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Finish on 2006.5+ steer wheels wears off easily....
Say Everyone:
I am thinking about buying a new Optima and was over at my dealer the other night.
I noticed that there were several late model Optimas in the used car section, so I figured it would be good to go over and see how they hold up.
They were all 2007's and had approximately 26-29k miles on them.
As a whole, they all didn't look too bad. The one consistently weak spot I noticed was that the bronze-ish plastic trim on the steering wheels around the cruise controls, etc. were all worn off down to smooth black plastic. This is obviously due to the drivers hands resting there. Since all 3 cars exhibited this, and only after 1-2 years of driving, I found myself disappointed in that little bit of design/build quality.
In this photo, the trim is a silverish/grayish:
My question then is, has most of you who own a 2006.5+ Optima experienced the same problem?
Has anyone done anything to prevent or repair it?
One could probably mask off the trim and paint it, or try removing it and paint it, but I doubt that would hold up much longer.
Funny you should mention this. My '06.5 Optima, now 16 months old, is having this very problem with the steering wheel switches, as well as the silver trim on the ash tray and the door on the storage area above the ash tray. I'm currently formulating a strategy to deal with the problem.
Since most everything else on the dash/steering wheel area is that dark charcoal gray color, I'm thinking about priming and painting the damaged areas in dark charcoal, then using clearcoat or some other clear or matte-finish protective coating to try to slow the process down. As an alternative, I'm also considering removing the silver paint from these areas altogether (since it obviously won't take dynamite to do it) and leaving them the natural color of the plastic.
It's kind of a shame, because I really like the rest of the car, but looking at these marks every day is starting to get on my nerves.
As a side note, the Hyundai Elantra I had before this Optima did exactly the same thing on its painted interior parts. Hyundai/Kia may want to just make them black to begin with and be done with it, or pay a bit more attention to properly prepping the plastic surface before the paint goes on...
An update on the "disappearing silver" problem on my LX:
I used Goof-Off and a soft cloth to remove the silver finish from the cruise control surround. It came off with very little effort (surprise, surprise...) and revealed the same dark gray finish that is used on various other parts of the plastic in the dash/console area. The Goof-Off did not damage the plastic itself in any way. I then took a bit of Klasse All-In-One polish and brightened up the slight dullness of the newly-exposed surface. It looks very good indeed and fits the interior color scheme perfectly, and took all of about 20 minutes to do.
Next step is to repeat the process on the audio control switches on the other side of the wheel, and the three areas on the dash and console where the silver paint is also used. The only silver that will remain in the dash area at the end of the process will be on the Kia emblem in the center of the steering wheel.
Though I currently have no plan to paint these parts any other color, with proper priming that wouldn't be a problem. I would, however, seal any paint applied with clearcoat or a similar protective finish.
Apart from this pretty easily solved silver paint problem, the car has held up extremely well (and delivered 33 mpg on a 3,900 mile vacation to Yellowstone last July), and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who asks.
An update on the "disappearing silver" problem on my LX:
Though I currently have no plan to paint these parts any other color, with proper priming that wouldn't be a problem. I would, however, seal any paint applied with clearcoat or a similar protective finish.
Crashman
Nice job C-Man!
When you're done, please post a pic somewhere and throw a link on here. I'd like to see how it turns out.
I'm wondering if some clearcoat on the steerwheel pieces wouldn't be a bad idea on a *new* Optima, right out-of-the-box? I'm thinking of buying one, and if I can prevent help retard the finish wear-down by a few years, that would be good.
What kind (or brand) of clear coat would you recommend?
Will do, but it may be a couple of weeks, as I have a cardiac surgical procedure (new pacemaker/defibrillator) coming up here sometime in the next who knows how many days -- waiting for a call from the hospital to confirm, but probably Thursday. After that, Goof-Off fumes may not be a great idea for a week or so!
As for the brand of clearcoat, I had some left from another project (for a different car!), and that was originally ordered from automotivetouchup.com, from whom I had ordered the aerosol touch-up paint that I had used. I'm told, though, that most any brand clear will work well for a project like this, which won't be subject to weathering, acid rain, and other assorted "assaults" that an external application would face. I definitely think that would help on a new vehicle whose silver is still pristine, but I can't be sure that the clear itself would not adversely affect the factory silver paint, which seems to be weak, poorly-applied, or both.
Will be back with pics as soon as possible.
Crashman
PS: Saw your Spectra at the link you gave. Very nice! I probably wouldn't have the patience to do the Wheelskin, but it looks great. And the alloy wheels really do the car proud...
Last edited by Crashman : 05-13-2008 at 10:42 AM.
Reason: Add comment on SpectraMan's current car
Finish on 2006.5+ steer wheels wears off easily....
) and leaving them the natural color of the plastic.
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