Undercoating a hybrid (1 Viewer)

[TOMMIEBOY]

To those in snow belt areas, are you undercoating? I've always used Corrosion Free undercoating on my cars to try to reduce the inevitable rusting from road salt during Canadian winters. When I bought my LC 250 a few weeks ago I was told by the dealer not to undercoat because of the battery and electronics and that it could actually void the warranty. I thought it was a dealer pitch to buy their electronic parasitic anode device that is supposed to replicate undercoating. I declined that option and later called Toyota Canada to get their take. They did indeed state that warranty could be void if an oil type undercoating is used.

I called several undercoating places in town and they all said they undercoating hybrid cars all the time. Not sure what to think.

Anyone else getting that message from dealers and is anyone undercoating regardless?

 

[tacoshawn]

Recommend Fluid Film (Lanolin based). Used it after getting a replacement frame on my Tacoma. Works well. Re-apply in the fall. Park outside a few days as it smells like Lanolin (Sheep wool oil). There are others that work similarly.

 

[TOMMIEBOY]

Recommend Fluid Film (Lanolin based). Used it after getting a replacement frame on my Tacoma. Works well. Re-apply in the fall. Park outside a few days as it smells like Lanolin (Sheep wool oil). There are others that work similarly.

I'm very familiar with Fluid Film, Toyota told me using it as undercoating could void my warranty.

 

[PLPResto]

To those in snow belt areas, are you undercoating? I've always used Corrosion Free undercoating on my cars to try to reduce the inevitable rusting from road salt during Canadian winters. When I bought my LC 250 a few weeks ago I was told by the dealer not to undercoat because of the battery and electronics and that it could actually void the warranty. I thought it was a dealer pitch to buy their electronic parasitic anode device that is supposed to replicate undercoating. I declined that option and later called Toyota Canada to get their take. They did indeed state that warranty could be void if an oil type undercoating is used.

I called several undercoating places in town and they all said they undercoating hybrid cars all the time. Not sure what to think.

Anyone else getting that message from dealers and is anyone undercoating regardless?

The undercoater has to just spray the metals and has to stay away from any wires, a lanolin like Woolwax

 

[TOMMIEBOY]

The undercoater has to just spray the metals and has to stay away from any wires, a lanolin like Woolwax

Yes, I understand that and it makes sense. My concern is that if something goes wrong with the hybrid and Toyota sees evidence of an undercoating having been used, they could use that as a reason to not cover the repair even if the undercoating was properly applied. Toyota didn't tell me to make sure they apply the undercoating with caution and only coat metal components, they told me not to use any type of undercoating period.

 

[Cold Iron]

Interesting, had to look that one up and it appears to be a Canadian thing. Other Toyota hybrid vehicle owners in Canada are being told the same thing. Most don't trust the Toyota\Lexus 10 year treatment no surprise there. The official reply from Toyota\Lexus Canada seems to be this canned response:

With hybrid models, application of aftermarket rustproofing such as an undercoating product, could affect the high voltage leads. As such, the application of the product could camouflage the orange high voltage leads resulting in emergency, dealership or independent facilities personnel being electrocuted or shocked if they unknowingly touch the high voltage lead.

It is always the customers decision to add or not add this type of product, however, with the company adding the product would have to be extra careful so as not to hide the high voltage leads.

Overall the canned response seems a bit vague on warranty. Laws are different in Canada then the US. That was hammered home when I was hunting the Sunset Country of Ontario last year and a CO walked to the back of the truck and opened the lid to the topper. My first thought was hey you can't do that without a search warrant! Wait in Canada he can. He was a young First Nations guy and came back to me and asked me how old my Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever was. Then pulled out his phone and started showing me pictures of his Toller, all smiles and all good. Spent the next half hour talking dogs, bird hunting and Tollers instead of him trying to find if I broke any game laws.

In the US the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act allows aftermarket parts and things like undercoating but it isn't applicable in Canada. So not sure what the correct answer is there. If it was me in Canada I'd probably go ahead with the Corrosion Free treatment, but that is me. Not sure if there is a Canadian National law or Provincial law for Ontario may be worth looking into.

Recommend Fluid Film (Lanolin based). Used it after getting a replacement frame on my Tacoma. Works well. Re-apply in the fall. Park outside a few days as it smells like Lanolin (Sheep wool oil). There are others that work similarly.

Corrosion Free is what the Canadian military uses to protect their vehicles. It is similar to FF and the first year had my Taco I tested Corrosion Free 3000 against FF on steel wool plus a control piece of wool. Sprayed the wool with a mixture of water and road salt once a week and kept them in my heated garage. Why I park outside, heat is a catalyst for rust. 20 to 30° below zero Fahrenheit not so much.

