Suggestion For Car Flooring of Hyundai Elite i20

[wyswyg]

Hi Friends

After considering to buy a car for 7-8 years, reading so many reviews, taking suggestions from friends, finally my first car Hyundai Elite i20 Asta 1.4L Diesel StarDust got delivered on 24th Dec 2014 for an OTR price 9.20L in Hyderabad under my company's car lease policy.

Being a new launch, I got NOTHING from Hyundai/dealer (KUN), not even a floor mat! I want to do the flooring/matting of my car asap before the original mat gets dirty. I need your valuable suggestions regarding this.

Option 1 : Should I do complete permanent flooring of the car, in which the local shops removes the seats and do the flooring?
Option 2: Should I buy 3M noodle mats?
Option 3: Should I buy noodle/loop mats from market and will try my hand with DIY?
Option 4: Option 1 + Option 2/3

Please suggest me the best option (add if I'm missing anything) for this.

Also, I need to put the seat covers and I'm confused between fabric covers or leather covers. Suggestion for seat covers are also welcome.

 

[Mr.Boss]

Re: Suggestion for car flooring

You can go for full vinyl mats, provided you get it done from a professional in a professional manner. I mean not every accessory shop do this job in the way they are supposed to do.

Here is an example of "How not to do" (image source: Google)


Points to take care:
- Get it matched with the floor contour (lot of patience and skill required. We do it only once and why not perfectly?)
- Use lesser quantity of pieces as much as possible (do not allow to stick / stitch many pieces)
- Do not allow installer to paste the vinyl mat over the OE mat, instead use Velcro
- Extend the mat as much as possible (under the dashboard, so that the AC drip will fall over the mat and not under it. Hope you know the sequence)

PS: I will post you the snap from my car(s) tomorrow, take reference of it (for a better job)

 

[wyswyg]

Re: Suggestion for car flooring

Thank you Mr. Boss, for your valuable replay with minute details.
I saw the local guy was using a kind of paste when he was flooring my friends Celerio, will avoid that now :-)

 

[rajanysvv]

1. Floor Mat:- It is not advised to replace the floor mat in a brand new car unless it's damaged. Generally floor mat last a lifetime.

2. Foot Mats:- You have to buy foot mats as most car manufacturers do not provide. Regarding 3M it's called Noman and not noodle mats. 3M Noman mats are expensive and may cost between Rs 6000-7100 for your car. You may consider 30 if plan to hold the car for a period of 7 years and above, otherwise you have options of range Rs 1000-3500.

3. Seat Covers:-
Option 1:- Fabric seats. Best economic option. Life 1-3 years. But since your car already comes with a fabric, so no point in replacing with fabric. Better use the stock seats and then upgrade maybe after 2 years when you notice they are in a bad shape.

Option 2:- Art leather. Price range Rs 6000-12000. Life 3-5 years in ideal maintenance. Gives a slight premium feel compared to fabric. Brands:- Gsport, Autoform, etc. A slip on option is better as in your next change its easy or you can remove them simply to retain original fabric at a later stage, though the fitting wil not be as tight compared to procedure where they cut the fabric and remove the supporting clip inside the seat and put it back method.

Option 3:- Leather. Duplicate starts from Rs 20000 while Original leather like karlson, Stanley may range at Rs 30000-55000.

P.S:- Remember it's more important how you maintain your car rather than how much you have put on accessories. A car kept in good original shape down the years by regular service and careful driving habits has a better feel and look. Specially Hyundai is a company like Samsung is introducing too many models or variants of the same model in a short period of time to gain market share and earn quick extra profits. Samsung started to introduce a new smartphone every 6 months since 2 years, sales rose and profits hit the roof, itcwas difficult yo remember model numbers and samsung stores started appearing side by side in every street. But end result today profits down 70% this year and no resale value for the phones, brand value seen as cheap as every one has a Samsung phone in one model or another. Whereas Apple just stuck to one model "Iphone" and went one to improve it by its subsequent variants from 2 to 4, 4S to 5, 5S to the current 6 series. Apple phones have much better resale today and has a better brand rating to Samsung. Similarly Hyundai has launched 3 I20's models in less than 5 years. So better spend wisely on accessories.

 

[Mr.Boss]

1. Floor Mat:- It is not advised to replace the floor mat in a brand new car unless it's damaged. Generally floor mat last a lifetime.

Subject here is regarding additional layer of vinyl wrapping over the OE carpet, not replacing anything.

 

[wyswyg]

Subject here is regarding additional layer of vinyl wrapping over the OE carpet, not replacing anything.

Exactly, I'm not going to replace the OEM floor carpet, rather an extra layer on top of it.

But still I'm confused between ....
A: vinyl flooring + cheap foot mats
B: only 3M Nomad (or similar loop) floor mats/DIY (http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...-3m-nomad-type-noodle-mats-ford-ecosport.html)

 

[Mr.Boss]

A: vinyl flooring + cheap foot mats
B: only 3M Nomad (or similar loop) floor mats/DIY

Don't settle for a cheap plastic mat, they tend to slide over the OE carpet / Vinyl mat. Nomad type will be a safe bet (I suggest DIY)
PS: 3D mats won't fit after vinyl mat, so if you consider a 3D mat, stay with the OE carpet.