touch-up" coating application. It is not permanent like some other undercover coating that hardens like plastic.

 

Absolutely correct, Haschwalt!
BTW, the rubberized undercoatings that are used are death on the undercarriage of cars that are driven in the “ Rust Belt”. These types of coatings promote rust damage by trapping road salts an moisture in between the metal and the coating. By all means, stay away from this type of product.

 

sorry i don't know the answer to that. not sure if he is correct or not. hopefully bzzap does

 

There is the possibility that the PO removed them because on dirt roads. Those underpanels can collect copious amounts of brine saturated dirt.

It doesn’t appear that the car has rubberized undercoat. If that was the case, you would have no doubt because the car would in all likelihood be a rusted, see-through rust bucket.

 

I think it's OK.