Control after 4 weeks

CF3000

Fluid Film

Corrosion Free is some good stuff, it is oil based and better than FF. But after the first year it jumped in price and have to get it from Canada so I switched to FF. For 11 years climbed under the Taco in the Fall and did it myself. Still got some rust but better than without it I'm sure.

On my GX I had NH Oil Undercoating done professionally it is basically FF on steroids DuPont beefed it up with a lot more creep and adhesion. After watching him apply it in places I never dreamed of doing with a high pressure wand I will never do it myself again. I was cleaning it up for months afterwards as it creeped out of body cavities including going UP on the outside body panels. In a couple of weeks I'll have woolwax done, professionally on the frame as it has more wash off resistance.

 

[Rednexus]

It seems preposterous that undercoating would "void a warranty" on the premise of making the orange high-voltage leads a bit less orange, while allowing the frame and suspension components to slowly corrode and weaken....

I'd read the warranty book to see what the policy is and (presuming undercoating is not prohibited explicitly), get the rig undercoated. Toyotas just don't do well in salty areas, and I'm not sure that problem has ever really been fixed. I personally use Woolwax on the outside of my frame and spray the inside of the frame rails with Fluid Film. I started doing this 4 years ago and it's done a very nice job of preventing corrosion. FF/WW are also translucent, so the HV leads will very much still be orange (albeit dirty orange).

 

[TOMMIEBOY]

Interesting, had to look that one up and it appears to be a Canadian thing. Other Toyota hybrid vehicle owners in Canada are being told the same thing. Most don't trust the Toyota\Lexus 10 year treatment no surprise there. The official reply from Toyota\Lexus Canada seems to be this canned response:

With hybrid models, application of aftermarket rustproofing such as an undercoating product, could affect the high voltage leads. As such, the application of the product could camouflage the orange high voltage leads resulting in emergency, dealership or independent facilities personnel being electrocuted or shocked if they unknowingly touch the high voltage lead.

It is always the customers decision to add or not add this type of product, however, with the company adding the product would have to be extra careful so as not to hide the high voltage leads.

Overall the canned response seems a bit vague on warranty. Laws are different in Canada then the US. That was hammered home when I was hunting the Sunset Country of Ontario last year and a CO walked to the back of the truck and opened the lid to the topper. My first thought was hey you can't do that without a search warrant! Wait in Canada he can. He was a young First Nations guy and came back to me and asked me how old my Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever was. Then pulled out his phone and started showing me pictures of his Toller, all smiles and all good. Spent the next half hour talking dogs, bird hunting and Tollers instead of him trying to find if I broke any game laws.

In the US the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act allows aftermarket parts and things like undercoating but it isn't applicable in Canada. So not sure what the correct answer is there. If it was me in Canada I'd probably go ahead with the Corrosion Free treatment, but that is me. Not sure if there is a Canadian National law or Provincial law for Ontario may be worth looking into.



Corrosion Free is what the Canadian military uses to protect their vehicles. It is similar to FF and the first year had my Taco I tested Corrosion Free 3000 against FF on steel wool plus a control piece of wool. Sprayed the wool with a mixture of water and road salt once a week and kept them in my heated garage. Why I park outside, heat is a catalyst for rust. 20 to 30° below zero Fahrenheit not so much.

Control after 4 weeks

CF3000

Fluid Film

Corrosion Free is some good stuff, it is oil based and better than FF. But after the first year it jumped in price and have to get it from Canada so I switched to FF. For 11 years climbed under the Taco in the Fall and did it myself. Still got some rust but better than without it I'm sure.

On my GX I had NH Oil Undercoating done professionally it is basically FF on steroids DuPont beefed it up with a lot more creep and adhesion. After watching him apply it in places I never dreamed of doing with a high pressure wand I will never do it myself again. I was cleaning it up for months afterwards as it creeped out of body cavities including going UP on the outside body panels. In a couple of weeks I'll have woolwax done, professionally on the frame as it has more wash off resistance.

Agreed, from my research and personal use, Corrosion Free is the best undercoating you can use. I don't think laws, whether provincial or national, come into play here. If Toyota states this in their policy and informs the consumer, they're covered, no law here is going to overturn that.

I called Toyota's Head Office in Toronto and spoke with a representative on the phone who made it more clear than the wording above and reiterated the point about possibly voiding the warranty by using any oil based undercoating including Krown, Corrosion Free, etc.