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

[Audible Silence]

I found 2 blue gt2s about 170 miles away for $42k... If your guy can get close to that I'll be thrilled to deal with him. Thanks for the recommendation

 

[jondyer]

My buddy the internet tells me that there are a few there but like 5K over your price, so I guess you'll have to ask him in person.

New 2018 Kia Stinger GT2 For Sale in Delray Beach FL | Near Boca Raton & Boynton Beach | Stock: X87110 | VIN: KNAE55LC9J6024660

Good luck.

 

[Audible Silence]

That internet is a smart guy

 

[MerlintheMad]

Current poll: 232 votes, mostly down to a crawl (only 2 votes in a week or more). But Blue has almost caught up with Yellow. Back there, Blue had c. a third more than Yellow; then Yellow passed and gained by almost a third over Blue. That was during the factory letter to the Yellow owners. Now the Yellows have "played out" for the most part, imho. And Blues, being far more numerous than Yellows, and the second most troubled color with issues, will probably creep ahead of Yellow and stay there. Black is not far behind. But will not overtake Blue, but I expect Black to pass Yellow at some point, probably early next year. "No" votes remain steady at c. 40%. (No, this is not a hobby interest of mine! )

 

[forzanerazzurri]

Current poll: 232 votes, mostly down to a crawl (only 2 votes in a week or more). But Blue has almost caught up with Yellow. Back there, Blue had c. a third more than Yellow; then Yellow passed and gained by almost a third over Blue. That was during the factory letter to the Yellow owners. Now the Yellows have "played out" for the most part, imho. And Blues, being far more numerous than Yellows, and the second most troubled color with issues, will probably creep ahead of Yellow and stay there. Black is not far behind. But will not overtake Blue, but I expect Black to pass Yellow at some point, probably early next year. "No" votes remain steady at c. 40%. (No, this is not a hobby interest of mine! )

Safe to buy now?

 

[DiabloStinger]

So... I saw a thread on Facebook regarding the paint along the leading edge of the hatch from one owner. They had exposed primer along this edge.
I have been lucky to not experience any of the new issues regarding paint, brakes or anything really... Until now.

This isn't wax... I have a hydrophobic coating on the paint. It doesn't come off... It looks like primer peeking through.

Damnit.

 

[MerlintheMad]

So... I saw a thread on Facebook regarding the paint along the leading edge of the hatch from one owner. They had exposed primer along this edge.
I have been lucky to not experience any of the new issues regarding paint, brakes or anything really... Until now.

This isn't wax... I have a hydrophobic coating on the paint. It doesn't come off... It looks like primer peeking through.

Damnit.

That is very strange looking. You have discoloration under your coating?

 

[DiabloStinger]

That is very strange looking. You have discoloration under your coating?

It is primer showing through the paint.

 

[somedudedontknowwhoheis]

@DiabloStinger Kia definitely has problems they don't want to own up to.

I had my nth visit to the dealership today. Met the person who replaced the rep that left the company and my case hanging, resulting it in starting all over, only 8 months in. She said she has been working for Kia for a long time, so she acted as if she knew everything. Wanted to assure me the problem is only with yellows (and only those who bought and not leased?? haha) and couldn't understand why I would have paint protection put on my car, because that could definitely be causing a problem.

I'm not being sarcastic, she actually said that, and I have witnesses.

I'm now back to the step where I need to get more paint estimates. I already had one from almost 4 months ago that I handed her, but didn't have another because the two other places I took it to said it was a lemon and wouldn't give me an estimate. She laughed, cause shes also been handling lemons for many years too, apparently.

I'm about ready to cut my loses, despite how much I like this car, I can't stand being treated like a second class citizen.

