Underbody Coating

UNDER BODYCOATING

In Indian road conditions, a cars underbody is most prone to corrosion. Underbody coating provides long term protection from corrosion to car’s underbody. It also protects parts like internal body panels, frame rails and other inner cavities that are not physically accessible but are prone to corrosion.

Whether you live somewhere ice-melting chemicals are used or the roads are salted, or not, it’s still important to protect your car from rust and corrosion on the underside.

Basically, undercoating refers to the vehicle exterior while rust-proofing refers to the inside.

For the sake of this guide, we will use the word undercoating but if you’re having this work done, ask whether they will apply the treatment on the inside or outside

Everything underneath the car needs to work properly in order for you to be driving safely. You don’t see the underside of the car every day so it’s easy to forget to ensure it’s protected.

There are pros and cons to vehicle undercoating

Benefits

• Minimizes Sound: It minimizes the sound from underneath the car resulting a noiseless, smooth driving experience.

• Heat Insulation: It insulates the interior of the car from extreme temperatures from beneath the vehicle providing a comfortable cabin experience.

• Anti-chipping property: If any stone hits the coating it does not get chipped away hence protects the underbody from exposure to water

•Extend the cars life:It will extend the life of your car. Undercoating stops rust.

Corrosion isn’t just about causing an issue with the metal under your car but it can also get into cables and wires – in fact anything made of aluminum or steel can be affected including the engine and transmission.

cons

• Not Effective On Cars With Corrosion

If your vehicle already has some corrosion it isn’t as effective.

Applying undercoat over rust means that although you’re stopping more moisture and airflow to the rusted area, the rusting process will still keep happening.

An undercoat will slow down the corrosion rather than reverse or stop it. You should attempt to remove the rust before applying an undercoat.

This isn’t always easy though, since rust can penetrate deeply into the metal, so encapsulating the rust and then applying an undercoat could be a waste of money.

•makes your vechicle heavier

It makes the vehicle 10 to 20 pounds heavier which affects fuel economy (how far you can travel on one tank of gas).

This is negligible in terms of fuel costs but still something to bear in mind.

•It can be damaged

Undercoating can be damaged.

Although you can expect a hard layer of protection against debris, driving on dirty or gravel roads often means the protective layer’s integrity will be reduced over time.

•It can be expensive

Reapply it every 3 to 5 years. This is the only way to ensure your vehicle is protected properly.

Since it can cost $1500 to get the undercoating professionally applied, this is quite a big cost to do it regularly.