The solution? Why Ziebart, of course! If you take your vehicle to them when new, get an undercoating/rustproofing treatment, and go back yearly for 'touch-up' treatments, they'll pay for any rust you get, right? Sounds good, and since my truck was the first new vehicle I'd ever bought (or probably ever will), I decided to do that, since I planned on owning it for several hundred thousand miles of use.
Rust began showing on my truck after about ten years, and when I pointed it out to the Ziebart people, they said they wouldn't repair it yet, but only when it got to the 'rust-through' point. Hmmm. OK, I guess...
Well, finally after each year pointing out more rust had developed, and many phone calls and runarounds and so on, they allow us to get a body-work estimate, and they'll pay for either our guy, or their guy, whichever is less, to repair the vehicle. Estimate is around $6,000, as by now the rust is so bad that to fix it right would require panel replacement. Fine, when do we do it?
Well, sir, we decided to 'total' the vehicle, as the book value of the vehicle is only $2,300 due to its age, and the rust is so extensive that the repair cost exceeds the vehicle's value; go buy another 'equivalent' vehicle on us! (I suppose that would be a 15 year old truck with an equivalent amount of rust, whose owner had spent $250 on an initial treatment, and $40 per year for touch-ups, or not?) If the $850 that hypothetical owner of an 'equivalent' truck is something they want to recoup, I suppose that means I really only can buy a $1,450 used truck. Given that it is an extended cab 3/4 ton 4wd with towing package extra-heavy suspension, off-road setup, I'm sure I can find a dandy one for $1,450 plus $850 for a similar Ziebart 'rust-free' guarantee.
Basically, the game seems to be to postpone doing anything about the rust until the vehicle ages enough that the cost of repairing the rust they let get so bad, exceeds the depreciated worth of the vehicle.
What a racket. . .
![Evil or Very Mad :evil:](./images/smilies/icon_evil.gif)
I won't be that naive again. . .
![Embarassed :oops:](./images/smilies/icon_redface.gif)
Maybe that $2,300 will pay down some other bills, with some left over for spray paint and stensils. . .
I might paint "Thank You, Ziebart" on the sides of my truck. . .
![Twisted Evil :twisted:](./images/smilies/icon_twisted.gif)