I don't like rust. I live where they put that crap on the roads. The end of my old tailpipe, from the rear hanger back, rotted and fell off. Same with the metal hanger welded to it that goes into the rubber insulator. The heat shield on the muffler rotted off. I had it secured with a couple of big hose clamps till I got around to replacing it. Since it was a Walker Quiet Flow Muffler I got a free replacement. Lifetime warranty. Maybe the painting will delay that happening again. Maybe it won't. Like I said will see how this works out. I picked up my '00 over 3 1/2 years ago. All things considered she is pretty pristine underneath for a 16 year old vehicle. I want to keep it that way. I have been using POR 15 underneath in various places. When I replaced the whole exhaust that area was wide open under there so I went to town with POR 15 before I installed the new exhaust. I also Fluid Film every fall for the coming winter. It is all part of my "Rust Retardation" Plan.