Being here in NY and being right next to Lake Ontario I have it. I have the complete undercoating, sound deadening, rust proofing package. You need it here.

 

With the amount of galvanized steel used in cars today, undercoating for rust proof is pretty much a waste of money. But it will help in the noise department. When I was a fleet manager we ran some experiments between two identical cars (well more then two, but all identical), we had some rust proofed from the dealer, some rust proofed by a professional outfit (you all know who they are), and some left factory stock. After several years, those rust proofed by the after market professionals showed the most rust, they started rusting at the holes they drilled to shoot in the rust inhibitors, the ones rust proofed by the dealer showed a lot of rust and it was because the rust proofing they did actually collected water in pockets that weren't there before. The factory stock vehicles actually showed the least amount of rust. So for me, I'll take it as it is. Yeah, I'll be the first to admit that our steel today has been regurgitated many times and is much thinner than cars in the past, but part of this is to lighten the cars for improved fuel mileage. But at the same time, although thinner steel, there's also an increase of galvanized steel making for better corrosion resistance but at the sacrifice of easier bending (dent's ect.)

 

ah man, im more undecided than i was before this thread. oh well, keep the input coming. thanks to those who posted already!

 

I think what we've got here is you do not really need the rustproofing (spray in the door panels). If you want the undercoat for sound deadening purposes, it certainly could be helpful.

 

You're in Canada. You know what Canadian winters can be like..generally snow, salt, sand, lots of freeze/thaw cycles...if its not a lease, if you plan on keeping it for more than two or three years and you want to protect your investment, at a minimum rustproof. I used to get the dealer undercoat but in all honesty I am not sure that makes much difference if you rutproof since most of those guys spray the under carriage as well. If you do not want to do an annual rustproof, then in Canada I think I would then undercoat...one or the other if you meet what I said above in bold. If you do not, then I truly believe it is a waste of money.

 

I work im Minnesota, during the winter they say sand and salt mix. But drive the 3 blocks over the bridge and your car turns from orange to white..... Hmm Rare White, maybe I have something beside undercoating an rust proofing here..

 

Don't wast your money!!!!!! Drilling holes will actually cause arrea to corrode and rust. This is a dealer and bodyshop money maker. All car bodies are dipped and E-coated(electro-coated). The E-coat insures everything is coated and nothing is missed. I worked in and around automotive manufacture paint shops for ten years and we all get a laugh at the prices outside people get for this!!!!

 

so i went ahead and undercoated it, since it was there i also got them to tinit the front windows. i guess i'll have to wait and see if it was worth it.

 

My Colorado had galvanized body panels except for the roof, does anyone know if the HHR uses galvanized panels?
Well I just checked the Chevy website and the body panels are galvanized and here is the warranty:
CORROSION PROTECTION
Chevrolet vehicles are designed and built to resist corrosion. All body and sheet metal components are warranted against rust-through corrosion for 6 years/100,000 miles (whichever comes first). Application of additional rust-inhibiting materials is not required under the corrosion coverage and none is recommended. See your Chevrolet dealer for terms of this limited warranty.