Rustproofing a 2015 f150

[jared herbert]

I am in the market for a new pickup and about to pull the trigger on a 2015 f150 with the aluminum body. Of course the salesman wants to sell all sorts of things and he says most customers buy the aftermarket appearance package which includes upholstery treatment, paint sealant and a rustproofing on body panels. I thought one of the benefits of aluminum body panels was that rust is avoided. The package costs $795. I have never been much of a believer in this sort of thing. Is this sort of thing a worthwhile investment or just a scam on the dealers part? I do tend to keep my vehicles a long time, a lot longer than most people. What do you all think? Thanks jared

[Nike Nihiser]

It's close to being a scam, very little if any value added. (IMHO)

[Frederick Skelly]

There might be some steel parts somewhere in there, which might get some protection from rustproofing. My feeling is it's probably not worth doing. But it might be fun to ask the salesman why HE thinks it's a good idea. ;) I've never felt paint sealant or upholstery treatment to be any better than what I can do with a couple $10 cans of scotchgard and a regular coating of good wax. But maybe others have had different experiences.

[James Gunning]

The items described will add nothing to the value of the truck. They are very high markup items that make the dealer a high profit, but cost them very little. There are even reports that nothing is actually done to the vehicle at some unscrupulous dealerships.

Virtually nothing in modern vehicles is not galvanized or otherwise rust proofed in some way from the factory. I would check with Ford to see what they say about how they rustproof the vehicles when they are manufactured. Wax and spray cans of scotchguard will get you the same results as upholstery treatment and paint sealant. Save your $795.

[Bill Orbine]

Waste of money if you ask me. I thought some agency, Government or some other consumer protection agency, put an end to this practice several years back.

[John A langley]

I would be looking for a different dealer I can't remember the last time I was asked if I wanted rustproofing my 150 is eight years old no sign of rust and I can't say I take the Best of care

[Dave Lehnert]

People think paint sealant is some kind of fancy clearcoat that is applied like paint. It is nothing more than a new kind of wax for your car. Can be had at any store for under $20 and must be reapplied every year.
scotchgard can be had for under $10 a can.
My f150 was 17 years old when I traded it. No rust at all.

[William C Rogers]

I agree with all the above, however my wife wanted the Scotch Guard and I didn't want to do it or if stained try to get the stain out. Wife wanted it, end of story. Didn't do it on my 11 year old Buick and there were some stains in the carpet, but I didn't try to get them out. Included was the paint "sealant". I never had any rust on the Buick. However the Buick was never out of the Midwest. This car will see a lot of time near the ocean and salt air. A little extra protection from fading paint doesn't bother me. My salesman did not push this or other things, he just said here are thing we offer and asked if we wanted any of them. If I was buying a truck that wasn't exposed to salt air or extreme heat I wouldn't add this. You can do it your self at a much reduced cost, but I chose not to. It's probably a good thing to do regardless.

[Kent Adams]

I am in the market for a new pickup and about to pull the trigger on a 2015 f150 with the aluminum body. Of course the salesman wants to sell all sorts of things and he says most customers buy the aftermarket appearance package which includes upholstery treatment, paint sealant and a rustproofing on body panels. I thought one of the benefits of aluminum body panels was that rust is avoided. The package costs $795. I have never been much of a believer in this sort of thing. Is this sort of thing a worthwhile investment or just a scam on the dealers part? I do tend to keep my vehicles a long time, a lot longer than most people. What do you all think? Thanks jared

I used to work with car dealers in my past life. Paint sealant and rustproofing is what is jokingly referred to in the dealership as "Mop n' Shine". Its completely worthless and I wouldn't trust any salesman or dealership that tried to sell you this.

[Kent Adams]

I agree with all the above, however my wife wanted the Scotch Guard and I didn't want to do it or if stained try to get the stain out. Wife wanted it, end of story. Didn't do it on my 11 year old Buick and there were some stains in the carpet, but I didn't try to get them out. Included was the paint "sealant". I never had any rust on the Buick. However the Buick was never out of the Midwest. This car will see a lot of time near the ocean and salt air. A little extra protection from fading paint doesn't bother me. My salesman did not push this or other things, he just said here are thing we offer and asked if we wanted any of them. If I was buying a truck that wasn't exposed to salt air or extreme heat I wouldn't add this. You can do it your self at a much reduced cost, but I chose not to. It's probably a good thing to do regardless.

None of that will stop salt air. In fact, I'm not aware of any metal that won't corrode in salt air, other than precious metals. So unless your vehicle is coated in gold or silver, it will corrode in constant salt air. There might be another metal that won't corrode, but "rustproofing" treatment isn't going to provide protection for very long at all in those conditions.

