Undercoating

Amen. Undercoating is one of the major profit centers in the post deal pantheon.

 

I drive on the interstate every day and I want a quiet ride too (I'm coming from a Lexus). I will have the undercoating done but not through the dealer. I found out which shop my dealer takes their cars to have the undercoating done. If I make the appointment with them directly, it costs only $110 (for a 2005 Sienna anyway) which would cost less than half of what the dealer wanted. So I will take my 2006 Prius there too.

A car with B-Quiet or Dynomat or whatever will be even more quiet with undercoating too.

If you want a quieter car, get the undercoating but don't necessarily go through the dealer to get it. You can save big bucks by going directly to the shop that does the work.

 

For those of us living in the rust belt, in my opinion undercoating does more to save the vehicle than help with sound. I had aftermarket rustproofing done that includes spraying parafin based coating inside all the doors and cavities of the body from the beltline down, undercoating the underbody and applying paint sealant. At 36 months I get an inspection, again at 72 and at 120. Any rust, surface or otherwise will be treated and repaired. My 2001 XZ2 was treated new...no rust and 100k. A native (to the area) 1992 Ford Ranger treated when new has just started wheel well rust on the bed at the wheel wells (design problem) at 150k miles, and a 1998 Nissan Sentra purchased from a salvage yard in 1999 is rusting underneath precisely where the undercoating would have helped, and it has 7 years of salt application. The paint has deteriorated but no rust through yet. Dealer wanted $1299 for the package, ended up paying $255 directly to the shop that would have done the work for them anyway...

 

I'd like to emphasize what Tidland said, LSA55. Most of the road noise seems to come through the tires. Getting Goodyear ComforTred tires will impove handling and make the car much quieter, compared to the OEM Goodyear Integrity tires.

Look in the Audio and Electronics forum for more discussion on reducing road noise. The consensus seems to be that the floor of the Prius is fairly well insulated for sound, but the doors are not. Many people there describe installing <a href=\'http://www.dynamat.com/\' target=\'_blank\'>Dynamat</a> or a lower cost alternative, such as <a href=\'http://b-quiet.com/index.html\' target=\'_blank\'>B-Quiet</a>, <a href=\'http://www.edesignaudio.com/product.php?cid=10&pid=25&cur=USD\' target=\'_blank\'>eDead</a>, or <a href=\'http://www.fatmat.com/fatmat/kits/door%20kit.htm\' target=\'_blank\'>FatMat</a>.

The Prius is not a Lexus or a Mercedes when it comes to quiet, and it can certainly me improved.

I don't know about undercoating, since it's not needed here for salt/road protection.

 

Undercoating would help a little but not a lot. If done properly, it would add mass to the metal body but you’d have to take off several plastic and metal panels under the body and inside the wheel wells. I can’t see someone doing that for $279. I imagine that they’d just spray over everything and coat what they could see. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be worth it.

I spent $250 in sound dampening & sound proofing materials and 2 weeks installing it. I have to go with everyone else on this. Biggest bang for the buck…doors and tires.