Discussion of Stinger paint quality (Was - Paint Chip Issue)

[Ivansito]

And the best part is, every....single....time...you open the doors, hatch, trunk, fuel door, or just look at the car........YOU GET TO SEE DIFFERENT COLORED PAINT!!!

How in the blue hell they expected us to be happy with this is beyond me. Sand down to the primer, the re-primer with a YELLOW primer and then color and clear.......... But the crap that is left has a WHITE primer under it and is still part of the problem to begin with, not to mention the fact your going to have sharp cutoff lines for this 'respray' and it wont be blended anywhere. But hey, they are 'gracious' enough to offer you the 'reacharound' check of $5k if you can get their shitty job completed for that....... Oh and by the way, it can't be done at the same time because they aren't giving you a dam thing until you accept it (half-done) and then have to pay to get the car torn back apart again, and this time your footing the bill for a rental car while they try and fix/finish what has been done....

Sure, they could've told us to get bent, but this is worse. They are going to expect us to be happy with this, when yellow owners NOT in the US get a complete strip to metal and repaint, a lifetime paint warranty after, and they replace/redo the dam plastic parts....What a concept.

This is not some dam holy gift from on high that we should graciously accept like a grinning idiot and say "Thank you oh great one may I have another". It's a slap in the face for those of us who took a chance with them when everyone said we were crazy as hell for buying a $50,000 Kia, and I'm starting to admit to myself that they may have been right.

I hope your speaking from experience here. Has your car been repainted and returned to you? And if it has, what the hell you crying about? You have 2 other options if your not happy with the repaint. Talk about a slap in the face. Its a slap in the face for how your venting about all your 3 options vs other color Stinger owners with no options with the same issue.

Not happy with repaint? You have 30 day, 30 DAYS, to inspect the crap out of your car. In fact you might even gain a chip or two with still the option to trade in for a new one or buy out. Dam what a option!!

 

[MerlintheMad]

@gilthanis1 You are making a generalization based on a general approach by Kia vis-a-vis Yellows in the US. We don't know what other Yellows outside the US are getting. The Aussie case is famous in these parts. But is that general for all Aussie Yellows? Does it matter?

The car is a very good, even a great car. Paint is an unfortunate hitch in the gitalong of the first year Stinger, for a very few cars. Add in a very few more hitches in some Stingers, like upholstery wear, various electrical glitches, and you still have a hugely successful car with a warranty that beats all, etc.

Why listen to your detractors? They don't like Kia in the first place. Some HATE them, especially those that paid out thousands and thousands more for a Bimmer that exhibits, at the least, just as many recall issues.

Get your repaint and go from there. If you really enjoy the car the repaint should be worth it in the end. "Nothing in this world has any business being perfect." And a hard paint line that doesn't show unless you open a hood or door or trunk lid isn't worth carping about, imho. If it does matter, then pay to make it go away. That's what the $5K is for.

 

[Mach_Tuck]

I really have no idea how long it will take or how they intend to do this. I haven't seen or heard of anybody yet going this route and filling out the paperwork yet. I got the paperwork all sent in last night, so I'l keep everybody up to date.

So you are going direct to rebuy...skipping the paint process? Still waiting on Linda to confirm this is an option for me?

Thanks

 

[MerlintheMad]

(Just so you notice: the poll hasn't received a single additional vote in over a week. Stands at 185, out of c. 4K forum members. And c. 42% are "no" votes.)

 

[gilthanis1]

Yep I know...... Wrong no matter what. Seen plenty of these done, but who cares. Do whatever. God forbid I'm not happy and bending the knee like a good soldier.....

 

[Kato_the_kia_stinger]

I don’t blame anyone for their feelings about the situation. Imperfect situations will always result in a varied collection of emotions. I am continuing on on the process with an open mind because, let’s face the fact—no run of cars are perfect. What some cars lack in the mechanical perfection, other may lack in electrical or with fitment. Granted, I would be much happier with an entire respray and plastics replacement, but I trust that that option is a financial impossibility for the company, and it would likely result in a vehicle recall for the 400. I do like the option of having a partial repaint and a little time to consider the other two options. Again, in a perfect world, we get a complete repaint. But if the world was perfect, we wouldn’t need it (and warranties would be nonexistent.) I am torn, of course. I love my car, and I love it in Sunset Yellow. I don’t know any other car I would want instead. And I am not sure that I will love any other color.

 

[MisterMac]

Yep I know...... Wrong no matter what. Seen plenty of these done, but who cares. Do whatever. God forbid I'm not happy and bending the knee like a good soldier.....

While this is a somewhat emotional issue, for some more than others, it would be best to keep the feed to facts without opinion or emotion so that others can benefit the most and make decisions based upon facts. These temper tantrums and "woe is me pouting sessions" don't benefit the community.

