I went through the same dilemma and decided I didn't want to own a car when I was constantly worried about the paintwork.

Having to get full panel resprays and the risk of bad colour matches wasnt worth it.

I know my wife would just end up not wanting to drive the car.

Changed order, now waiting for some point next year.

 

So the question is........Shooting Star Grey........Will it be a nightmare to maintain.

A total nightmare!!

If you want your car to be a daily driver then SSG is probably the worst paint colour/type currently on the market place today.

If you love cars and have a need to maintain them meticulously then the second best day of owning an SSG Matte painted car will be the day you pick it up while the best day of ownership will be the day you get rid of it.

 

Well you certainly aren't sitting on the fence on this one 🤣 Thanks for the input though, sort of confirming my thoughts...

 

I drove a demonstrator in shooting star grey at the weekend, and it does look absolutely fantastic - better than any other colour, I think. However, I have decided that it's too big a risk and will try to pick a second favourite.
Si.

 

Also waiting on a SSG Premium and went through the same dilemma. All things considered I'm going to give it a go - there are mixed opinions on the ease of maintenance but people will argue it till their blue in the face either way. It comes down to personal choice as others have said; for me (I'm leasing) I weighed up the cost of the coatings and regular maintenance vs how much I really loved the colour (in the flesh it's fantastic - by far my favourite colour) and made my choice.

 

I had a veloster in matt grey very similar to this color and I drove it for 8 years and honestly it wasn't a problem to keep it looking good. I washed it at home with the products hyundai provided. This year it got smashed and the side by a nice lady and I was worried the repair job would look bad but again nothing to worry about. I'll link photos if I can find them.

 

I'm happy with my choice.

It's the only colour I truly liked and as I'm spending nearly £50k of my own money I didn't want a "that'll do I guess" colour.

I'm going to get a ceramic coating applied pretty quickly and then try my best to look after it.

Any colour will end up looking rubbish if you don't look after it. Black has been the most pain in the rear colour on previous cars I've owned.

 

I originally ordered SSG, due for delivery end Dec. After mucho research, have swapped to Phantom Black, which is due at end Feb. Happy that I've made the right decision. To be honest though, I'm not a meticulous car owner and just wasn't prepared to put in the extra work to keep it looking good.

 

Thanks for the all the feedback. Given that it will be a daily driver with two kids, I think we're going to swap it for a "glossy" colour. We probably could get away with it, as I'm sure some people will have a positive experience, but we plan to keep the car for about 5 years and don't want have it niggling in the back of our minds.

 

Hi all

Just put a deposit down on an Ioniq 5 Premium in Shooting Star Grey. My Wife loves the colour, but after thinking about it, we are really unsure on the matte finish in terms of long term durability. I was thinking of getting it ceramic coated by a detailer post purchase, which should certainly help with the cleaning, but I've read a lot about how hard it is to keep them looking good and that any chip/scratch would probably need a respray - which all sounds like a lot of hassle (and expensive!)

We can change the colour, but the Shooting Star Grey is due to be delivered in Nov/Dec and another colour won't be available until Feb/March time. We have a nice part exchange value locked in with the dealer on my Wife's current car, but that would need to be revalued if we changed the colour for Feb/March time due to volatility of used car prices.

So the question is, can anyone comment on the Shooting Star Grey (or GG matte) colour first hand? Will it be a nightmare to maintain or are we just fussing for nothing...

Thanks in advance!

Just got the shooting star grey car yesterday. Have to say it looks spectacular, not sure about potential repair issues.

 

Hey guys. Silly question. Why isn't anyone thinking to wrap the car in a protective film ( transparent or not ). This way the paint remains 100% untouched, and the car still looks good.. Just a thought ..

 

Plenty are, or have done. PPF (film) or a ceramic coating.

 

Mine looks great in my driveway. I'm planning on getting a matte clear bra for it, they said it shouldn't make much change to the paint. Also I believe the car is already sprayed in a matte clear coat because at angles the roof is a bit reflective. I got the awd sel ssg 2 days ago

 

Had my Ultimate SSG- 4 months now no regrets loving every second - go for it

 

Same here, I've had my Ultimate SSG since Feb and also no regrets. I was concerned at first but washing it has been a breeze. I also like the fact it doesn't show dirt between car washes. Big improvement from my last car that was gloss black.

