WARNING: Long post, please bear with me
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So I've had a few posts in various threads with some of the issues I've had with my Sonata and the paint. When I bought my car, I paid extra for LUXCARE, a protectant for the paint, interior surfaces, and most importantly, the wheels. From a cost perspective, it wasn't that much and wheel coverage with no deductible made the other parts just a bonus.
After another long chain of emails with my service adviser (he is also the assistant service manager), I was asked to stop by for a meeting with him and the service manager. I stop by on a Friday morning, and am greeted with the SA and Acting Service Manager. I'm especially glad about that last part because the guy who used to be SM loved to pick fights with me whenever I had an issue (Bluetooth, Android Auto, paint, etc). I showed them some of my concerns with the paint and also the gas gauge issue, the ASM was visibly unhappy with how I had been treated by the detail center manager on past visits for the paint problems, and told me should would personally take my car to him and make sure it gets resolved.
My paint issues were: Swirls and haze covering almost all the car, and marks from where bird droppings and tree leaves landed on the car. I don't take my car through crappy washes, usually hand wash with microfiber mits and dry with chamois. I also don't let the car go longer than 2 weeks without at least a touchless wash (if I need to get bird crap or whatnot off the paint). According to the dealer when I was going through the purchase, LUXCARE is a liquid polymer that bonds to the clearcoat and ensures that you won't get permanent paint swirls or any erosion from acidic bird droppings.
Fast forward to this past Tuesday night, and I dropped my car off at night for a service appointment Wednesday morning. The car went to detail first thing Wednesday, and came back to the service department Thursday morning. According to my SA, the car was detailed and looked beautiful. When I asked what was done to fix the paint, he told me the detail center used a clay bar to clean the finish, followed by hand polish and hand wax. I then asked about the clay bar and how it would affect the LUXCARE application. The detail guy replied that LUXCARE was applied again after.
So I get to the dealer on Friday afternoon around 5:30, paid for my other services (state inspection/oil change) and was then given the keys to my car. My SA was busy on the phone with another customer so I was walking with the woman who handles the loaner vehicles about why my car was in, and some other random friendly chatter. She wished me a good weekend, and off I went. Got to my car, and before I could even open the trunk, I saw the same spot that I pointed out to them the week prior, and also some road tar/misc crap on the doors and fenders that should have been removed if the car was detailed with a clay bar.
I immediately walked back in the building, and told the lady I had just been talking with that nothing was fixed and I still see all the imperfections from the other day. Between Wednesday and Friday, the newly hired service manager was now at the shop. He introduced himself and we went outside to review everything. He took some pictures of what I was talking about, as my SA also checked the car. We chatted in his office for a little while, and he told me to go ahead and take the car home for the weekend, as detail is closed on weekends and he didn't want to leave my car there over the weekend. Before leaving, he said he'll be calling them Monday morning and also following up with Finance to see what the process is for LUXCARE when detailing does not remove the imperfections.
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So here we are on Sunday night. My question for anyone who has done clay bar detailing on the Sonata: How long does it take for the process, start to finish? A friend of mine I was talking with yesterday told me that a proper clay bar detail would not only remove all imperfections, since it strips off all layers on top of the factory paint, but it will also take a minimum of 3-4 days since the car needs time to cure along the way. My car was worked on from Wednesday morning to Thursday morning, so less than 10 working hours in the detail shop.
I've doubted for awhile now that the detail shop ever applied the LUXCARE protectant at all, which could explain how the paint was damaged in the first place.
--------------------------------------------------
So I've had a few posts in various threads with some of the issues I've had with my Sonata and the paint. When I bought my car, I paid extra for LUXCARE, a protectant for the paint, interior surfaces, and most importantly, the wheels. From a cost perspective, it wasn't that much and wheel coverage with no deductible made the other parts just a bonus.
After another long chain of emails with my service adviser (he is also the assistant service manager), I was asked to stop by for a meeting with him and the service manager. I stop by on a Friday morning, and am greeted with the SA and Acting Service Manager. I'm especially glad about that last part because the guy who used to be SM loved to pick fights with me whenever I had an issue (Bluetooth, Android Auto, paint, etc). I showed them some of my concerns with the paint and also the gas gauge issue, the ASM was visibly unhappy with how I had been treated by the detail center manager on past visits for the paint problems, and told me should would personally take my car to him and make sure it gets resolved.
My paint issues were: Swirls and haze covering almost all the car, and marks from where bird droppings and tree leaves landed on the car. I don't take my car through crappy washes, usually hand wash with microfiber mits and dry with chamois. I also don't let the car go longer than 2 weeks without at least a touchless wash (if I need to get bird crap or whatnot off the paint). According to the dealer when I was going through the purchase, LUXCARE is a liquid polymer that bonds to the clearcoat and ensures that you won't get permanent paint swirls or any erosion from acidic bird droppings.
Fast forward to this past Tuesday night, and I dropped my car off at night for a service appointment Wednesday morning. The car went to detail first thing Wednesday, and came back to the service department Thursday morning. According to my SA, the car was detailed and looked beautiful. When I asked what was done to fix the paint, he told me the detail center used a clay bar to clean the finish, followed by hand polish and hand wax. I then asked about the clay bar and how it would affect the LUXCARE application. The detail guy replied that LUXCARE was applied again after.
So I get to the dealer on Friday afternoon around 5:30, paid for my other services (state inspection/oil change) and was then given the keys to my car. My SA was busy on the phone with another customer so I was walking with the woman who handles the loaner vehicles about why my car was in, and some other random friendly chatter. She wished me a good weekend, and off I went. Got to my car, and before I could even open the trunk, I saw the same spot that I pointed out to them the week prior, and also some road tar/misc crap on the doors and fenders that should have been removed if the car was detailed with a clay bar.
I immediately walked back in the building, and told the lady I had just been talking with that nothing was fixed and I still see all the imperfections from the other day. Between Wednesday and Friday, the newly hired service manager was now at the shop. He introduced himself and we went outside to review everything. He took some pictures of what I was talking about, as my SA also checked the car. We chatted in his office for a little while, and he told me to go ahead and take the car home for the weekend, as detail is closed on weekends and he didn't want to leave my car there over the weekend. Before leaving, he said he'll be calling them Monday morning and also following up with Finance to see what the process is for LUXCARE when detailing does not remove the imperfections.
-------------------------------------------------
So here we are on Sunday night. My question for anyone who has done clay bar detailing on the Sonata: How long does it take for the process, start to finish? A friend of mine I was talking with yesterday told me that a proper clay bar detail would not only remove all imperfections, since it strips off all layers on top of the factory paint, but it will also take a minimum of 3-4 days since the car needs time to cure along the way. My car was worked on from Wednesday morning to Thursday morning, so less than 10 working hours in the detail shop.
I've doubted for awhile now that the detail shop ever applied the LUXCARE protectant at all, which could explain how the paint was damaged in the first place.