I special ordered my Marathon Blue VT through a dealer trade so when it showed up I was contractually obligated to take it - technically.
But I know my rights and gave it a very close inspection. It was in perfect condition and spotless. It was supposed to have 32 miles on it but it only had 7 miles on it which meant that the other dealer had not driven it. So I took delivery of it.
The finish on my Marathon Blue VT is exceptional overall and I get a lot of compliments on it. After 6 months with only a few hand-washes on it, it still really stands out in a parking lot.
At some point though I noticed that the paint has a pronounced "orange peel" texture to it. You can only really see it at dusk and dawn. When I took it for its first oil change the dealer had another Marathon Blue VT on the lot and I inspected it closely. That VT also had the orange peel texture - but not as pronounced as mine.
During my next oil change I got the vibe that the dealer knew I had completed all the surveys and was a Hyundai Think Tank member. The service rep asked me if there was anything that I was not completely satisfied with about my VT, and I said yes, the paint has an orange peel finish. The service rep was professional and very knowledgeable about the VT but was too young to know what that meant.
When my VT was ready the dealer had washed it and the rep and some other old dude were standing beside it and inspecting the paint. The rep said that she didn't see what I was talking about. I really appreciated that my dealer was so concerned about my comments. As we talked about it the sun started to go down and I was able to show it to them - and they acknowledged it. The rep suggested that it might be part of the finish - and she might be right.
But then I told her that an orange peel finish is indicative of high humidity during the paint process. The rep looked puzzled but the old dude nodded to me and said yeah, your right that's typically what that means.
Then the old dude and I had a frank and fairly useful discussion. Apparently he is a fan of the Veloster and was knowledgeable about cars in general. According to him only the blue and dark red Velosters have an orange peel finish and that it varies between cars. He went on to say that the finish may be on purpose because modern paint finishes aren't like older lacquer finishes where orange peel is a huge problem whereas on modern cars there is so much clear coat that my final finish is perfectly smooth. And I agreed with him.
Then he went on to make my service rep very uncomfortable. He told me that if I considered this a major factory defect that the dealer would consider re-spraying it under warranty. I gave that a moment's thought but told him that, no offense, I didn't think having the dealer disassemble the car, sand it down to bare metal and respray it would result in a better finish than I have now. He agreed with me. He surprised me by saying that I could choose a different color and that it didn't have to be a Hyundai color - it could be any PPG color.
Obviously I am super impressed by my dealer's response to my off-the-cuff comment about my paint finish.
Has anyone else noticed this orange peel finish on their VT?
But I know my rights and gave it a very close inspection. It was in perfect condition and spotless. It was supposed to have 32 miles on it but it only had 7 miles on it which meant that the other dealer had not driven it. So I took delivery of it.
The finish on my Marathon Blue VT is exceptional overall and I get a lot of compliments on it. After 6 months with only a few hand-washes on it, it still really stands out in a parking lot.
At some point though I noticed that the paint has a pronounced "orange peel" texture to it. You can only really see it at dusk and dawn. When I took it for its first oil change the dealer had another Marathon Blue VT on the lot and I inspected it closely. That VT also had the orange peel texture - but not as pronounced as mine.
During my next oil change I got the vibe that the dealer knew I had completed all the surveys and was a Hyundai Think Tank member. The service rep asked me if there was anything that I was not completely satisfied with about my VT, and I said yes, the paint has an orange peel finish. The service rep was professional and very knowledgeable about the VT but was too young to know what that meant.
When my VT was ready the dealer had washed it and the rep and some other old dude were standing beside it and inspecting the paint. The rep said that she didn't see what I was talking about. I really appreciated that my dealer was so concerned about my comments. As we talked about it the sun started to go down and I was able to show it to them - and they acknowledged it. The rep suggested that it might be part of the finish - and she might be right.
But then I told her that an orange peel finish is indicative of high humidity during the paint process. The rep looked puzzled but the old dude nodded to me and said yeah, your right that's typically what that means.
Then the old dude and I had a frank and fairly useful discussion. Apparently he is a fan of the Veloster and was knowledgeable about cars in general. According to him only the blue and dark red Velosters have an orange peel finish and that it varies between cars. He went on to say that the finish may be on purpose because modern paint finishes aren't like older lacquer finishes where orange peel is a huge problem whereas on modern cars there is so much clear coat that my final finish is perfectly smooth. And I agreed with him.
Then he went on to make my service rep very uncomfortable. He told me that if I considered this a major factory defect that the dealer would consider re-spraying it under warranty. I gave that a moment's thought but told him that, no offense, I didn't think having the dealer disassemble the car, sand it down to bare metal and respray it would result in a better finish than I have now. He agreed with me. He surprised me by saying that I could choose a different color and that it didn't have to be a Hyundai color - it could be any PPG color.
Obviously I am super impressed by my dealer's response to my off-the-cuff comment about my paint finish.
Has anyone else noticed this orange peel finish on their VT?
