Car Undercoating – Should You Do It?

My son -in-law is stationed at Fort Lenenwood,Missouri. They just bought a 2012 Yukon. It does not have an undercoating on it and the shops are quoting anywhere from $600.00 to $2500.00. Is there a product on the market for the DIY. I do enjoy your articles as they are very informative. Thank You for your time.

John

Hi there John,

Most vehicles at some kind of factory undercoating on them…in the critical spots to help reduce road noise.  If you are not driving in heavily salted streets, I don’t think I would bother doing it. If you are in salty climates, then ok, maybe it would be a good investment…but the parts that seem to rust most are like the brakes, front end suspension parts etc. which can not be undercoated anyway.

There is a pretty popular undercoating company, ZieBarts that I would recommend to you (although its been years since I had a vehicle undercoated)  also notice they sell it as “sound barrier”.

There is also a product you can buy at your local auto parts store which is “rubberized undercoating” and its sold in an aerosol spray can, but it will take a case or more to really get much coverage.

We use this stuff when ever we weld onto a frame to keep it from rusting and to make it look better. I am not sure how much salt protection…or sound barrier protection it will really give you since it dries pretty thin.

Inside the fender well prepared to be undercoated. Most cars however have a plastic inner fender “skirt” not metal anymore.

If you look under the vehicle, there really isn’t many places to safely undercoat these days. In the older vehicles, there is a ton of room under the floorboards, the trunk, inside the fender wells etc. etc. but now, not too much is “bare” and needs to be coated.

Now, if you live in a snowy climate area where they salt the roads, it might be beneficial to undercoat as much as you can to prevent salt/rust damage from happening. But then again, most of the salt damage I see is on the brakes, exhaust system, shocks and struts etc. which you can not undercoat.

Thanks for your email, have a great night.
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Austin Davis