Hi folks,

I'm not sure if there's a more appropriate newsgroup for this question,
since it's not really Hyundai specific. That being said, I recently
bought a 2005 Hyundai Elantra VE (5door) and have been thinking about
various rustproofing options. I live in Ottawa, Canada, so winter driving
tends to involve plenty of snow, slush, and salt - a nasty combination for
rust.

Various garages around town offer everything from a straight underbody
spray, to drilling holes all over the place to inject rustproofing
compound into every crack and crevice in the car. My question is: Does
any of this actually work, and if so, what is the best option to choose?
Most rustproofing places offer 'guarantees', but they are all guarantees
against PERFORATION by rust and only valid if I come back every year to
get the rustproofing redone. To me that's a pretty useless guarantee -
I'm not going to let a spot of rust sit around long enough to completely
rust through the metal... I want my car to be rust-FREE for as long as
humanly possible.

Any advice? I'm really hesitant about letting someone drill holes in
panels to inject rustproofing compounds... it seems to me that would
INCREASE the chance of rust by providing an opportunity for moisture to
get in when it otherwise wouldn't be able to.

 

While im not an expert on this topic, i believe your Hyundai warranty
covers rusting of panels for 80,000 miles (?) . I dont think its a
worthwhile investment based on that, and, since the metal is now
galvanized on automobiles . It may help in noise reduction somewhat
though .

 

P.S. If i were going to do it, i think id buy a few cans of spray
Rustproofing from the store and do just the undercarriage.

 

With the advent galvanized sheet metal rustproofing is pretty much a
waste of money. The holes they drill in the body panels are probably
more likely to cause problems than the rustproofing is to prevent them.
It might be worthwhile to undercoat the car periodically, but the fender
liners are plastic, so the major issue there is gone, too.

You best bet is to just check the car over periodically and make sure to
touch up any paint damage quickly. If you see any rusting underneath,
you can spray it with undercoat from an auto parts store.