And You Thought The Stinger Had Bad Paint!

[Aurelian]

...5 rock chips in paint alone at just over 9k miles.

11k miles on NJ roads over 10 mos - have accumulated many chips mainly on front bumper, fenders, and hood, enough that I don't bother counting any more. Silky Silver color helps obscure them with a passing glance, but any serious look exposes the pockmarked reality. I've also discovered a few away from the front that might not even be rock chips - just a tiny fleck, line, or pinpoint where you can see the black underneath.

 

[Rob M]

- environmentally friendly, but less durable water-based paints
- robotically applied paint job is thinner, less expensive, than human applied, and less forgiving
- over-dependence during winter on salt or cinders in many regions of the country
- significantly higher freeway speeds than just a little more than a couple decades ago
- more cars, trucks, and construction vehicles on the road

12K miles, 1 year, hi chroma red. I don't have any visible damage that I would not attribute to road debris or human carelessness. I have acquired some chips, mainly on the bumper and leading edge of the hood. I don't think it would be easy to argue such damage as being defective. Years ago I had a 1990 Dodge Daytona (claret red) and it had truly defective paint - clear coat dissolved in two distinctive stripes from the hood over the roof and then the base paint faded. That was a legitimate defect. Dishonest dealer (Heritage) made excuses and tried to blame it on environmental elements. Another, more honest dealer, contacted Chrysler and then repainted the entire top of the vehicle at no cost to me.

Here's one piece of anecdotal evidence on my Stinger's paint... Last weekend I removed the decal the dealer had placed on the vehicle above the Stinger emblem. It had to have been on there for 18 months. It was a black vinyl and metallic sticker, and the metallic areas were brittle and cracked. It took me nearly an hour to get it off using low setting on heat gun (at least 6" away and moving back and forth) along with some wd-40. I used my fingernails a bunch trying to lift the corners and literally hundreds of pieces (eventually got smarter and used a microfiber towel to rub them away). I thought for sure that I would have marred the clear coat. But guess what - I applied some cleaner wax to remove the remainder of the adhesive residue, and I could not find a single scratch. I was impressed.

 

[Revvdmedia]

Years ago I had a 1990 Dodge Daytona...

I had to comment on this post simply because I had 2 Daytona in my life. Weren't they wonderful pieces of junk? I'd have a third if I could snag a turbo 5 speed for a few hundred bills lol. #Popupheadlights.

Back to the concerns on paint, I would concur some have much less durable or arguably defective paint. Maybe some of us have good paint, but maybe the average has just "OK" paint. I have on my Stinger what I could call a "usual" amount of rock chips for the amount of miles on it and the fact it has stone guard. I do think while the paint on our cars is average quality at best, it does show its weakness in some areas. I'm a bit alarmed at the amount of people who destroy their paint doing badge swaps, I haven't seen that many documented occurrences on formerly owned cars and the associated message boards I frequented. I primarily attribute the debadging paint issue to the fact the badges glued to the urethane (plastic) parts of the car rather than painted metal. The paint adherence to a "plastic" panel seems to be less durable that on metal which is why I think so many people have issues with badge removal.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Why are Stinger owners so passive about the bad paint?!?! I cannot figure this out for the life of me. There are hundreds...probably thousands of us all in the same boat with the same flaking paint problem! This is not a coincidence people. We should not just keep blaming it on the rocks and taking it upon ourselves to just pay for more paint enhancements/fixes. How about standing up for ourselves??? How about joining forces and presenting a reasonable case to Kia Motors letting them know that we are highly dissatisfied with the paint jobs on these $40-50k dollar vehicles we've purchased from them. Mine came to light after only a couple months of ownership and a couple thousand miles driven. Unacceptable!


I'm sure we're all over 21 and have owned numerous cars. This is car number 19 for me personally (since the age of 21). So 22 years and 19 vehicles later, I have yet to experience this level of paint failure. The Stinger also happens to be the highest sticker price I've ever paid for a car. I co-signed on a Kia Rio for my sister a few years back, but I have never personally owned/driven a Kia. This is my first Kia and my first bad paint experience, so I have to deduce that Kia Motors is the common denominator here. Therefore, the onus should lie with Kia not me (or you). Thoughts?

