I am interested in hearing people's thoughts/advice on rust-proofing.

Having been used to a regular annual routine of taking my other car in for an oil spray once each year, I am now wondering if this is something I should still consider given that my new car is aluminum bodied. I appreciate that there will be no "rust" but aluminum does corrode. Canadian winters are harsh and where I live they love to use salt to combat the white stuff. How will the XJ hold up unprotected? What are other owners doing here?

The results of an annual oil spray on my previous car, a 2001 Audi TT Roadster driven all-year-round, is a car without any rust anywhere on the body. The down side has been some swelling of rubber gaskets (e.g. door sills) here and there due to contact with the oil spray over time.

I welcome opinions and experience of owners who are in it for the long term, not short leases, and have to deal with old man winter. Thanks.

 

Are you talking about "any old oil" or a specialist anti-corrosion oil. If the latter, then this will be beneficial to an aluminium car as well as a steel car . but do be aware that aluminium corrodes in a special way called "filiform", or "crevice" corrosion. This process occurs when the aluminium is exposed to an electrolyte like a road salt solution in the absence of atmospheric oxygen.

Steel relies on oxygen to rust, whereas aluminium, being so much more reactive, immediately coats over with an oxide layer, thus preventing further attack. In fact the process called 'Anodising' increases the thickness of this layer to give a very corrosion resistant bare aluminium component, like the windscreen frame of my MG Midget; looking virtually the same as when it left the factory in 1977.

 

Interesting. Thanks Fraser. I mean the latter - a specialist anti-corrosion oil. Having one's car sprayed annually is a fairly common practice here in parts of Canada. But in my experience there are trade-offs - namely the effect on rubber seals etc. And of course, those leasing their vehicles don't bother as they have no long term interest in a particular car.

Any aluminum-bodied Jaguar owners having their cars treated? I'd like to hear from you.

 

Nobody else have anything to add?

 

+1 on the oil spraying.

The effect on rubber seals is mitigated by the selection of the "oil". Some of the purpose built oils have no long term effect on rubber seals. For example, Fluid Film has no effect on nitrile rubber ... but the aerosol version when sprayed into a confined area such as under the windshield seal will swell the seal temporarily because of the propellant. A piece of the same material can sit in a jar of Fluid Film for months and not swell.

In any case, the rubber seals are much cheaper than sheetmetal parts.

In addition to the aluminum panels, don't forget all the steel components that can benefit. An annoying suspension bushing squeak in the rear went away after a few weeks because the "oil" seeped into the rubber/steel joint.

And finally, some of the materials come from the aircraft industry where corrosion preventative spraying is mandatory for internal cavities. This includes aluminum airframes.