# bought a new car!! rust proofing??



## coreLlama

Well I’m a little excited. Last night we bought a new 2006 Civic EX sedan in Royal Blue Pearl. Of course 5 speed. It’s the first time my wife and I have bought a new car. Lots of fun… :clap: 

Just wanted to let anyone who is about to buy a new car know, that http://www.carcostcanada.com/ works. You pay $50 and they tell you the price the dear pays for the car from the factory. Then you basically bargain up from that price instead of the down from MSRP. The mark up on the civic is only 7%. We got the price down to $21,000, so the dealer makes $800 and we saved $800. It’s kind of empowering when you know what the dealer paid. It took 3 rounds of offers to get down $800 on a new model that’s only 2 months old. I’m happy.

Anyone have any experience with rust proofing through Ziebart? The Honda salesman said he would rather us not do any rust proofing than take it to Krown. According to him because of all the plastic parts in cars now it’s better to not use an oil based product because it slowly eats away at the plastic. Ziebart uses a silicon base product. Of course the Honda guy was selling Ziebart protection. 

We pick it up on Monday… this is going to be a long weekend

I can't wait until Honda comes out with their iPod integration thingy...


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## mr.steevo

Hi,

I can be certain that this is not the reply you were looking for.

My dad is a retired chemical engineer and often went up to northern Alberta to look at the oil pipelines. The pipelines are above ground and are exposed to year round weather, so they needed to ensure that the pipes did not rust apart and explode oil in the middle of nowhere. What they did is attach zinc rivets along the pipeline. The zinc becomes a sacrafical ion and rusts away first leaving the other metal clean of rust. When the rivet nears the end of its usefullness it gets replaced with a new rivet.

About 10 years ago I was talking to a mechanic about this and he told me that his mechanics instructor had a truck from the '40's or '50's that had the original body and no rust. The instructor bought the truck new and attached zinc rivets to the body under the vehical where they couldn't be seen. Apparently the truck never rusted.

Using zinc as rust protection isn't a new idea and is used widely in the auto manufacturing of new cars. I "think" that the amount of zinc used to protect new cars is so minimal that it has a limited life span. Also, it is pretty hard to remove your body panels and respray them with more zinc, whereas the zinc rivets can easily be replaced.

I suppose you have to ask yourself how long this car will last. Sure you can keep the body clean from rust for 30+ years, but what about the rest of it? My buddy in Waterloo just sent his 1990 Civic to the wreckers last week due to rust. The body didn't rust away, but the power steering lines did and to replace the lines would have cost $1500+ or triple the worth of the car. My '98 Civic only has rust spots on the hood where stones were kicked up and took off the paint. Protect the nose of the car and it should be fine.

So I suppose I am saying either do it the right way with zinc rivets or don't worry about it and enjoy your car for at least 10 years.

s.


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## dona83

Rustproofing is a complete waste of money, wash your car often, don't keep dirt on your car after a camping trip to look cool, fill up any small paint chips with filler colour, wash the underside of your car thorougly every once in awhile. especially keep it clean in the winter, just keep it clean in general and your car will shine until gasoline becomes so expensive you need to go to bio diesel or fuel cell cars (or twenty years, whichever comes first).


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## K_OS

Congrats on the new car and the 2006 Civic is a nice choice by the way. As for rust proofing I have used 2 companys and depends what you need to be rustproofed, if you just want the underside of the car rustproofed then Canadian Tire is pretty good otherwise Krown is the best.

Laterz


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## gordguide

I've never been impressed with Ziebart or similar services; if you can't sleep at night then I suppose you could pay your money. Zinc Chromate is what's applied under paint at the factory, and anything Honda left as unpainted iron/steel should be OK to rust; warranties are long enough these days that they can't afford not to protect vehicle finishes to a reasonable degree (there's not much of it anymore anyway; plastic and aluminum prevail these days over steel and iron).

It's only thin areas that you have to really worry about; iron oxide (aka "rust") is an excellent corrosion barrier by itself on thicker metal parts. All body panels should already be coated with a corrosion resisting primer or layer.

In order to get at hidden areas to rustproof, they have to drill holes; if coverage is not 100% then you now have a hole allowing moisture into an area that used to be more airtight. You can't see inside those areas to check the coverage (otherwise they wouldn't have to drill holes in the first place for access).

Salt is going to attack stainless steel and aluminum, but rustproofing won't normally cover those areas. All in all, you're better off keeping the car clean, dry and waxing the painted surfaces. If you don't do that, I don't believe rustproofing will help much anyway, and if you do those things, you probably don't need it.

I'm not surprised the salesman pushed his own rustproofing; it's a major profit centre for dealerships, and he would love to get some of that profit back since you were able to bargain the price down so well.


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## coreLlama

*hours to go*

Thanks for the comments, my gut feeling was that we don’t really need rust proofing. I clean my car now quite regularly and I assume I’ll be cleaning the new car even more. They make it sound so good when your sitting in “the room”. After all that negotiating they we’re wearing me down :yawn: 

Can’t wait till the end of the day, of course it’s almost a snow storm in Ottawa right now.


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## shoe

you dont need rust proofing as said above thats just a bonus for the dealer Ive read in a few car books that they recomend to bypass this option.

shoe


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## miguelsanchez

I'm not sure about current generation Civics, but previous gens had a rubber trim piece mounted on the lip of the rear fender. This trim piece would catch a lot of dirt/salt/water which ended up causing the all-too-familiar rear-fender corrosion seen on many Civics. Most Civic owners (myself included) that I know have removed the trim and have not seen any corrosion yet.