 

[Tonkabob]

An

@gilthanis1 You are making a generalization based on a general approach by Kia vis-a-vis Yellows in the US. We don't know what other Yellows outside the US are getting. The Aussie case is famous in these parts. But is that general for all Aussie Yellows? Does it matter?

The car is a very good, even a great car. Paint is an unfortunate hitch in the gitalong of the first year Stinger, for a very few cars. Add in a very few more hitches in some Stingers, like upholstery wear, various electrical glitches, and you still have a hugely successful car with a warranty that beats all, etc.

Why listen to your detractors? They don't like Kia in the first place. Some HATE them, especially those that paid out thousands and thousands more for a Bimmer that exhibits, at the least, just as many recall issues.

Get your repaint and go from there. If you really enjoy the car the repaint should be worth it in the end. "Nothing in this world has any business being perfect." And a hard paint line that doesn't show unless you open a hood or door or trunk lid isn't worth carping about, imho. If it does matter, then pay to make it go away. That's what the $5K is for.

And the front fenders under the hood already has a hard paint line from the factory where they stopped spraying the clearcoat (or maybe used non metalic paint even) So it already looks resprayed!

 

[bumble bee]

Tonka I agree!

 

[Ivansito]

Yep I know...... Wrong no matter what. Seen plenty of these done, but who cares. Do whatever. God forbid I'm not happy and bending the knee like a good soldier.....

No one is advocating for anyone to just settle for anything. I'm just saying, let your opinion be base upon experiences and other experiences. How can we realistically process what KIA is doing when we already prematurely anticipating bad things and voicing them out loud? People will listen. People will sway base upon what they read. Lets be conscious of that. KIA has made 3 incredible options for us to choose from. Now lets see from experiences how those options pan out.

 

[Ucinn]

So you are going direct to rebuy...skipping the paint process? Still waiting on Linda to confirm this is an option for me?

Thanks

I did tell them I wanted a full repaint, if not we will go to the next option. They came back and said a full repaint is not acceptable to them, so yes, we are going to the next options without a repaint first.

 

[Christopher]

No, very wrong. "We will repaint it if you agree to protect it". No misunderstandings or translation errors. Mine are all chips, so if they wanted to claim all 50 chips in less than 3k miles were caused by rocks I guess they could. Seems fair to me. Probaably should have done PPF in the first place and now i can.

Who said you had to get PPF after the repaint in order to get the guarantee? The letter is pretty specific... the repaint is still covered under the 3yr/36,000 paint warranty. A few things to note:

1. You do not have to have the car repainted in order to take advantage of either the trade or repurchase options. If you want to take advantage of these, you send Kia your purchase agreement, any invoices for dealer-installed options that are not included in the contract, any other invoices for PPF, etc. Kia will transfer your case to HQ which will be handling these requests.
2. To receive the $5K goodwill gesture, you must have the car repainted AND be satisfied AND keep the car. Kia will cut you a check after 30 days from the date the repaint is complete. Kia will also cover the replacement of any PPF for all parts that are repainted. Once the PPF is removed you have to have a new one installed. They can't reapply it and if they try, put a stop to it. Kia will provide you with a loaner car during the process.

I've talked to my assigned person, Linda, at Kia and everything is pretty straight forward. They've been very responsive.

 

[Christopher]

On a side note, my rep simply asked me which of the three options would I like to explore. For me... I'm looking in to swapping the car or repurchase and looking at a 2019 model-year. Once I get through the process, I still have the option of the repaint and $5K. My suggestion is to see how all three come out in the end and then choose. See what they offer for the repurchase? Can they find you the replacement car you want? If you don't like those options, then do the repaint. It seems Kia is being pretty flexible. I can't tell you how many times my rep apologized for the inconvenience. It's appreciated and really not necessary... unless she's the one that mixed the paint and applied it to my car. LOL

 

[Mach_Tuck]

I did tell them I wanted a full repaint, if not we will go to the next option. They came back and said a full repaint is not acceptable to them, so yes, we are going to the next options without a repaint first.

Thanks and good to know. I suppose since i asked for full repaint as well mine will head down a similar path.

 

[Tonkabob]

Who said you had to get PPF after the repaint in order to get the guarantee? The letter is pretty specific... the repaint is still covered under the 3yr/36,000 paint warranty. A few things to note:
.

That was me. I'm Blue so don't get the royal treatment like Yellow.
My "will pay for partial repaint if you pay for PPF" has changed to Kia will not pay for anything. Still working on a soluton.
All non yellow are case by case.

 

[Waynerm002]

I find this all interesting that folks are getting bent out of shape speculating on the final product. If you have ever been in an accident and had your car repaired and repainted at a bad shop, I can understand this is a concern. When my 535 was in an accident and it was going for repair, I made sure to look it over and the job was so good that it was like having a new car. I've had other repairs/respray that I cheaped out on and the work showed, I now make sure to go to top places and not sign if the work isn't to my liking. KIA dealers plan on using places that should be able to handle this type of work and any shop worth their salt will want to make sure their work is great or they will lose future business.

