New car undercoating
 

Opted out of the dealer's sell for their protection package of undercoating, rust protection, fabric protection etc, however, wondering should I still go get an undercoating done?

If yes, anywhere you guys recommend? Range of cost?

Be done on a 2014 Toyota Rav4.

I can get it done for you for $150.

Guessing this be at a Honda dealership? (based on pic) Lol or literally you do it?

should wait for a few dry sunny days before doing it so there isnt moisture

i would opt out until spring! this shit wont dry and cure properly while its wet and cold out...

i know this from experience

And you shouldn't drive the car for a good 24 hours after you do it. And the colder it is outside the longer you should wait for the undercoat to dry.

The fabric protection/paint protection dealers offer are nothing more than some spray and a coat of sealant, so good job on opting out of it.

The undercoat is a good idea though, $150 is a good deal. I think I paid around that price to have my car done, and I knew the people that did it from having worked at a car dealership that sent our cars there.

EDIT:Snails and Nvasion beat me to it...

Does it matter if you wait a ~year after purchasing a new car to get it undercoated? I wouldn't mind getting mine done this summer...

Hopefully no more snow/salt goes on the road between now and till spring then. :okay:

A lot of modern cars have a plastic shroud covering their underbody I assume these kind of cars do not need it?

dosnt matter, dont get it done thru the dealership, go straight to the people that do it, and try to get them to avoid suspension components, sometimes they can be lazy and it makes a huge mess later..

At first I bought into it (I had done no research yet cause the car purchase was news to me). All that "Oh costs 500 for just one package, but we are having a special we give you all 4 protections for only $999!!". Got home and did some research to hear its pretty much what you have said, a total scam. So yeah.. told them wanted to opt out.

Do you happen to know which place does it directly? Thanks!

Contact up TheSalesMan considering he just said he would be able to undercoat. Or google Vancouver Auto Detailling undercoat

i will find contacts for a few local Langley ones we deal will and update later

Yeah I used to do the packages for a couple of the dealerships I worked out.

The fabric protection comes in a spray bottle and you just spray it onto the seats and carpets. If the car has leather there is this "Leather protectant", which just looks like leather conditioner, that you rub onto the surfaces and buff off.

The paint protection is just some sort of sealant, I would apply it then buff it off just like wax. At one of the dealerships I was told to only do the horizontal surfaces of the car (AKA the roof, the hood, the trunk, and maybe a bit of the fenders). So the entire car did not even get the treatment. I did not agree with this policy since the people were paying for the product to be on the entire car, so I applied it to the entire car if I had enough time to do so, and just kept quite about it.

I vividly remember one situation where I was not done with a vehicle and the salesman pulled the car away without me having applied the paint protection. When I came back and realized I was told it was fine, and that the car was already delivered since the customer came early. Needless to say I didn't work at this dealership very long after that.

What I am getting at here is that the rust protection/undercoat is the only useful part of this entire package, and the dealers I worked for would farm this out to local shops who did this type of work. In North Vancouver most of the automall uses Bashirs auto (which is a good company to get this done at). The only two dealers I know that did not use Bashirs were Lexus and BMW cause they did applied undercoat in house.

Bashirs does a good job and I had them do my car They put the vehicle on a lift, and carefully spray undercoat on the necessary areas. I actually watched him do a large portion of the chassis and the guy did a good job avoiding suspension components and other parts which should not have anything on them for future service.

I was lucky in that I lived only like 2 minutes from the shop where they did the undercoat so after only abut 2 hours I carefully (I was going like 20km/h), drove the car home and left it parked for 24 hours before driving it.

As stated this kinda has to be done in warmer weather because otherwise the coating won't cure or it will take forever to cure.

I under coat all my cars, it's the only thing I opt for at the dealership.
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The fabric protectant is probably Scotchgard, which is actually pretty effective but it's only $10 a can in retail stores, and it's really easy to apply yourself.

Paint protection as mentioned is usually just a sealant, the better ones can last up to half a year or so. If you go elsewhere you can find something like opti-coat, which is closer to a second coat of clear and is much more durable than any wax or sealant. Not sure about the price though...

I've a few questions myself on rustproofing/undercoating, do you all have a preference towards one or the other? When I say undercoating I mean the black tar or rubber-based ones, and rustproofing being the oil/grease coatings. I applied a layer of formula 2000 rust proofing spray myself since it's easy to work with (albeit messy), and it seems to be doing alright so far.

Damn thats some bad sounding service... Toyota was saying it would be a lifetime warranty as long as the vehicle remained under my name.. Re-apply whenever I wanted and every 2 years they would do the inspection and re-detail again.

Anyone have any reviews/experience on this place? Vancouver Auto Detailing Service - Under Coating Engine Clean Car Wash

Yeah needless to say I did not like working for that company.

Yes, many of these "protection packages" come with warranties and all that jazz. Truth is if you look at the fine print, it says the car needs to be brought in yearly for inspection and re-application, and a whole whack of other fine print type stuff.

And when you finally do believe that the sealant is not doing its job, and you want to claim under the warranty you were given, they can make any excuse under the sun to deny you any sort of payout. Everything from, you park the car outside, to poor maintenance, to accident history, etc.

Basically what I am getting at is, you will never get a penny out of these companies, and when you bring the car back for re-application the dealer will rush the individual for that service, because it is not making them any money. So that person will do a shitty job. Save your money 900 bucks and spend it on a proper detail and protection package once a year for the next 3 years...

Yeah this is bang on, none of the products or services used by these packages are revolutionary in any way. They may make it seem like that, but its not like these companies have found some magic formula. They are just using the power and persuasion of the dealership to sell a product at a ridiculous mark-up.

At the dealerships I have worked at it is normally the financing person you talk to at the dealer who tries to sell you on these packages because they receive commission when they sell these products.

go to the automotive detailing and car care tech section of this board and ask 911fanatic for his opinion of everything you just asked.

his shop is Welcome to [Autowerkes Exclusive] - [detailing for fanatics] .

and if you are looking for a paint protection package that actually works, look up opti coat. 911fanatic recommends that product as well :thumbsup:

http://www.moneysense.ca/wp-content/.../Fargo_322.jpg
Well, we've never done this before. But seeing as it's special circumstances and all, he says I can knock a hundred dollars off that Trucoat.

I've bought three cars in North Vancouver since 2006 and the dealers used North Pro Auto Detailing (except Regency Nissan). I went direct to him on my last two, but he wouldn't do that if you bought from certain dealers (I know VW and Audi use him). I got them to undercoat my truck, and he knew I lived in Squamish so they laid it on thick and did a great job. They did a good job on both of my VWs as well.

Anyways - I like having undercoating, even if it just for some sound dampening of the sand/rocks on the road kicking up in the winter.

All the JP dealers, Ford, Regency, & Mazda use Bashirs auto.

I am unsure about other dealers besides BMW & lexus.