Mopar undercoat?

[starrskream]

Just picked up a 2023 rubicon 2 days ago. 43 miles on it!
dealer offered me the mopar undercoat for basically free. (500$ vs the 1200$ cost) I’ve been a buyer there a long time.
so I said ok great!
As it was explained to me it’s a non rubber permanent liquid/ wax like substance.
they dry the underneath with blowers to ensure it’s 100% dry. Apply it underneath and inside the doors. Then let it sit for about 2-3 hours. It comes with a lifetime rust guarantee.

Anyone familiar with this stuff? its not fluid film as far as I can tell. Even if it’s snake oil , they guarantee I’m going to be rust free forever.

Thanks for this info!

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[MPMB]

I had to shell out $400 for the TruCoat.

 

[Alfonz]

 

[starrskream]

@Alfonz Haha it was the 1200$ option on the list of coatings. Not sure what the name was. Honestly, if jeep is going to guarantee me in writing that I won’t rust the bottom of anything I’ll take that bet.
I live in NY and they literally salt so hard the roads are white for 4-5 months a year. They even use liquid salt !

 

[jac04]

It comes with a lifetime rust guarantee.
...
Even if it’s snake oil , they guarantee I’m going to be rust free forever.

That is not likely what the guarantee verbiage states. You need to look at the guarantee terms & conditions to see if they only cover rust perforation and if they cover aluminum panel corrosion. Who backs the guarantee? Also, how does their undercoating affect the factory corrosion warranty, which usually has a stipulation that the use of aftermarket products voids the warranty?

 

[starrskream]

@jac04 those are good questions to ask. I’ll ask that when I pick it up today. I definitely trust my dealer. I’ve known the guy who sold me the car for 15 years, and been a customer there 5 years.
according to the dealer, in his words “if it ever rusts we will fix it”

 

[jac04]

^^ Until it comes time to actually fix it.
IMO, you don't want to take the word of a dealer on anything.

 

[KevinC]

You confused me, which isn't hard to do. You said basically free ($500 vs. $1200)

So did you pay $500 for it? That isn't basically free. That is a lot of Rust Oleum Flat Black spray paint though.

 

[916WI]

It's probably similar (or the same) product from NHOU
https://nhoilundercoating.com/rust-prevention-rustproofing-nhou/
I like it because it is much more permanent than fluid film. They basically spray the undercarriage/frame/suspension components with a flat black wax. Then they spray oil inside of the openings at the door base, inside the frame rails, tailgate and inside of the splashguards of the fenders.
Having had frames literally rot out from the salt covering the roads of the Wisconsin winters, the $6-700 I spent on this was cheap insurance.
The benefit to this is that the wax will not hold salt/water in the way traditional undercoating does. It's pliable and doesn't crack-you can scrape it off with your fingernail......

 

[TheRealStreetcommander]

If it’s wax-petroleum based and not a paint or polymer product, I would buy it, even for $500. A good quality do-it-yourself cavity wax or cosmoline type product will cost you $200-400, just for the material.

 

[JW Jeep]

I was in the autobody business for 30 plus years in New York before moving west. A lot has to do with prep and the installer. Back in the day with Rusty Jones stuff I had a vehicle with window problems come to find out the doors were full of it ?. Rusty Jones company put the stuff inside the body panels also. Their warranties were for as long as you owned the vehicle if I remember right. We had trucks in the 80s that we replaced almost every panel but it had to be perforation not just surface rust. They tried to buy the contracts back from people and finally went bankrupt. Get any warrantee in writing for sure !!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

There's no "MOPAR" undercoating. There's dealer undercoating, sure.

I've had new vehicles both with and without and tend to buy a quality undercoating based on my experiences (with my own, plus classics I've worked on for others)
What our dealer does is send them to a company not far away - and man, is that stuff sticky and soft. It helps deaden sound, and even 2 years later it's gooey on bolts and nuts.
It's not like the stuff that gets hard fast and peels back and allows sand and water to be trapped.
The underside of my 70 Javelin was rust-free when I bought it in 2005. It had dealer undercoating (listed on the original invoice) and all those years later was still doing the job. It did such a good job the front springs hadn't rusted where they caught overspray and the original part number tags were still there. The car had come from PA and Ohio, then to NE, then to MN, then to IA. You can bet it had seen some winters.

 

[starrskream]

If it’s wax-petroleum based and not a paint or polymer product, I would buy it, even for $500. A good quality do-it-yourself cavity wax or cosmoline type product will cost you $200-400, just for the material.

that’s exactly what it was. They did inside door panels, entire underbody and frame as well as wheel wells and under the hood. I hope the smell goes away though. My truck smells like a candle lol.

I also looked into the warranty it comes with. I have 2500$ credit towards any repairs(per incident) for as long as I own the vehicle.

 

[briscoelab]

There's no "MOPAR" undercoating. There's dealer undercoating, sure.

I've had new vehicles both with and without and tend to buy a quality undercoating based on my experiences (with my own, plus classics I've worked on for others)
What our dealer does is send them to a company not far away - and man, is that stuff sticky and soft. It helps deaden sound, and even 2 years later it's gooey on bolts and nuts.
It's not like the stuff that gets hard fast and peels back and allows sand and water to be trapped.
The underside of my 70 Javelin was rust-free when I bought it in 2005. It had dealer undercoating (listed on the original invoice) and all those years later was still doing the job. It did such a good job the front springs hadn't rusted where they caught overspray and the original part number tags were still there. The car had come from PA and Ohio, then to NE, then to MN, then to IA. You can bet it had seen some winters.

I was just about to reply exactly this. This is no such thing as a MOPAR undercoating. The said, a wax/petroleum or cosmoline type coating can help a lot. $500 isn't a bad price to pay if hey use quality product and do a good job.

 

[Rusty PW]

I was in the autobody business for 30 plus years in New York before moving west. A lot has to do with prep and the installer. Back in the day with Rusty Jones stuff I had a vehicle with window problems come to find out the doors were full of it ?. Rusty Jones company put the stuff inside the body panels also. Their warranties were for as long as you owned the vehicle if I remember right. We had trucks in the 80s that we replaced almost every panel but it had to be perforation not just surface rust. They tried to buy the contracts back from people and finally went bankrupt. Get any warrantee in writing for sure !!

I remember Rusty Jones. If you had rust problems. They would give your money back and not fix the rust.

Back in the 70's. Every car manufacturer had rust problems because of poor metal prep and cheap steel. There were a lot of companies back then doing rust proofing. When I worked for a dealer and at Goodyear. We sprayed vehicles all the time.

Have to remember the there is a difference between rust proofing and undercoating. Rust proofing is spraying under the vehicle plus drilling holes and spraying inside the panels and inbetween them. Undercoating is just spraying under the vehicle. What happens with any of this is they power wash under the vehicle to get all the crud out. And the vehicle is not dry and they spray over the damp and wet areas. Trapping the water under the coating. That's when you will have problems.

Had my '99 Dodge 4x4 undercoated by Ziebart. Traded it in for my '08 Power Wagon. Had 130,000 miles in it with no rust. My PW was Ziebarted. But I failed to take it back for the yearly inspection. It rusted out under the driver's seat area. Right where the rocks and stones kicked up from the tires hit. but it took 14 years and 130,000 for it to happen. My '22 JT is Ziebart undercoated. It goes in for a yearly inspection every fall before winter hits. Plus I used 3M body cavity wax inside the frame.

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