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

[TwiceStung]

Here is a direct quote from DuPont on their water-based paint vs solvent. This was several years ago. It refers to after-market body shops but there is every reason to believe it applies also to OEMs.

Going from 4 to 6 coats to 2 coats of paint will make a thickness and ultimately a durability difference..........

“Most other waterborne products went in the direction of trying to create a waterborne paint that was like solvent-based paint,” Christman explained. “Solvent is the old technology, and painters tend to dislike change. So many paint companies, when they created their waterborne paint, said ‘we’re going to make them like solvent.’ We went a different direction.

“It’s a higher solids product, so it’s got more of the stuff that gets left behind when the water evaporates off. It’s a one-and-a-half coat, wet-on-wet process. Rather than having to lay down a coat of paint, let it flash, then lay down another one, let it flash—and, depending on what you’re working with, lay down four, five, six coats—with Cromax Pro, you cover in one and a half coats. And anything that doesn’t cover in one and a half coats covers in two coats. So you go in, put on the first coat, go right back and put on your mist coat, your ‘effect’ coat, which is half a coat. Then you’re done. You can put the gun away; leave the booth. It will dry, and then you can clear coat it.”

 

[MerlintheMad]

A link would be good. I think I've read the piece this is taken from last year.

 

[eflyguy]

Google is your friend:
How Waterborne Paint Is Changing the Auto Industry | SEMA

 

[Deez6utz]

This is my first post on this forum. I have a Micro Blue GT2 AWD. I have several paint chips on the hood (bonnet), infamous fang marks etc
the paint behind the door handle is coming off (I don't wear jewelry), and the primer on top of the rear hatch is showing through. I have material underneath the paint in some places too. On top of the paint issue, the leather seats started to split. The dealership replaced the driver's seat upper seat cover but that didn't match and I told them it wasn't good enough so they're ordering another replacement. Kia has offered to respray the car panels that show damage and initially I thought, okay, that sounds good. But after thinking about it, here is my problem; if the car has bad primer on these parts then the likelihood the rest of car has bad primer all over and if that the case, these issues are going to keep coming up so it'll my time to and from Kia and my car is going to be patch repaired. I love my car but if it wasn't built right then surely they need to fix the underlying issue and not stick a bandaid on it. Am I being too harsh?

 

[MerlintheMad]

Am I being too harsh?

NO.

However, if the rest of the car is fine, then there is no evidence that the entire car is painted wrong. The different parts of the car are painted in different environments and then brought together during assembly. It's possible that the fenders, i.e. the main chassis and steel body panels, are fine. The doors are painted separately, ditto the hood, bumpers and hatch: rocker panels rear panel (behind the plate), all done in mass production and then brought and attached down the line. That means that bad doors could be the only problem a car has; or a flaking, chipping hood. Damage to the forward edge of the hatch or rear edge of the hood are totally separate issues from paint adhesion. So Kia won't want to repaint anything that hasn't ALREADY shown failure. I guess this is reasonable in the real world: and if you have to come back later for fenders or bumpers or whatever, Kia will repaint those parts: they are not wanting to inconvenience anyone, but they are also not going to spend money unless necessary. And after 36 months, they are free and clear.

 

[Deez6utz]

NO.

However, if the rest of the car is fine, then ...

Thanks for your input... the problem appears where friction is evident (paint is not adhering) so while it may seem that the problem is limited to these specific areas I just don't know if the issue lies elsewhere. The longer I own the car the more difficult it becomes are argue nonconformity.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Thanks for your input... the problem appears where friction is evident (paint is not adhering) so while it may seem that the problem is limited to these specific areas I just don't know if the issue lies elsewhere. The longer I own the car the more difficult it becomes are argue nonconformity.

Other than where you grab your door handles, your description of paint issue places are not where "friction" occurs. The top of the hatch and hood are among the least impacted areas of a car. Even the sides of a car, doors and fenders and bumpers, get a lot more contact from us as we come up close and rub against it for a variety of reasons: among which are, attaching things to the roof, or opening doors and reaching in, or even just washing the car. The hood may collect a very few bouncing objects on the road. The hatch is almost entirely spared any contact at all. So if you have paint coming off down to the primer there it is clearly not from abrasion. The really convincing part is the "material" under the paint that is not primer. If you can document this clearly with pictures, Kia will want to see it.

Door handle cups: I can imagine Kia having those repaired and possibly going with PPF in them to prevent future paint chipping. But if the entire door is compromised, then the main surface of the door is going to chip as well. So waiting until you know this is happening, and showing it in pictures, will get the entire door resprayed and not just the first damage to occur, i.e. the door handle cups.

Also, when discussing these incidents here, posting pictures helps a lot in getting opinions, which will give a heads up before showing them to Kia Corp. In the past, Kia has said that the dealer must provide the pictures that Kia Corp. studies as evidence. Some owners have gone around the car with the dealer and taken their own pictures, which are then on file at the dealer and sent off to Kia. So there isn't just one way to proceed with this.

 

[Wilzer]

2018 Stinger GT2 AWD blue and on the lip of the hatch looks like there is dust underneath the clear coat. Does not photograph well or I would post picture. Seems to be the only place with paint issue. Went to dealer and manager is out for a couple of weeks for surgery, so will hopefully get resolution of problem when he returns. Staff were cordial and helpful but say manager has to see it.

 

[CDv6]

Went to dealer and manager is out for a couple of weeks for surgery, so will hopefully get resolution of problem when he returns. Staff were cordial and helpful but say manager has to see it.

Silver lining...it will still be there when he gets back.

 

[GronkSoyFiesta]

6 months and 2250 miles in, I now have the hood chips I was fearing would happen. Two square in the middle and four smaller ones around it.