There's some good photos here showing where the trim is located and how it comes off. It pulls off very easily. 

I do Rust Check every two years, and am very happy so far. The underside of my car looks brand new. 

Congrats on the new car,

Miguel


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## SINC

Yep, it is a money maker for the dealer and nothing more. I haven't rust proofed a car since my new Buick in '82. Drove an '87 Caddy, and '88 Olds, a 91 Bonneville SSE, a 93 Sunbird GT, a 94 Bonneville SSEi, a 98 Bonneville SSEi, a 2001 Ford Windstar and a 2001 Suzuki Grand Vitara Limited.

Not a one of 'em gave me any rust problems of any kind.


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## coreLlama

very cool tip miguelsachez, I'll take a very close look at how the fender is made on the 06'.

only hours to go!


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## coreLlama

Well I'm loving the new car. Very funny feeling driving it off the lot with 12km on it.

About the rust proofing, the owners manual actually recommends not to do any kind of rush proofing. Just wash it regularly. So that settles it.


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## ehMax

I remember driving off the lot with my first "new" car, which was a '98 Honda Civic. That new car smell, everything feeling so incredibly slick (I couldn't believe how smooth the shifting was), the windshield wipers working perfectly. 

Definitely a fun moment!

Enjoy the new wheels! That new civic is a beauty! If I didn't have 3 young-in's to haul around, I'd definitely be in one of those.


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## Melonie

ehMax said:


> I remember driving off the lot with my first "new" car, which was a '98 Honda Civic. That new car smell, everything feeling so incredibly slick (I couldn't believe how smooth the shifting was), the windshield wipers working perfectly.
> 
> Definitely a fun moment!
> 
> Enjoy the new wheels! That new civic is a beauty! If I didn't have 3 young-in's to haul around, I'd definitely be in one of those.


My first new car was a 1975 Honda Civic! I remember that feeling too! And you know how much this car cost? Brand spanking new?

$2750.00

That's all, folks.

I put almost 200,000 kms on that baby before I sold her (got $700 bucks) for a Celica.

Mel


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## thinkvision

mr.steevo said:


> Hi,
> 
> I can be certain that this is not the reply you were looking for.
> 
> My dad is a retired chemical engineer and often went up to northern Alberta to look at the oil pipelines. The pipelines are above ground and are exposed to year round weather, so they needed to ensure that the pipes did not rust apart and explode oil in the middle of nowhere. What they did is attach zinc rivets along the pipeline. The zinc becomes a sacrafical ion and rusts away first leaving the other metal clean of rust. When the rivet nears the end of its usefullness it gets replaced with a new rivet.
> 
> About 10 years ago I was talking to a mechanic about this and he told me that his mechanics instructor had a truck from the '40's or '50's that had the original body and no rust. The instructor bought the truck new and attached zinc rivets to the body under the vehical where they couldn't be seen. Apparently the truck never rusted.
> 
> Using zinc as rust protection isn't a new idea and is used widely in the auto manufacturing of new cars. I "think" that the amount of zinc used to protect new cars is so minimal that it has a limited life span. Also, it is pretty hard to remove your body panels and respray them with more zinc, whereas the zinc rivets can easily be replaced.
> 
> I suppose you have to ask yourself how long this car will last. Sure you can keep the body clean from rust for 30+ years, but what about the rest of it? My buddy in Waterloo just sent his 1990 Civic to the wreckers last week due to rust. The body didn't rust away, but the power steering lines did and to replace the lines would have cost $1500+ or triple the worth of the car. My '98 Civic only has rust spots on the hood where stones were kicked up and took off the paint. Protect the nose of the car and it should be fine.
> 
> So I suppose I am saying either do it the right way with zinc rivets or don't worry about it and enjoy your car for at least 10 years.
> 
> s.


Mr. Steevo,

Zinc rivets is an interesting new concept for me. Where can we buy zinc rivets from? The impression of rivets I have in general is something you punch into an object using a rivet gun. Am I on the right track?


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## SINC

A five year old thread resurrected begs one question. WHY?


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## RKM

Whatever you do people, don't waste your money on the Counter Act rust proofing device sold at Canadian Tire. I have one and can say absolutely this unit does not prevent or even slow the rusting process. A total waste of money.


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## Lichen Software

SINC said:


> A five year old thread resurrected begs one question. WHY?


I think because of the zinc rivets. 

I have had two cars rust proofed, but my wife is so sensitive to the smell that she would only let it be done once. The idea of putting in some zinc rivets, or attaching something else made of zinc is very appealing. I would really like to know more.


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## WCraig

SINC said:


> A five year old thread resurrected begs one question. WHY?


Because the zinc rivets kept it in pristine shape all this time!! ;-)


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## chasMac

Well, I'm convinced. Got me some zinc for my vehicle.


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## screature

I have to say I was wondering the same thing as SINC, but after having read the post on zinc, SINC,  I am glad this thread was resurrected. 

Anyone here have experience using zinc rivets and how would one go about having them applied and where in the undercarriage should they be applied? Also does anyone know how applying them to the undercarriage stops the body from rusting? This is actually very interesting.


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