The Stinger has sold over 25K in the US as of July 2019. Hundreds of vehicles with paint issues I can believe. There are not thousands of Stingers with paint flaking/chipping off. You got unlucky. And I am sorry.

 

[Aurelian]

Here's a troubling contrast for some additional perspective:

I added a graphite blue ('special' color) 2019 Niro about 3 months after getting my late MY '18 Stinger. 6 months later, the Niro has 8000 miles more than the Stinger, despite starting 3 months later. And its bumper and fender paint is in remarkably better condition than the Stinger. Granted it does drive slower (usually) than the Stinger, but it's also seen much worse weather and road conditions and with greater frequency.

Both cars were probably built within a year of each other. I had the same detailer apply the same ceramic coating to both. I hand wash both cars, weekly, with OCD levels of attention. And when I wipe down the Niro with the somewhat thin microfiber towels I use, the feel of its paint is definitely more durable than the Stinger's. I would also note that I haven't seen micro-imperfections on the top paint coat accumulating on the Niro's paint (tiny dots, specks, and lines flaking away), and the Niro's a dark car so those should be easy to spot. It's either a hard rock chip down to the primer, or nothing.

Dashed expectations on the Stinger's paint are definitely an issue. It should be logical to expect a $40k+ car from a brand to have equal or better paint to a $30k contemporary car from that same brand. All the more so when that brand has something to prove with that $40k+ car. So Kia has fumbled the ball on painting Stingers. How much it matters to specific people probably depends on how much attention, effort, and money they want to spend to keep it looking like the rolling piece of art that it is. Because it's doubtful that warranty or consumer law can force a solution covering all Stingers.

 

[Manaz]

Both cars were probably built within a year of each other. I had the same detailer apply the same ceramic coating to both. I hand wash both cars, weekly, with OCD levels of attention. And when I wipe down the Niro with the somewhat thin microfiber towels I use, the feel of its paint is definitely more durable than the Stinger's.

Shouldn't the ceramic coat negate any difference in how the paint feels under hand?

 

[MerlintheMad]

Dashed expectations on the Stinger's paint are definitely an issue. It should be logical to expect a $40k+ car from a brand to have equal or better paint to a $30k contemporary car from that same brand.

The trouble I have bringing up anecdotal evidence is that the group effect is lacking. It depends on the individual vehicle. Extreme amount paint chipping - Kia Niro Forum
Paint Chips - Kia Niro Forum

 

[Aurelian]

Shouldn't the ceramic coat negate any difference in how the paint feels under hand?

It's hard to explain - the Niro both feels thicker when brushing at it with a rolled up microfiber towel, and visually it seems thicker too. Ceramic coating is only single layer for water bead effect, so I don't think that would result in such a big perception in thickness. Probably need to take out a paint meter to know for sure.

The trouble I have bringing up anecdotal evidence is that the group effect is lacking. It depends on the individual vehicle.

Good manufacturing depends on eliminating the perceptible variance on individual examples in large numbers. Once there is an active discussion on how individual vehicles vary - that's a quality problem.

The best strategy for lower-end luxury vehicles is to put as much of the money as possible where the customer can see and feel it. Kia mostly accomplished that - except with the paint. They should not have cut corners or risked using any new processes there - it just has not been worth the muddled publicity and owner worries on an otherwise standout model.

 

[WarrantKas]

11k miles on NJ roads over 10 mos - have accumulated many chips mainly on front bumper, fenders, and hood, enough that I don't bother counting any more. Silky Silver color helps obscure them with a passing glance, but any serious look exposes the pockmarked reality. I've also discovered a few away from the front that might not even be rock chips - just a tiny fleck, line, or pinpoint where you can see the black underneath.

