Hyundai i20 - Hyundai flaking paint

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Wed 25 Jan 2023 18:48
Hyundai i20 - Hyundai flaking paint - Trev2655

I have owned a white i20 for about 5 years having bought it second hand from an accredited Hyundai dealer and have recently discovered a problem with the paintwork around the windscreen. It is scaling and flaking off; primarily along the top edge but also down the pillars.

I am aware that this is not an isolated case and that a very similar problem has occurred with many other cars, mainly the i20, of a similar colour not only in this country but internationally.

To me and other more informed people with whom I have spoken this would clearly appear to be a manufacturing issue either with the paint itself or with the surface preparation of the metal.

I have contacted the Hyundai customer services department who inform me that as it is beyond the warranty on paintwork (5 years) there is nothing that they can do about it. This does not impress me as I am not aware of any other make of modern car where the paint is flaking off in this manner after only seven years..

Surely this surely cannot be good for the Hyundai image.

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Sat 28 Jan 2023 00:02
Hyundai i20 - Hyundai flaking paint - edlithgow

7 years is a pretty new car to me, but in fleet average terms its perhaps only got about 30% of its lifespan left, hence the reaction from Hyundai.

If you care about appearance, which you probably do, probably better get a pro bodyshop to look at it, since its likely to get worse'

I would abrade that flaking paint off and attack the underlying rust with aluminium used as an abrasive, It would be conventional to use a "rust converting" pre-primer before priming and painting, though I don't think I ever have.

More specifically, in that location, I would use a penetrating sealant (which IIRC you can buy in the UK) to seal around the window, since water seems to be getting in there.under the paint.

My standard improvised rust treatment uses sunflower oil as a binder for the aluminium, which also works as a penetrating sealant.

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Sat 28 Jan 2023 07:19
Hyundai i20 - Hyundai flaking paint - badbusdriver

I would abrade that flaking paint off and attack the underlying rust with aluminium used as an abrasive, It would be conventional to use a "rust converting" pre-primer before priming and painting, though I don't think I ever have.

I wouldn't make the assumption that there is any rust involved. I'd assume the body on this will be galvanised, and apparently getting paint to stick is tricky (this of course doesn't explain why it is flaking)

I only found this out because I have a customer with a Peugeot Partner van with big chunks of paint flaking off the rear doors. He can't get a local bodyshop interested in sorting it because of the difficulty getting paint to stick to the galvanised metal.

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Sun 29 Jan 2023 00:59
Hyundai i20 - Hyundai flaking paint - edlithgow

OK, my banger bias is maybe showing again.

Assuming that were the case (maybe detailed dentistry-type investigation with a small pick and a hand lens would confirm) maybe just using a penetrating sealer would tend to stick the paint in place.

I've heard good things about an Australian alkyd-resin based product called Penetrol, but never used it. Going lower tech (but not as low as my standard sunflower oil improvisation) maybe (boiled?) linseed oil.

Edited by edlithgow on 29/01/2023 at 01:01

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