To Undercoat or Not?

[dougsnash]

My brand new 2012 IOM 2LT/RS M6 has finally arrived at the dealership after an agonizing two weeks of waiting. Unfortunately, I am 600 miles away for work and can't get my new toy till next weekend.

These regular 600 mile road trips have me a bit worried. Living in central Canada, I see some pretty extreme winter weather. While many of you will decry my using my new Camaro as a daily driver during the winter, I bought the 2LT as opposed to a 2SS specifically so I could use it on these long road trips for work. These winter road trips carry me over some of the most heavily salt laden roads in North America.

To get to my point, is there any advantage to having my new car undercoated with Rust Check or some other similar process? The Camaro has a six year rust through warranty. My 2004 Z-24 Cavalier, which has been doing my daily driving duties since new, has no significant rust anywhere and was never undercoated. On the flip side, I have a 1996 Silverado which was Rust Checked when new and it also has very little rust, esspecially compared to most any other mid-ninties Chevy trucks in my area.

Of course it goes without saying that the wheels and tires will be replaced before the snow flies but I can't decide on undercoating or not.

[OLD ZEDER]

Do it, it will help down the road at re-sale time and it will help with the rust'y. It's too late when they show up.
It is money well spent

[kjkjr27]

Originally Posted by dougsnash

My brand new 2012 IOM 2LT/RS M6 has finally arrived at the dealership after an agonizing two weeks of waiting. Unfortunately, I am 600 miles away for work and can't get my new toy till next weekend.

These regular 600 mile road trips have me a bit worried. Living in central Canada, I see some pretty extreme winter weather. While many of you will decry my using my new Camaro as a daily driver during the winter, I bought the 2LT as opposed to a 2SS specifically so I could use it on these long road trips for work. These winter road trips carry me over some of the most heavily salt laden roads in North America.

To get to my point, is there any advantage to having my new car undercoated with Rust Check or some other similar process? The Camaro has a six year rust through warranty. My 2004 Z-24 Cavalier, which has been doing my daily driving duties since new, has no significant rust anywhere and was never undercoated. On the flip side, I have a 1996 Silverado which was Rust Checked when new and it also has very little rust, esspecially compared to most any other mid-ninties Chevy trucks in my area.

Of course it goes without saying that the wheels and tires will be replaced before the snow flies but I can't decide on undercoating or not.

If your going to be using it a lot every winter then i would suggest getting it undercoated. Also if you have the stock Pirellis I would start looking for a new tire now. Those absolutely blow in the snow, I know from personal experience luckily I just got stuck going up a driveway. But I must say idk if it was a wise decision getting a camaro and using it as your dd in the winter with the weather you get up in Canada. But that is just my 2 cents. But congratz on your new ride!

[tonyko1]

Make sure the aftermarket rust proofing doesn't invalidate the body warranty. If they are just to undercoat without opening any closed seams in-between the doors or fenders, that probably would be okay. But I have read that when they drill openings in the sheet metal to get inside, it is worse than not doing it.

Biggest thing is to try to wash/rinse out the underside and any trapped areas that hold slush and such.

Good luck.

[Sandor]

The Camaro has galvanized steel for the body structure, undercoating is really not necessary and also adds weight.

[Travis64]

buy a winter beater..price of undercoat and new rims tires u might as well get a cheap car