Underseal ,Rust prevention. Is it worth it. ?

As the owner of a Jimny JB74 that is less than a year old, I've read the various threads regarding rustproofing with interest.
I then look at other threads with examples of severe corrosion on the bodies of older Jimnys. It strikes me that a lot of the corrosion shown seems to develop on the inside of panels and works its way outwards. This suggests that rustproofing applied to the outside of the vehicle may not be as effective as hoped.
Maybe trying to avoid condensation within the vehicle and dealing with any water leaks are just as important. I'm also very diligent in removing mud that gets trapped in certain places under the vehicle. These "mud poultices" are a great way of encouraging rust. As with virtually every car I've ever owned, a common place for mud to build up is the lip on the edge of the rear wheel arch.
I often see proud car owners washing the well-protected, painted bodywork of their cars whilst ignoring the muck building up on the underside.

From my observation of the Jimny, the rust starts outside and creeps to the inside. So, as written before, a good rust protection as early as possible extends the life of the bodywork considerable.

New cars are a lot better at resisting rust, it's rare nowadays for a car to be scrapped because of corrosion.
l once had a new Alfa Romeo Alfasud that was scrap by the first MOT "nothing left to weld to" said the MOT man.

Having paid something like £8,000 new three years previously l got £250 for it.

l've treated what looks like vulnerable parts of our new Jimny with rust prevention products, but to be honest at approaching 60 if l am still alive in ten years time when the Jimny might start to show evidence of corrosion, then l will be more than happy.

Having my 1 year old treated by main agent Suzuki with Waxoil at what I think is good value at £120 plus VAT. Normally I would not go to main agent but it’s going to be done in their own body repair place. Unfortunately my SX5 was sideswiped by a new young driver pulling out into me He had to except liability , have to say the side of Jimny stood up well considering the crash noise on my dashcam. After they have resprayed paintwork they say they will do the messy job when no cars nearby ! They suggest 3 year touch up. Guess this makes sense ?

I've not had a quote for less than £500 +vat. Hence I've been looking into doing it myself. Even buying ramps/jacks and all the kit I'll save a fortune, but I'll have to do it outside which is putting me off

For £120 plus vat at a main dealer, I would be asking them when they could fit me in and could they do my wife's car too.

Sorry to hear about your incident Barry, but at least your Jimny is getting sorted out. £120+VAT sounds like a good price, but then they have the Jimny for lots of other work so it’s probably a good deal for both you and the dealership.

The other advantage is they will have your car I need the nice warm workshop/spray shop for a couple of days so when they do the Waxoyl the underside should be nice and dry, not easy to achieve at the moment.

l am no longer happy spraying bitumin clag underneath my vehicles, as my experience with Land Rovers has shown that all it does is hide the rust which carries on unabated.

Clear wax based products are slightly better as at least you can see what's going on underneath the coating.

l think the most important thing is not to spray it on over rust, so a one year old Jimny shouldn't be too bad in that respect.

If I ever get to doing it myself, I intend using the lanolin stuff that everyone raves about

I usually use waxoyl on my old MGB, the trouble with that stuff it stinks, it's very messy and you need a very hot day otherwise it will not mist, it will also perish rubber if it gets on it.
I will use that lanolin stuff on my GEN4 next year when the weather is warmer.

I bought 12 cans of Dinotrol and did the job myself. I'm lucky as I have pit in my garage. 12 cans was just enough to get all the vulnerable area's. I was quoted £550 + Vat before I did myself.

Whilst I'm still prevaricating about 1) whether to get my car rust protected at all and, if so, 2) whether to do it myself or get someone else to do it, I came across this write up of someone else's DIY experience :-

"Waxoil….

I really wanted to get some of this into the Land Rover's chassis before I started using it, so tonight was planned to be the night for waxoiling the inside of the chassis….

I had gone to Halfords and bought 2 gallons, and knocked off work early…

I also had the real benefit that SWMBO was out tonight, so I had since 3.00pm been shoving the 2 gallon cans into the sink with near boling water…….

I should have known things were going to go “slightly wrong” when I started….