At least someone is acknowledging paint flaking OTHER than just blaming it on the rocks! Thank you for your openness

 

[Revvdmedia]

At least someone is acknowledging paint flaking OTHER than just blaming it on the rocks! Thank you for your openness

I've given my paint a very thorough inspection when I did my full detailing and ceramic coat a month and a bit ago, about 10 months of ownership. It's a bit difficult to absolutely discern the severity of rock chips since our winters and fairly long, harsh and full of gravel and rocks, so a more brutal winter could contribute to more rock chips. After my inspection I found about 11 rock chips in need of repair, and most of my former vehicles would require somewhere between 5 and 10. With the quantity of chips, I considered my paint quality "OK" at best, far from stellar. The only thing that really bugs me about the rock chips is when I get them, a lot of them seem rather large. The chips don't otherwise appear to be spreading or flaking.

 

[WarrantKas]

The Stinger has sold over 25K in the US as of July 2019. Hundreds of vehicles with paint issues I can believe. There are not thousands of Stingers with paint flaking/chipping off. You got unlucky. And I am sorry.

But it's not that I got unlucky...it's me and the hundreds of others like me who are unluckily dealing with this Kia shortcoming. Personally, I think the error lies within certain batches of paint applications. In other words, those of us experiencing this come from the same defective batch of paint and/or paint application(s) likely from the same plant(s).

There has to be a way Kia Motors can trace VINs to manufacturing plants. That's why it is so important for each of us to report these paint chips/flakes to Kia. It could help them get to the root of the problem. There are hundreds of people withholding evidence that could very well be an integral part of the solution. But how would we ever know if people don't even report it? ‍

The trouble I have bringing up anecdotal evidence is that the group effect is lacking. It depends on the individual vehicle.

The problem I have with you labeling this as simply anecdotal evidence (as if we're just telling stories about our issues) is that most of us have actual proof of the issue in the form of date/time stamped pictures and videos. Sure they're personal accounts, but after hundreds of personal accounts about the same problem, then it's time for people to acknowledge and start seeing this as logical evidence. Once that happens, then maybe Kia Motors will be more inclined to do their part in producing the emperical evidence through research and studies of our complaints.

 

[MerlintheMad]

But it's not that I got unlucky...it's me and the hundreds of others like me who are unluckily dealing with this Kia shortcoming. Personally, I think the error lies within certain batches of paint applications. In other words, those of us experiencing this come from the same defective batch of paint and/or paint application(s) likely from the same plant(s).

There has to be a way Kia Motors can trace VINs to manufacturing plants. That's why it is so important for each of us to report these paint chips/flakes to Kia. It could help them get to the root of the problem. There are hundreds of people withholding evidence that could very well be an integral part of the solution. But how would we ever know if people don't even report it? ‍

"Withholding evidence" is not a fair definition of a failure to report. I agree with your idea that "batches" of Stingers got varying paint issues/failures. Most cars are fine. Paint wise, mine has been perfect. The huge majority of Stinger Forum members can say the same. So, "unlucky" are those whose vehicles came from the "bad batches".

This is why Kia has a paint warranty. I'm sure they are already in possession of the information you speak to. VIN ID automatically places a particular vehicle within a production run; and if VINs from that run are returning with paint failure claims, Kia can crunch the accumulating information and resolve the questions about what happened to create the problem. Kia is resolved to produce the best cars for the best price point in the world. That is how I see the company at this time. They are not just tossing the issues you and others are experiencing: they are always working on solutions.

The human element is the added frustration. "It is so hard to find good help these days", is the cry of businesses everywhere. My communications with Kia Corp. have been few and wholly successful. Then I get on here and read about individuals who have opposite experiences, to the extreme that it doesn't even sound like the same company we both bought the same model car from. The difference in customer service experiences is all about communication and competency. Kia is a big company so the experience is going to vary, unfortunately.

I hope that your experience ends up being a good one! ​

 

[YEH]

There's a huge recall (talking millions) regarding paint issues (certain colors) for Toyota; and hear that Honda has also had issues w/ certain paint colors.

A potential issue may be the move to more environmentally friendly (and hence, softer) paints.