[Jebediah Eckert]

Figure if they are charging $800, it cost them $400 tops. If Ford bought it in bulk for ALL the new Fords it may cost $200 tops per car. So for $200 (tops probably more like $20) more on every new car they could put out a product that makes their vehicles LAST LONGER then any other, and they all rust out (here in the Northeast anyhow), they would corner the market. Just about everyone is sick of their cars and trucks rusting out so soon. Save the money. If you find the secret on how to prevent your truck from rusting out please pass it along. :D

[Larry Frank]

I bought a new car this year and buying a car is one of the worst experiences. The games go on and on.

You have the salesman crying about your offer and how he will try to convince the sales manager...right.

You have them beating you down on the trade in price.

They have such a great deal on financing.

They want to sell fabric protector, glass sealant, paint sealant. and they say you have to sign that you did not want them. They get a kick back by proving they offered it to you.

The sales people wanted all kinds of personal info to complete the sales and I told them to go away. I wrote a check for the car.

I want to drive a car forever so I am not subjected to this circus.

[William C Rogers]

None of that will stop salt air. In fact, I'm not aware of any metal that won't corrode in salt air, other than precious metals. So unless your vehicle is coated in gold or silver, it will corrode in constant salt air. There might be another metal that won't corrode, but "rustproofing" treatment isn't going to provide protection for very long at all in those conditions.

Dont disagree, just a good wax that "may" help in fading, not rust. Usually the mfg warranty will protect from rust "through". That is usually for x years. I doubt I will ever use warranty on the paint. Stains will happen, however there are exclusions of corrosive materials, but oil is covered. I'm not saying buy this, (I wouldn't) it was just easier than if there was a stain from me, then me trying to get it out. Like I said, wife wanted it-end of story! It's her car.

[Jeff Monson]

I'd skip the paint sealant (wax), interior protection (scotchguard) and the rustproofing. Yes, its a dealership add on that is good money for them, very little value to you though.

I'm on month 3 with my 2015 F150, really nice truck, you will love it.

[Phil Thien]

Scotchguard seems completely unnecessary as the floors and upholstery (that aren't leather) are synthetic materials, you can pretty much use Formula 409 full-strength (test it first, but I do this in my Honda Odyssey) to remove any tough stains.

Rustproofing, none of the cars I've ever owned have rusted in a spot where any additional rustproofing (over the design/factory efforts) could have made any difference.

Wax, well you can do that yourself.

Around here there are one or two firms that send their guys out to dealers to perform these services. The dealers pay a very nominal fee, and mark the service up like crazy. I think many of the dealers stopped just because they realized how little work was being done on the cars by the employees of the firms. It just seems/feels wrong.

[Jerome Stanek]

and for the floors I like Spot Shot works great I learned about it at trade shows we do. Gets most spots out even the ones that we do the Exmark mower display for. Ford Tractor had a display next to us and left their carpet as it was stained we took it and cleaned it up to look like new. sold it to Atlanta Jet to use in their static display at Orlando airport they used it 3 more times and steam cleaned it and used Spot Shot for the small stains.

[Brian Elfert]

Road salt can still corrode aluminum. I have an aluminum sided trailer where a hole was eaten through by road salt spray on each side of the trailer. The trailer was only used less than a dozen times in the winter yet the aluminum corroded from the salt exposure.

[Larry Edgerton]

I usually have my trucks Ziebarted, but this time I let the dealer talk me into their product. Never again. They do not know what they are doing, and even after making them redo it after putting it on the hoist at my shop I see all kinds of important areas that they missed.

I disagree with anyone that says it is useless to undercoat, and aluminum corrodes, but its your call. Ziebart is about 5-600 dollars, cheaper than the crap job I got at the Ford dealer. They may have got me on the undercoating but I buy a truck every two years, and a car every four, and they will not get any more business from me.

[Jerome Stanek]

how good is the zbart warranty when I had it done back in the 70's they would not repair or replace the door panels or the rocker panels they refunded me my money they said read the contract

[Brian Elfert]

If anyone disagrees that aluminum corrodes from road salt you can search online for many examples of aluminum corroding from road salt. I can post pictures of the holes in my aluminum trailer skin caused by road salt. I bought a used enclosed trailer in 2010 that required major repairs due to road salt. Both the aluminum skin and the underlying steel were corroded from the road salt. In some places the aluminum skin was totally gone up to a foot up the sides. Aluminum corrosion is not generally as bad as steel corrosion from what I have seen.

I'm certainly not saying the F150 aluminum body will corrode like steel will. I'm certain that Ford has done lots of testing and has coated the aluminum to minimize corrosion. Buyers shouldn't buy these trucks thinking they will never corrode from road salt.