 

[GronkSoyFiesta]

View attachment 21015 6 months and 2250 miles in, I now have the hood chips I was fearing would happen. Two square in the middle and four smaller ones around it.

Front area between the panels

 

[GronkSoyFiesta]

View attachment 21018

Front area between the panels

Inside the door, 1/2" area with no paint

 

[GronkSoyFiesta]

View attachment 21019 Inside the door, 1/2" area with no paint

Also inside the door, a drop of paint that is fingernail soft

 

[GronkSoyFiesta]

Inside the door edge. Not a ding, just no paint.

 

[MerlintheMad]

So, what is your plan? The soft spot is likely the same thing noted before; paint over a bit of adhesive that squeezed out between the door panels during construction. The paint will never feel hard while the adhesive remains pliable, which I suspect it will, as its nature is to be pliable rather than brittle (the pic is very vague). I think the door edge is a nick, not just a tiny place where paint never was. The picture of "1/2" with no paint" isn't at all clear; you could never use this pic to substantiate anything with Kia.

 

[StingaGT]

Paint adhesion seems very poor on my Stinger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have 2019 GT2 in black with 1500 miles on it and already have two chip...
one is tiny, but was able to see the bare metal.
and the second one is quite big...
I've never had this issue with my previous car which had 100,000 miles..
I've seen some people got it fixed through warranty... but how likely is it that they will acknowledge it for warranty fix?
I have feeling it will have tons more going forward..so I will try if it gets so much chips..

 

[Dmchristie1]

Warranty should cover it.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Paint adhesion seems very poor on my Stinger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have 2019 GT2 in black with 1500 miles on it and already have two chip...
one is tiny, but was able to see the bare metal.
and the second one is quite big...
I've never had this issue with my previous car which had 100,000 miles..
I've seen some people got it fixed through warranty... but how likely is it that they will acknowledge it for warranty fix?
I have feeling it will have tons more going forward..so I will try if it gets so much chips..

That does look like a bad one, maybe not caused by any impact with road debris: it's impossible to tell what edge of your car this chip is on; it could even have occurred by something hard striking that edge. The first pic is very unclear what I am seeing. It looks like bubbles!

I think that taking really informative pics as you go along is the right approach. Get your dealer involved immediately and Kia Corp should give you a case number. Tell them that you are just starting to monitor this. Update them regularly with any new failed areas. If the number of chips isn't many, and a dab or brush stroke of touch up paint stops them from getting any bigger, then at least you can decide later how much you're willing to give them your car for warranty repair. If the chips wind up being few in number, and the touch up goes well (you could get a shop involved with this to do it with minimal disturbance and expense), you might not want to deal with a warranty respray; those can be terribly invasive and take a long time; just look at the anecdotes on this thread!

Once you're satisfied with the appearance, and that you don't have a huge, widespread problem, get your car under PPF pronto. You may not experience excessive chipping, but evidently your particular vehicle's paint is prone to impact damage, and what would create a pinprick sized nick on others' cars will probably turn into a big chip on yours.

 

[StingaGT]

That does look like a bad one, maybe not caused by any impact with road debris: it's impossible to tell what edge of your car this chip is on; it could even have occurred by something hard striking that edge. The first pic is very unclear what I am seeing. It looks like bubbles!

I think that taking really informative pics as you go along is the right approach. Get your dealer involved immediately and Kia Corp should give you a case number. Tell them that you are just starting to monitor this. Update them regularly with any new failed areas. If the number of chips isn't many, and a dab or brush stroke of touch up paint stops them from getting any bigger, then at least you can decide later how much you're willing to give them your car for warranty repair. If the chips wind up being few in number, and the touch up goes well (you could get a shop involved with this to do it with minimal disturbance and expense), you might not want to deal with a warranty respray; those can be terribly invasive and take a long time; just look at the anecdotes on this thread!

Once you're satisfied with the appearance, and that you don't have a huge, widespread problem, get your car under PPF pronto. You may not experience excessive chipping, but evidently your particular vehicle's paint is prone to impact damage, and what would create a pinprick sized nick on others' cars will probably turn into a big chip on yours.

First one is actually my first touchup paint job on the first small chip... I messed it up by applying second coat, I should've stopped at first coat.
Thanks for the advice. I will get a case number going and monitor as you recommended!

 

[GronkSoyFiesta]

I learned that there is a code-red word, that once uttered there is no turning back: "Buyback". At the recommendation of my service advisor who said they could only do spot touchups on the paint defects, I opened a case with Kia's special batphone for Stinger owners. I explained that I have issues in three categories, that the first trip to the dealer couldn't address:

Body integrity:
Sunroof popping and creaking (reduced but not addressed)
Hatch rattle (not fixed)
Door seal popping (fixed)

Electronics/Safety (Service said "could not reproduce")
False positives on BSM, hands on wheel alerts when hands are on wheel
Random disabling of collision avoidance
Car Play crackling and fade to rear in stereo head unit

Paint:
As shown above + ghosted image of badge (which 2 body shops have told me is a base coat defect). Body shop estimate to paint just impacted areas is about $1700.

The batphone rep kept saying that perhaps they could help me as a "goodwill gesture", but that it would be at the discretion of the regional rep. I asked why it takes goodwill vs. stated warranty coverages, so she asked me what it would take to make me happy: I told her that I want Kia to fully address the issues or buy back the car. I was then told that I'd need to go to an escalations line and that would likely take a week or more for even first contact. I told her that I wanted to give Kia a chance to address the issues before going to that point, but she said the simple fact I uttered that word took it out of her hands! Just meant as an FYI for now, will keep you apprised of progress.