Hello Everyone,

What is the community thought on getting undercoating done on the TCH?

By dealer?
By yourself?

Average cost?
Worth it?

Thanks,
Mike

 

Not worth it, especially on modern cars. It may be worth it if you live an area that uses a ton of salt and you don't wash during those periods. An improper application of undercoating can actually harm your car more than it helps because certain drainage areas are now blocked. Which means you are only trapping the moisture (water) for longer periods of time.

 

In NYS we use a lot of salt. I generally have never washed my car at a car wash and certainly not during the winter. Since they use a lot of salt, how often would one want to wash their car?

 

I probably get around the same amount of snow up here in NH, and we use a lot of salt too. What I do is after a major storm or a major application of salt (you will know, your car turns white) is go to a brushless car wash and buy the cheapest option (spray, wash, rinse). You should probably wait for a day that is above freezing. This will get the majority of the salt off. If I really want to be thorough, I do a manual spray and also get the underbody as well (including wheel wells).

 

Thanks for the tip Livvie.

 

In Texas they roll something else in with the undercoating/rustproofing. Soundproofing. I never would have added the soundproofing myself, but after having it I now highly recommend it. I had a used 2006 with Nav and a bare bones 2007 about the same price. I took the 2007 based on the soundproofing and comfort package. It was twice as quite as to 2006 without it.

Sorry that the comfort package (leather and gel seats) isn't available from Toyota NY.

 

I have read about the soundproofing and couldn't figure out how you could get that much sound from beneath the car and would guess that the doors and other interior locations should be sound proofed first.

I've seen the spray soundproofing you can do your self on the underside of the car....

 

don't do the spray... same issue with rust proofing. you can clog area where you shouldn't clog.

avoid the spray all together...

the stickon sound proofing mats are the best... just requires more work to install... you pretty much have to tear out your whole interior and cut the pieces to fit perfectly. also, avoid plugging any drain plugs.

 

Well they claim to put special fittings in the body and frame (don't know if they did or not). But I can testify that it was indeed quieter. I'd suggest you try and find a Prius with the soundproofing and one without. That's what I did, and I could notice a big difference. But I'm blessed to have pretty good hearing so small sounds stand out for me.

 

When you tear out the interior, would you put it under the carpet as well? Or just in the doors, maybe behind the dash, between trunk and cabin? What kind of stickon sound proofing?

I have seen the dynamat (spelling??) cost quite a bit.