MK7 Rust Protection - What Method to Use?

OK, here’s my 2 cents. I’ve owned new VWs for going on 30 yrs and I have had no good experiences with the VW rust warranty. If you live in Ontario your car will rust, and quickly, despite the factory “rust proofing”. My last 09 TDI Jetta was afflicted within 6 years. Most of my rust claims were rejected for the reasons stated by heiney9. The clincher for me was that both rocker panels were rejected because the paint thickness-meter reading indicated the paint was thicker than factory and therefore in their estimation there had been an accident repair. The VW decision was not subject to appeal, despite the fact that no accident or repair had ever happened!
For my “new” 15 TDI GSW I’ve gone ahead and applied the Krown rustproofing. I have a lot more confidence in that, for the long term, than the cheap factory job.

tonipepperoni77 said:

Once again. They already come rust protected. Any thing added can and will be used against you if it causes issues for a warranty claim. You do not need to add anything. You are doing no good adding stuff.


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That's all fine and dandy if you have a brand new car and never jack the car up, dont have aftermarket suspension parts, and have no road damage.

I installed 034 RSB and end links on my Mk2 TT during the winter and forgot to put rust Inhibitors on the bolts and mounts that came with it. All bolts and mounts were completely covered in surface rust and oxidation in under 2 Boston winter months.

On my GTI I originally didn't use rust Inhibitors, and it now has spots of surface rust on the control arms, subframe, brake shields, and a few other parts after one winter in Boston.

On my 04 R32 I made sure I thoroughly coated as much as I could, and after it's first winter here, it is still rust free (previously an LA car). I now use my process on all of my cars that range from 2004 to 2016. These alkaline salts they use on the roads are extremely corrosive, and shouldn't be underestimated.

I'd rather put extra work in and be safe, than hope I can successfully make a warranty claim after the damage is already done. I'm only talking about 15-20 mins of spraying bolts and parts on a lift once a year, and an occasional undercarriage wash during the winter. Even if I did need to use the warranty claim, every rust Inhibitor I mentioned can come off with a degreaser so none of it is permanent, and doesn't interfere with maintenance.

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SRGTD said:

See FAQ no. 8 under the warranty section at the link below;

https://www.volkswagenplus.ca/en/faq

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I believe that's referring to the corrosion perforation warranty where it protects us from rust bubbling from the inside out.

I've called VW Canada and they said if you were to apply a 3rd party corrosion inhibitor by drilling or other means to the interior panels, then the corrosion warranty would be voided.

The undercarriage may have some sort of factory inhibitor applied, but additional coverage (Krown for instance) would NOT void any warranty.

So glad they don't salt the roads in Colorado. Although mag-chloride isn't too friendly to untreated aluminum.

OEM Links/ control arms/ and so on have just black paint without extra rust protection. Weldings can get some rust after a year. Very common on all Brands.

When you detect rust on those parts spray them with some type of wax protection (dinitrol/tectyl or what ever) to stop the process.

The OEM protection is NOT good enough on these parts. I check my cars once a year and if necessary I add some protection.

/Peter

Thanks for the additional insight, guys. I was planning on spraying some Fluid Film or Krown on various nuts/bolts in the engine bay and other areas to keep things looking tidy (will remove it in the summer months), but I was mainly worried about the the sheet metal - doors, hatch, hood, fenders, etc. Our roads are heavily salted in the winter, and rusting of parts in the undercarriage is just a fact of life up here. Will try to minimize the impact, but it's a win-less battle.

marnie said:

If your roads are salted, hose it off as soon as possible, Wheel arches and underside as well.

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This ^^. S'all you can do, rust (& road salt) gets pretty much everything in the end. VTrubs come with many years (can't be bothered to check) rust, corrosion & paint defect warranty, so just try to keep it clean and salt free....

If I lived in the great white north I'd have the underside sprayed with Krown oil or its equivalent. You could also use fluid film in any additional areas that you feel need protection. I believe that will help a lot.

DON'T use a tar based rust proofing. As it ages it will crack allowing salty water to get under it. This will eat your car. No drilling into panels ever.

Best thing you can do is keep your car clean. Don't let that salt build up.

In Sweden we have ”real winter” including road salt. As I mentioned before the whole body itself (hood doors and so on) I’m not worrying about. Just watch the black steel parts on the undercarriage. Give them some added spray protection if necessary.

I have sprayed (spray bottle with black waxish stuff) welding on the front subframe (just black painted) and upper part on rear link arms nearby the springs (also a welding) + rear control arms on both of our MK 7 VW:s.

As you say – keep the car clean if possible - not so easy done when it's 10 c below freezing point .

/Peter

Hate to resurrect an old thread but I took a nice chunk of the rustproofing off from the undercarriage near a jack point. Literally a 2"x1" chunk of bare metal + some smaller chips are now completely exposed. Just being stupid and rushing to jack it up the undercarriage stuff looks really tough so not sure how I would match that.

What do you recommend I do? Take it to the dealer and see if they'll hit it with something under warranty?

I live in Boston so snow + crappy winters are part of the deal. Try to wash it once a week but can go 2 weeks when its really cold or messy out. Any advice or products you recommend?

D 314d36m2 vw undercoat it is not cheap. Or D 003500. A couple bits of my underseal has came off on jack points also. So I will be getting some of this stuff, it took A lot of research to find this stuff.

But try your dealer first

The factory rust/corrosion warranty is 12 years IIRC. I've never had major issues with rust on any of my VW's. There was a little rust in a couple of spots on my last daily driver, which was an 02 with 188k miles. Dodge cars rust out completely in about 2 years. LOL

I get PPF film on my cars, which helps big time on the hood and fenders since they take hits from rocks and whatnot. I also get the film on parts of the car that most people do not....like the front section of the roof.

TheGreekFreak said:

Hate to resurrect an old thread but I took a nice chunk of the rustproofing off from the undercarriage near a jack point. Literally a 2"x1" chunk of bare metal + some smaller chips are now completely exposed. Just being stupid and rushing to jack it up the undercarriage stuff looks really tough so not sure how I would match that.

What do you recommend I do? Take it to the dealer and see if they'll hit it with something under warranty?

I live in Boston so snow + crappy winters are part of the deal. Try to wash it once a week but can go 2 weeks when its really cold or messy out. Any advice or products you recommend?

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Get a picture up.

AdrenalineChick said:

The factory rust/corrosion warranty is 12 years IIRC. I've never had major issues with rust on any of my VW's. There was a little rust in a couple of spots on my last daily driver, which was an 02 with 188k miles. Dodge cars rust out completely in about 2 years. LOL

I get PPF film on my cars, which helps big time on the hood and fenders since they take hits from rocks and whatnot. I also get the film on parts of the car that most people do not....like the front section of the roof.

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Cover metal with Rust Bullet.

Once Rust Bullet is cured... Cover with 3M underbody spray.

On anything metal where you get a chip (where it is visible, aka not under the car)... use Rust Bullet Clear shot to seal. Then paint over with touch up. Use Clear Shot again to clear coat over.