Do I have a problem here? (Rust potential)

[Raven]

Nice shiny new 2015!
You can see there is some over-spray of the body colour onto the underbody, but most of the metal under there just has what appears to be an off-white primer - no final protection. Should it have some sort of under-coating on that steel? Is it going to be a pile of rust after a few years of road salt assault?

Did Toyota take an unacceptable short-cut here, or is this normal?

 

[Raven]

Second image ....

 

[chmura]

That's normal with all new vehicles. No manufacture is going to paint the underneath of your car with that beautiful red color paint that is on your cars exterior.

If you are concerned about corrosion, buy some aerosol undercoating spray and stray all the metal bod/frame parts underneath your vehicle.

I did this in right when we bought a brand new Honda CRV. We shipped it to Europe where it snows.

 

[GabrielM]

As [MENTION=46138]chmura[/MENTION] said, get it rust proofed each year and you should be good. Mine has been rust proofed since new (now 4 years later and 158000+kms) and no rust at all and it's pretty clean too.

 

[crackiswack]

the electroplated primer is a good defense from rust in itself already, its essentially bound to the metal chemically at this point. Paint over the top just adds protection from abrasion of this coating.

 

[Donkey]

The "primer" you see is the final protection (what is applied to bare metal) and provides sufficient protection against corrosion. Totally normal.

 

[Raven]

Thanks all!
I thought maybe that was the case, but I also thought, for $46,000 they might throw a little undercoat on top of the primer - silly me!

Spent much of my life crawling around under vehicles, so I guess I can get under there with a rattle can or two.

 

[JayceeP]

When I bought mine they had a Corolla flipped on its side in the showroom with the underside exposed showing a demonstration of their rubber-like undercoating compound. I made them throw it in for "free" as part of the deal. Mind you, the 4Runner had sat on the lot all winter and did have 200km on it when I bought it, but they did spray/clean the undercarriage first before applying. It looks pretty good and the whole undercarriage is black. I pay $30 once per year to have it inspected and touched up as needed. It smells really good afterward lol. Small price for a little extra piece of mind.

Maybe you can investigate something like Krown. Also, Canadian Tire's product rated really well in a military study, but no idea how well it works.

 

[Whiplash Willy]

Toyota did a pretty good job with protecting the body from rust. The frame however.....