I'm glad I found Rustoration in Wappingers Falls. I was looking for undercoating services since I bought a used car from the West Coast. Being a West Coast car its undercarriage was in pretty good shape (no snow = no salt = less corrosion) and I wanted to keep it that way since I plan on keeping this car forever. I live in Queens and the closest undercoaters I could find were in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, if not New Hampshire and Vermont. Undercoating seems to be much more popular in New England where people are smarter about winter-prep, but downstate New York options are almost non-existent. Rustoration to the rescue.
Doug appears to be the sole proprietor of Rustoration. I found him last year on Craigslist but ultimately did not follow through with an appointment. When winter was gearing up again this year I looked him up and found that he had created a website for his business. I set up an appointment on Wednesday and showed up on Friday. He's easy to communicate with and responsive - if he misses your call he will call you back.
The morning I arrived I had my Suburban with my Subaru in tow since I wanted to get both undercoated in one shot. He offers two undercoating products, Fluid Film and NH Oil Undercoating. Fluid Film goes on clear, has been on the market longer, and has a proven track record - but some people are turned off by its smell. NH Oil Undercoating is a newer arrival with no smell and goes on black. I opted for the Fluid Film since I don't mind the smell and I've read anecdotes about it military applications.
Doug also inspected my Suburban's rust, gave me a few options, and didn't try to up sell me on his rust removal services. If my Suburban were also a "forever" car I would have taken him up on the rust removal. Lesson learned - it's much easier to prevent rust than to fix rust.
While applying the undercoating he took care to cover the cars' windshields to protect from over spray, and also wiped down rust prone areas on the door panels with a cloth. I appreciated the level of detail he put in his work.
Lastly, Doug also asked that I give my undercarriage a wash before my visit. This helps to create clean surfaces for the spray to adhere to. He has his own power washer but it's impossible for the chassis to dry in time for immediate undercoating during winter months. Nothing a wash the day before and a drive can't fix.
I'm looking forward to visiting Doug again next year and will be recommending his services to my friends that love their cars. read more