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My new dual-tone Kia Sonet delayed; dealer offers to paint roof instead

4th November 2022, 14:33 by Dev Shah

I opted for the red black dual tone finish, but Kia is telling me that it would take a long time to deliver that color since the demand for dual tone is not that much.

BHPian souvik das recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello esteemed BHPians,

I am from Kolkata.

I have booked my first car, a KIA Sonet GTX+ from Easter KIA in New Town. I opted for the red black dual tone finish, but Kia is telling me that it would take a long time to deliver that color since the demand for dual tone is not that much. It may take till February 2023 to have it delivered. Today I got a call from the dealership saying that a red color model is available and if I want, they can have the roof painted black as per KIA specification, that is, I will have the dual tone finish.

My query is, will it be ok to go ahead with this? If yes, then what should I be looking for while taking delivery of the car specially regarding the paint? I am also thinking of doing a ceramic coating after getting the car. Will there be any issue with this repainting?

Positive point is if I agree, then I will get the within this month.

Thanks a lot everyone.

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

Blackening up the roof is the simplest thing on the planet and doing so at the dealer is almost a zero-risk exercise. Go for it. I've gotten two of my cars' roofs done up in the after-market and am happy with the end result.
I prefer to skip ceramic coating & PPF. What I do instead is get my cars detailed every 6 months. Works marvelously for me and you'd be hard-pressed to tell my car's age by looking at them. Drive carefully, park carefully & follow all the best practices listed here.

Here's what BHPian sunikkat had to say on the matter:

Not sure how much the dealer will charge for roof painting, but a simple good quality wrap can be done from 3M at 10k. If the cost difference is not significant, I would go for roof painting from the dealer.

Here's what BHPian DicKy had to say on the matter:

Only negative I can think of, coming from a state where the MVD is breathing down your neck is that, the RC book won't reflect the colours. Most factory dual tones have the colours recorded in their RC records.
Again, just in Kerala. If Kolkata cops are okay with it, a roof wrap is the simplest thing to do.

BHPian blackwasp replied:

You just need a bill from the workshop saying so and so change has been done. Any competent agent should be able to get it updated in the RC. Once the RC is updated, you can then get the insurance done as well.
If you don't want this hassle, go for a wrap.

Here's what BHPian Aroy had to say on the matter:

As far as I know, factory paint is baked enamel. That can rarely be duplicated in a dealer workshop, as the original baking is done on a barebone shell and not on a built up body.
So refrain from getting the roof painted, just use a wrap as suggested. Or just wait for the car to come from factory.

Here's what BHPian greenhorn had to say on the matter:

My Etios has dual tone with gloss black paint and I've had a vinyl wrap done on my indica. The factory paint is vastly superior. The wrap was done at a local place so it may be the quality of the wrap too.
Given its a new car i would go for the dealer option so that it's endorsed that way in the RC book - I too am from Kerala, so have to deal with MVD guys looking for revenue generation opportunities.

Here's what BHPian HighRevving had to say on the matter:

Keep your original factory paint, it is a brand new car after all. The best idea is to wrap.
I had this done on my Laura and it worked well for me. I used to rip and replace it every year or so whenever it lost its finish, including ORVMs that used to get the regular two-wheeler love in traffic.
Remember to detail the roof first and then wrap, so the original paint underneath does not suffer in the long run. I used to rip the wrap, detail and put a new wrap every time.