Moving to Florida...rust protection?

[boostfrk]

My wife and I are moving to Melbourne, FL (10-20 minutes from the ocean) and will be there for 2-3 years. People have warned us about getting some sort of rust protection for our vehicles ('11 Pilot and '06 Subaru), although they haven't been very specific about what kind of protection. The thought is that being so close to the sea the air has a higher salt content and therefore any corrosion process will be sped up.

Anyone have experience with this? Would this just be an undercoating on the bottom side of the cars?

I'm fairly religious about washing/waxing, but don't want to ruin either of our vehicles if there is something else I should be doing.

[blueintegraboy]

I live in Hawaii and my car other car is 13 years old, and has been near the ocean for all 13 years. The undercarriage has no rust at all. Minor rust spots from paint chips, but mostly due to lots of rain we get.

I just moved to FL too for school. I don't think you'll need the rust protection IMO.

[whizmo]

There's very little evidence that aftermarket rustproofing works and even some evidence that it promotes corrosion by trapping moisture. And modern cars use galvanized body panels which are extremely corrosion resistant.

Save your money. Instead, spend it on a weekly car wash and an occasional underbody cleaning. Touching up paint chips will help also.

- Mark

[n2da2nd]

I used to live in Indiana and had my 2007 Corolla S rustproof for $500 when I bought it. Drove the car for 2 years in IN and move to Miami recently. To be honest, I don't think you need rustproof on your cars unless Florida start snowing and the state decides to spray salt on the road to defrost the snow Like Mark has said, modern cars already have corrosion resistant, so save that money for car wash and detail
P.S: If you still wanted to have rustproof done when you decide to move back to CO, just give your cars an under-body coating. Mine has under and inside the engine area, and I don't think the inside is necessary.

[mclairmo]

Just wash and wax very often.

[boostfrk]

Thanks all. I'll just wash and wax often.

[makpilot]

In Florida rust is not a problem but love bugs are. Love bugs can eat through your paint if not washed off.

[JeremyB]

Originally Posted by makpilot

In Florida rust is not a problem but love bugs are. Love bugs can eat through your paint if not washed off.

+1 on that. Its their last revenge....
A dampened dryer sheet takes them right off. Whats in those sheets anyway ??

[makpilot]

Originally Posted by JeremyB

+1 on that. Its their last revenge....
A dampened dryer sheet takes them right off. Whats in those sheets anyway ??

+1 on that too. I guess its just the softener. Just have to wash daily, If you dont its really hard to clean them off. A good coat of wax before they show up makes cleaning a easy.

[mikemcm]

It's funny how "rust" is relative to where you live. I had an Ontario 93 Ford Tempo that I moved to Victoria B.C in 97. All the mechanics in Victoria complained of how rusty it was. I moved the car back to Ontario in 2001 and all the mechanics loved how rust free the car was.