Let's wait and see how things go before we lose our cool. Spending time getting frustrated before anything happens is not good for anyone's health. We are all hoping for the best for your early adopters.

 

[Christopher]

Interesting that once the decision to re-buy is made you have 14 days to gather the paperwork. Any info on how long the re-buy process will take and how they intend to pay off or pay for all the items?

I am still waiting for follow up on all the questions i asked during my initial follow up call. Understand they are busy so no rush for me yet.

I can maybe swallow that primer is different plastic to metal. I CANNOT do the same for metal to metal and them refusing to paint the rather massive rear door jambs that happen to be covered with the same primer and paint...

Wanted to add FACTS to this topic as there seems to be a lot of opinions being thrown around about what Kia is doing. I just got off the phone with my case manager at Kia about the paint issue:

1. They will pay for re-spray of metal parts. They said the reason they are not painting the plastics is because there was an issue in prep of metal, not the plastics, that is causing the issue with easily chipping/flaking paint. He did agree with me that it would make more sense to paint everything rather than paying for labor to mask off or remove plastic parts for painting of the metal surfaces, but that is what Kia's policy is for this issue and what they told the reps.

2. Kia Motors America said my main contact for the re-spray is the service manager at my local Kia dealer, whom I've already been working with and he personally spoke to. My local dealer will make arrangements for a rental car the entire time they have my Stinger for repaint, which would be comparable to the Stinger in terms of size and comfort (not a sports car rental, probably a luxury car).

3. When the re-paint is complete, if upon inspection I accept the car, KIA WILL CUT ME A CHECK FOR $5000! No "credit" or "reduction of the payoff", a REAL CHECK that will be mailed to me immediately upon acceptance of the car. The KMA (Kia Motors America) rep also told me to let him personally when my car goes in so he could start at that point filling out all of the documentation for that $5K check so it will be ready for me when the car is done.

4. If I don't like the quality of the re-spray, the other 2 options come into play (trade for equivalent Stinger in different color or return for full refund).

5. Existing paint warranty will be in place (3 years I believe?). I asked if there became an issue with fading or mismatch of paint over time, would Kia warrant a re-spray of those parts. He said there shouldn't be an issue since there are strict requirements for this painting process and the paint is the exact match of factory paint, but if there was an issue, Kia would probably address it because of this whole issue. Not a written guarantee but an opinion of this reps since he was not speaking on behalf of KMA (Kia Motors America). Based on how they are addressing the issue, I would agree that Kia would probably work on a resolution.

For me as a leaser, after 3 years when the paint warranty expires, if I see issues with the paint, I can simply return the car and move on, so to me this is a win, I should get a better than OEM paint job, $5K in my pocket, and a safety net after 3 years of either turning in the car if I'm not happy with how the paint held up, or buy it if all is good. Hoping for the best, but to me, the risk is ultimately a reward for Kia's mess up. I am happy with how they are handling this issue and the options they have provided. If others aren't happy, they should make your own decision on what to do going forward. The reason I am opting to re-spray now is the risk that if it is not done before the deadline and the paint becomes an issue, it will have to be addressed at that time, and the $5K check is no longer an option/available.

I received a slightly different response from Linda, who is lead on all Yellow Stinger cases. You do not have to immediately choose the repaint. You can explore all options at once. You can see what Kia will do with the swap or repurchase and they request all the documents up front. You can still decide to have your car repainted and receive the $5K. The two options that run out Dec 1 are the car swap and repurchase. You have 30 days after the repaint is complete to make a decision. The check is mailed after the 30-day period. Everything else listed matches what I was told.

 

[Christopher]

That was me. I'm Blue so don't get the royal treatment like Yellow.
My "will pay for partial repaint if you pay for PPF" has changed to Kia will not pay for anything. Still working on a soluton.
All non yellow are case by case.

Oh, I see. Not good at all. Of course I have a yellow GT2 with 6000 miles and zero paint issues and wonder what everyone is talking about. Of course, I still have to decide on a repaint or the other options on a perfectly mint car. I do have a GT2 Yellow Stinger and from what I was told by the dealer, that trim in yellow is quite rare. That said... I'm sure they did the same crap job as every other yellow. Just wondering why I haven't had issues.

 

[Fred Pahlke]

Oh, I see. Not good at all. Of course I have a yellow GT2 with 6000 miles and zero paint issues and wonder what everyone is talking about. Of course, I still have to decide on a repaint or the other options on a perfectly mint car. I do have a GT2 Yellow Stinger and from what I was told by the dealer, that trim in yellow is quite rare. That said... I'm sure they did the same crap job as every other yellow. Just wondering why I haven't had issues.

I too have he GT2 yellow with 3400 miles without issues....wonder if all yellows are inflicted with the bad paint.

 

[AV8R]

I too have he GT2 yellow with 3400 miles without issues....wonder if all yellows are inflicted with the bad paint.

Is your build date in nov or dec?