I decided to use a Waxoil gun, and my compressor, I had the propane burner on in the workshop since 3.00pm flat out and it was like the sahara, in fact it was so hot I decided a T shirt and shorts was the dress code………

Grabbing some white spirit to further thin the waxoil I entered the kitchen and unscrewed the waxoil lid…

Thhhhuuuumpppppppp !…grwat big snotty big dollop spewed out over the kitchen worksurface........, no probs I thought, ...I’ll sort that out when I’ve finished, as I might make "a little bit more mess yet", .....glad Sues not in….

Clutching bloody hot waxoil injector thingy, part filled with waxoil and mixed with very very warm white spirit I squirted and soaked the chassis blasting away, and also practising holding my breath .....as it went misty in the workshop….

1 Gallon later I was nearly there, I was at the rear cross member, with yet another huge refill…….

I ought to point out that I had also decided that at some of the angles I was at pulling and holding the trigger was a pain in the ar&e...( I have a really bad back) so I had devised a cunning lock of an elastic band on the trigger so that I could let it do it things whilst it sprayed away……

Shove tube into hole and pull trigger….lock and waggle etc…

Enter my wifes love of her life…..

The cat….

It sat there and looked at me the way only a cat can….it sniffed (unapprovingly) the dripped waxoil, and I said…

“Huh, you don’t want to be in here matey, this stuff will stick to your fur like snot to a blanket”……and at that very point the jammed on tube extension came off the gun…

Could I release the elastic band round the trigger ?…

Could I chuff….

The gun squirted warm waxoil/white spirit out at a force never so far experienced, one particularly good jet hit the cat, who bolted, knocking over the 2/3 empty (1/3 full!!) can of hot waxoil/white spirt mix, which flowed oh so well under the landy, and into my clothes T shirt and clothes and skin areas exposed..., but I was still fighting with the hot octopus trying to switch the damned thing off, but I failed, I was saved when it just ran out…..

Just when I thought nothing could get worse than lying under a Land Rover with waxoil soaked clothes, waxoil dripping onto my hair and face, and running into my ears….

Some waxoil drpped onto the lead lamp….

Ping….

Blackness…….

Blackness as it also pinged the fuse for the lighting circuit, getting myself out of the underneath of the landy proved friutfull, in that I knew all the places that waxoil had “leaked” ……

Removing dripping clothes I entered house in “minimal Clothes” to resolve fuse prob, when Lights went on I saw the cat…

I AM GOING TO DIE IF SHE SEES THIS !

Here Puddie cattie……

This did not improve the sink/kitchen area one little jot, .....ever tried holding a 'waxoiled cat' in a sink with water and rags, and especially when cat does not enjoy it ?….

1 hour later cat was scrubbed and very hacked off with me, I’ve had 2 baths, and also cleaned the bath it seems that the bath will not be rusty….scrubbed kitchen fllor, sink, worktop

Will she notice….

Cat stinks, garage sticks, alley way stinks, I stink, kitchen smells of lemon washing up liquid, which strangely we seem to nearly be out of ?….floor stinks……

She will be back any minute…….

[gulp]

Nice job on the Landy tho....... ))

....UPADTE...............

...later that evening......

Alleyway door closes and SWMBO walks in.....

"have a nice time dear ?......."

"what the HELL is that smell ?"

"Smell ?....er do you mean the waxoil ?"

"Is that what it is - its disgusting"

"Er..really"....

"yes really, the alleyway stinks, I mean I could smell it when I got out of the car..."

"er...really ?"

"yes, Really, I mean my God its stinking everywhere out, its even permutated the house "

"really"

"yes really and [ picks up cat - I look away at telly and pray]...and ....good grief even the cat smells of it its ....[ at this point the cat growls at Sue.....probably hand enough of being "handled" during the evening...]..."WELL if your going to be like that madam you grumpy old thing" ...[places cat down firmly - cat grumbles some more].. cat exits still grumbling

"Charming.........well.....Anyway, have you finished.........?"


THOUGHTS...............

I've got away with it...."yes dear thanks"...
I've got away with it...."all done"...I've got away with it...."think I'll have a beer"...I've got away with it....I've got away with it...."Would you like a glass of wine ?"....I've got away with it....yippee....I've got away with it....and

SHE'S GOT THE HUMP WITH THE CAT TOO - NOT ME !!

Beer....

Bed....

RESULT....... !

But a bit close for comfort......far to close"


Hmmm, I think I'll get someone else to do mine!