Hi, Is it necessary to have underseal treatment for my new Punto? I live near the seaside and was told it would be a good idea to have the car treated.

Hey Lisa,


I personally do see the value in having it done, yes.


For my mind it's an often overlooked preventative maintenance task; it will give the car's floor pan a much better chance of avoiding rust issues. Think of it in the same way as you would wash and wax your car's paintwork to stop it deteriorating; waxoyling / undersealing the bottom side is exactly the same concept only it's a slightly heavier more robust product to stand up to the harsher conditions the underside of your car has to deal with.


Look at it this way - if you pay £40 / £50 it is likely to be to get the car treated now or a much larger bill when you have rusty sills that need welding up?

will waxoyling the underside also make it slightly quieter in the cabin?

lisab1 said:

Hi, Is it necessary to have underseal treatment for my new Punto? I live near the seaside and was told it would be a good idea to have the car treated.

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My secret is to paint the whole underneath with a thick cote of black hammerite paint .

Another very important point to note, the Fiat company needs to make money to stay in business and they aint going to make money by producing cars that last forever but by the same token they dont want the 1970 s image of rusty old cars with the body falling off , so here is the Fiat solution, galvanize all the outer body panels so the body looks good forever but they dont use galvanized steel for the underside and floorpan,so when you look on e bay you see mint condition bodily fiats for sale that need extensive welding underneath.
If you are like me and keep things forever a bit of money spent now will pay dividends in the future.

I used to fret over this. I have never done a new car yet and having been under the Bravo and the Panda dont think its necessary as the built in protection and degree of galvanised steel used means neither car has any rust on the body. The parts that seem to rust are the black painted suspension and hidden body brackets and its difficult to seal these. Wax-Oil is the most useless product I have ever tried. MESSY AND ABSURDLY DIFFICULT TO APPLY. iT ALSO PEELS OFF AFTER TIME. I would use Dinitrol wax based sprays which are no more costly and superb to use they last very very well and look proper too. See www.frost.co.uk for some other good coatings - I am n othing to do with them by the way.

My mum has a Perodua car that lives by the sea. Its 6 years old and basically c**p in terms of steel quality. It is showing signs of rusting at 6 yeasr old but the underside is still perfect so I would not worry to much. If that doesnt rust your Fiat won't. You have an 8 year body work warranty anyway. Dont muck this up by adding unapproved treatments!

petercresswell said:

You have an 8 year body work warranty anyway. Dont muck this up by adding unapproved treatments!

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Right!
So talk about it with the FIAT dealer that sold you the car, and have it done by them, so the warranty is still in fact...!!

I use motip bitumen on my 97 punto which is a realy good anti rust.