Should I undercoat my new car?

While many new car dealers promote the purchase of undercoating or rust-proofing as an option when buying a new car, the Consumer Reports Car Test Center believes it is not needed on any new car. All new cars have factory-applied rust-proofing and do not need an extra layer of undercoating.

Undercoating or rust-proofing is a dealer option that can be very pricey, ranging from $200 to even $1200 when it comes as part of an unneeded environmental protection option. Dealers mark up the prices for these options so as to make large profits and therefore often tend to push these options on their unsuspecting customers.