[QUOTE]Originally posted by xviper
I should have made one exception to what I said.

 

Originally posted by Barry WY Silver/Black '01
Undercoating is a rip-off. If you needed it, Honda would have put it there.

............

And my last third party supplementary undercoating was done on a '79 Chevrolet - by the now defunct Rusty Jones. I know they actually did apply some goo, because several months later a tail light stopped working, and inspection showed that a large wad of what looked like yellow chewing gum was all over the innards of the taillight enclosure. Fortunately, the problem was easy to fix. These days, there are excellent high tech factory processes, and the use of good quality galvanized sheet metal is virtually universal.

 

I purchased a brand new 1989 legend without rust protection etc.
By the time the car was 6 years old I had rust developing from the inside out on the quarter panels (typical problem on legends).
Had I purchased rustproofing contrary to the comments above I would have been protected. Are cars designed for their enviroment. I'm not convinced.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Calgarian
I purchased a brand new 1989 legend without rust protection etc.
By the time the car was 6 years old I had rust developing from the inside out on the quarter panels (typical problem on legends).
Had I purchased rustproofing contrary to the comments above I would have been protected.

 

My first Honda was a 1977 Civic Hatchback. Within six months, I had holes through the front fenders. Everything on the car rusted through. It was by far, the worst car that I have ever owned as far as rust is concerned. BTW, that car WAS rustproofed by the dealer and the warranty was worthless!

Honda felt so bad and had so much bad publicity about the rust problem, that they replaced the front fenders for me. Whoopee, what about the rest of the car?

I was so impressed with my first Honda in 1977 that I didn't even look at another one until 2001!

I did mention that this was rustproofed by the dealer, didn't I? What a waste of money that was. Didn't stop the rust and didn't fix the damage either. They sure saw me coming.

My thoughts on dealer applied anything...save your money.
Bob

 

you have to limit the exposure to road salt.

some municipalites use salt, some a new liquid, some a salt/sand blend, and some only sand.

salt is the car killer, wash under the car when exposed to road salt. ever see cars at the seashore, all rotted from the salt air.

 

Since this thread is still kicking...

I took my wife to test drive an 04 S yesterday, and the salesman stated that a friend of his, who works in Honda's RnD, was the one who told him the S did not have the same amount of rust proofing on the underside as other hondas, because it came from Japan and was not put together in the US. Supposedly this guy has an S as well, but does not drive it in the winter due to the road salt and the alleged lack of rust proofing.

Again, the salesman is not trying to sell me rustproofing, but rather making sure I want to trade in my Accord and not keep it for a winter ride. Doesn't matter though, I confirmed the order on my 04 Silverstone/red and black yesterday, and I will be selling my Accord or trading it in. I don't want 3 cars in the family, so I'll be driving that mofo all year round, and I can't wait!

Thanks for all of your advice though.

Andy

 

I don't drive my S2000 in the winter unless I want to do donuts on a snowy parking lot. I do have winter tires just in case. We don't have salt here either, just a sand-shale material the highway department puts down.

With snow tires (like Blizzak WS-50 tires), the car handles very well for a rear wheel drive car in the snow. The SO-2 tires on the '00-'03 cars was intolerable for snow, totally intolerable. However, snow tires transformed the car.

However, I do have a couple of winter beaters. I've got a '93 Prelude VTEC with 58,000 miles and a '92 Accord EX with 140,000 miles. I've just shod both with snow tires today to be ready for our next snow storm this winter. Yesterday's only gave us 6 inches.

I love the idea that I'm not exposing a $30,000 sports car to the insanity of skidding SUVs and pickups.

 

Japan has snow. It'll be ok.

 

Barry, we maybe get a dozen days a year here where we have to drive on any snow. If it is really bad, I can take my wife's Ody. So for me to keep a beater just for a few days a year doesn't make sense in my mind. My first car was a firebird, and if I could drive that in the snow, being 16 and stupid, surely I can handle the S with its better weight dist and LSD.