 

I agree that the gray matte color is the best looking, but after 5 minutes of research, I decided that there was no way I wanted to put in the amount of work that it would take to maintain that paint. Life is too short to have a car that would have constant anxiety over. I put in my order for digital teal. But it might work for some people. You do you.

 

I would never have selected SSG but had no choice in the color when I received notice that a SEL AWD had arrived unexpectedly at the dealer and was not yet spoken for. I probably would have selected one of the other colors, maybe black or white and I even had a Limited Teal on order back in February but cancelled since it was going nowhere. Now that I have the Shooting Star I really like the color and the way it brings out the spaceship appearance of the car. I'm a bit of a fanatic and have been on the garaged at night and washed twice/week program for 25 years. I go to the self service coin operated car wash, use foam gun first to cover the car with soap, then use brush on wheels/tires, then squirt with high pressure soap then brush front and back glass, high pressure rinse, finish with no spot rinse then full speed freeway to blow off. 2 or 3 times a month do the full glass cleaning with alcohol based product. Looks great!!

 

After getting my I5 in black (having never had a black car before), I realized how every imperfection, piece of dirt, etc. is instantly visible in the paintwork. I opted for a full front PPF with ceramic coating over the whole car, including the PPF itself. It was an expensive addition, but I've not looked back. Every time I approach the car now I get a bit giddy about how it looks. I will never again own a car that doesn't get at least a ceramic coating. I'm completely sold.

 

I also have had Ceramic Pro professionally applied to my last cars and it is really fantastic, even better if the paint is never (rarely) touched by anything. Certainly no automated car washes and really best if no towels or anything. The dirt just slides off like one of those super teflon pans in an infomercial.

 

Wanted to give 18 months , 18,000 miles update on living with SSG Ultimate AWD - SSG has been absolutely a breeze to look after - don’t use car wash machine - just Autoglym snow wash , followed by Autoglym polar wash , rinse with hose and microfibre towels to dry . Looks like the day I took delivery

 

Just out of curiosity -- what is the issue with the matte paint?

What's the problem with using an auto wash machine?

Here in Central TX we don't get snow but we get a lot of dust/dirt/hail.

 

Just out of curiosity -- what is the issue with the matte paint?

What's the problem with using an auto wash machine?

Here in Central TX we don't get snow but we get a lot of dust/dirt/hail.

The main problem with Automatic car washes is most use wax based products that are ideal if you want a nice shiny finish - not ideal for Matte paint

 

I was told by the sales lady that it can get scratched easily if we are not careful. Something to do w/ lack of "clearcoat". Also, need to use special car wash soap... and definitely stay away from automatic car washes that uses those brushes/hanging things. Touch-free car washes may be okay...

 

There is most definitely a clearcoat on the car. In fact, it's the clearcoat that gives it the matte finish -- unlike a standard gloss clearcoat, however, it's a special mixture which causes the dried clearcoat surface to have a microscopic roughness that scatters light rather than a polished surface that yields a high gloss reflection. This is why you absolutely cannot wax or use a carwash whose soap contains wax, as doing so will smooth out that roughness.

 

I have a 22 plate in Shooting Star Grey Matt, I am finding it a nightmare. I had a ceramic coating done but it does nothing to stop the scratches on the lower silver trim. I have had a knock and I am getting silly-priced quotes to repair. Would you believe that replacing the mouldings at the dealer would be around £1000, I have been getting some quotes from a few people and to get the dent sorted and the moulding repaired and sprayed because of the Matt paint they want nearly £600. I would like to try and fix the lower bumper myself.

 

The damage that your pictures are showing has nothing to do with your car having a matte finish.

Ceramic coating doesn't prevent scratches - it makes the car easier to clean and helps keep stuff like bird poop from eating into the finish. If you want scratch resistance, get PPF.

I have been getting some quotes from a few people and to get the dent sorted and the moulding repaired and sprayed because of the Matt paint they want nearly £600.

Given the amount of damage in your pictures, that doesn't seem unreasonable.

If you just want to touch up the scraped paint and not worry about blending it into the existing finish, then just buy some touch-up paint and do it yourself.