Hyundai Azera Warped Body Panels

alaskawhaley

I have a real unusual problem. I live in Fairbanks Alaska and just purchased a 2007 Azera SE on 12/20/07. On my delivery inspection I saw on all the door panels what appeared to be 2 long (12" - 15") vertical door dings, but they were present on all 4 doors. They were symetrical, meanining they appeared in the same locations on each door. Look like the contact area where the door skin is attached to something inside the door. The salesman called a body repair man who inspected the car and at first quoted $1800 - $2000 to repair! Now comes the weird part. The car was being inspected outside at -10 F. When the car was taken back inside to finish delivery detailing, the body warmed up and the creases disappreared. The body man said he had seen something like this only once where there is a contraction of the skin at cold tempatures. By the way it does it up to +10 which is the warmest it has been since I bought the car. Has anyone had this experience? After looking at the car real close I found areas on the rear 1/4 panels that have the same problem. I am supposed to meet with a Rep from Hyundai sometime soon to come up with a solution to this problem.Does this sound like a factory defect? Thanks

floridabob1

RE:1
I hate to say it, but living in FL it appears to me that the defect is choosing to live in a place where the temperature goes down to -10 F.
Just kidding, but does this same thing happen to other cars?

alaskawhaley

You got that right! Of course -10 is just the tip of the ice burg. Can expect it to get -40 to -50 before the end of winter. As far as have I seen it before. My friend has a 2004 Sante fe and he says they have noticed a similar problem with theirs.

gamleged

Evidently an unevenly-distributed temperature contraction between the body panels and the underlying mounting structure, with the panels contracting notably more than the understructure in really cold temps. This would be the first mention of such a problem in an automobile that I've ever heard of, possibly because the panels are especially lightweight...

cobrazera

Looks like Hyundai should have picked a colder place for their winter weather testing.
I recall the opposite thing happened with the first Saturn cars. Their intro was delayed for a year or so because during testing in Arizona, the plastic doors swelled shut and could not be opened.

cdmuile

Reminds me of my '85 Renault 5 " Le Car". The first time the temp hit 0 here in Iowa, the driver side push open rear seat window came off its hinges. Went to the dealer and they said they knew about the problem. They had been given a special glue by Renault to fix the problem, Two days later the passenger side window did the same thing. The glue worked. Wish they had thought about very cold weather problems before production started.