We have received conflicting advice on whether or not to rustproof our upcoming (hopefully June) Clarity. 1) We live in ottawa ontario - lots of snow and salt 2) we hope to keep it 10+ years Do most people in cold high salt areas rust proof the car? Do you use No drip rust proofing or the electronic module? I have heard both only electronic module works with an Ecar and only non drip works with an Ecar(Electric car) Any experience?
Dealer I went to recommends not rust proofing (electronic module is ok). I don't think I'm going to do it when I get the car.
When I bought my Toyota back in 2007 , it had installed a corrosion protection machine. How it works is that It produces -ve charge in the body of car. It worked very good for me so far ( I am on year 12) with almost no rust. I have not done rust proofing on that car ever. I was wondering to transfer that on my New future clarity. I pad around $ 500/- 12 yrs ago.
I'm pretty sure your Toyota stayed mostly rust free because it was a well built car. I'd leave the device off your Clarity. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/culture/commuting/do-i-need-to-install-an-electronic-rust-inhibitor/article535224/
Per Consumer Reports dealer applied rustproofing is a mistake. Manufacturers do a fine job these days. You'll just add weight reducing MPG.
Nearly all the body panels in the Clarity (all except the rear fenders) are aluminum as is much of the suspension and some structural components. The structure of the unibody is mostly high strength and ultra high strength steel but it is protected from spray and salt by all the cladding underneath (that was put in for aerodynamics--only the new Acura NSX supercar has similar panels among Honda cars). The Clarity is already one of the most rust proof cars in existence. After market rustproofing will likely do more damage than good.
Yes, also there's alot of high voltage gear and electronics all over the place so the oil-based annual rust proofing sprays like Krown might impact. Krown was fantastic for our previous all-steel cars, Odyssey & Lexus GS, they went 15 years without any rust and Krown guaranteed for the lifetime of the car no rust perforation if treated annually from the first 30 days on the road.
I can't figure out how you would rustproof this car. Looking underneath, there are so many covers the length of the car, the battery, cooling and electrical lines, etc. Best I can hope for is to flush out the undercarriage every Spring. Another thing I noticed was a fair amount of rust on the nuts and bolts under the car as well as the side seams of the steel cover plates under the car. I bought the car in June, so I haven't driven through salt yet.
