11 things you should know about electronic rust protection for your car

Looking to safeguard your car against the passage of time? Electronic rust protection is an option you can consider.

We northerners know it: winter road salt can make a car look old before its time. Fortunately, there are currently a number of products on the market that can protect your vehicle from rust.

• There are many different kinds of petroleum-based rustproofing treatments and wax-based treatments that are permanent and do not require touch-ups.
• There’s also a new system of cathodic protection available to consumers called electronic rust protection.

If you haven’t yet heard about it, here is an overview of how it can protect your car.

The treatment involves placing a small electronic device inside the vehicle, under the hood.

• It gets its charge from the car’s battery, but doesn’t draw any more power than the digital clock in the dashboard.
• The device detects the amount of electricity necessary to create an electrostatic field that will charge the vehicle’s metal structure with ions and then keep those ions from mobilizing, which is what causes corrosion.
• By maintaining that electrostatic charge between the oxygen in the air and the car’s metal, rust is held at bay and your car stays shiny and new looking.

A final verdict on electronic rust protection's dependability is still pending.

• While the treatment has been endorsed by certain manufacturers, the Automotive Protection Association (APA) doesn't recommend the devices, as it hasn't seen proof they perform as well as traditional anti-rust alternatives.

Automotive professionals will tell you there are many great reasons to choose electronic rust protection.

1. All the metal in and on the vehicle is protected, both inside and out. All the places where traditional rustproofing treatments are not typically applied are protected.
2. The process is good for the car’s entire lifetime—the treatment won’t ever have to be repeated.
3. No product is applied. The rustproofing is an ongoing process, not a coating.
4. There is no risk of chemical products leaking and leaving marks.
5. There is no odour.
6. The effects of static electricity, including some kinds of motion sickness, are reduced.
7. Electric shocks between you and the vehicle are reduced.
8. There is no danger to the environment.
9. There is no electronic reconfiguration or headlight removal necessary.
10. No holes will be drilled into the car’s chassis.
11. The device can be transferred easily from one car to another.

With electronic rust protection, a single appointment with your automotive professional is all it takes to help permanently protect your vehicle.

• The small device, which is easily installed in your vehicle, can even be used on subsequent vehicles you’ll own later on.