Edit: How come I've been through 6 Kia people, not including those from the dealerships, and each new person has no idea about my case or the pictures I've taken? And whats the point of having my pictures at all if they don't even use them? Each rep and each dealership I've been to now has taken their own pictures (claims to have never seen mine), and they each send it off to someone, and that's it, nothing happens. All apart of some investigation I never get updated on, even when I ask. I've had to explain my nearly years long issues now to over a dozen people, why I have paint protection, why I have some spots touched up and others aren't, etc. So frustrating. This is exactly what I warned about dozens of pages ago in this thread, that those of us without a blessing of official acknowledgement were going to have wildly different experiences mostly based on where we live.

Edit2: I forgot to mention that because I've started all over, I'm back where they keep claiming it's f**king rock chips. This is a defect, not rock chips. But I guess I've had my car so long now it's easier for them to believe that, than the fact I had over 13 of them (Paint Quality) right after buying the car.

 

[DiabloStinger]

Jesus... Yeah these are absolutely issues. Most dealers seem to know about them too. Now that I noticed this I cannot see anything else.

 

[MerlintheMad]

@IBurton you are going to get dogpiled on by old case information finally working its way through the system like a slow and painful bowel movement. I am not kidding, I am being serious. I will use my little case with the SD card replacement for the NAV. Back in June I talked to two different people about getting a new updated version of the NAV on an SD card. I had my card within a week. Months later, last week to be exact, a got a phone call from Kia customer service, checking to see my "case number" was being resolved. I was pleased to say yes it is resolved and you can close it!

So, be getting ready for one, two, three or more Kia reps reaching out to you probably in quick succession. Kia is SLOW. And apparently not very well organized. But, they mean well. Individual cretins notwithstanding, the company as a whole entity wants everything to be good. I wish beyond words to express with, that you and others in a similar limbo of frustration did not have these things happen. It is an imperfect world ...

 

[MerlintheMad]

Jesus... Yeah these are absolutely issues. Most dealers seem to know about them too. Now that I noticed this I cannot see anything else.

Is this getting worse, bigger, under the clear coat? Or is it exposed to the air?

 

[somedudedontknowwhoheis]

Jesus... Yeah these are absolutely issues. Most dealers seem to know about them too. Now that I noticed this I cannot see anything else.

I wish someone would inform my dealership. They didn't even know Panthera Metal was an option on the Stinger lol one salesman admitted that Kia doesn't ship them most options, or even all models of their cars. Every time I've mentioned anything to them they act like they hadn't heard about it before. But I guess that's what I get for living in a rural area now. Moved out of SoCal not too long ago, this probably would have all turned out differently there shrug

I hope any case you spin up gets handled quickly/correctly. The only way I've dealt with the issues on mine was to curb my enthusiasm for the car, otherwise it'll eat away at you lol now that you can't un-see it.

@IBurton you are going to get dogpiled on by old case information finally working its way through the system like a slow and painful bowel movement. I am not kidding, I am being serious. I will use my little case with the SD card replacement for the NAV. Back in June I talked to two different people about getting a new updated version of the NAV on an SD card. I had my card within a week. Months later, last week to be exact, a got a phone call from Kia customer service, checking to see my "case number" was being resolved. I was pleased to say yes it is resolved and you can close it!

So, be getting ready for one, two, three or more Kia reps reaching out to you probably in quick succession. Kia is SLOW. And apparently not very well organized. But, they mean well. Individual cretins notwithstanding, the company as a whole entity wants everything to be good. I wish beyond words to express with, that you and others in a similar limbo of frustration did not have these things happen. It is an imperfect world ...

Man... the KMA guy whose been working with me has gone MIA recently too. I've just been assuming he's been on vacation or something (I can't have two people leave Kia on me, can I?), so I don't know. Speaking of NAV, is that not something we can update ourselves? I thought we got free updates for X years or something, I just didn't know if we had to request it or do the update ourselves.

 

[eljay]

@IBurton, you have my complete sympathy. And no, it wouldn't be any different in SoCal, since that's where I am.

I'm still dealing with the eentsy paintless spot on my roof ditch moulding (last update here in entry 1904). I called the customer care line again today, and the first thing the rep said was basically, Whoa! You've been dealing with this since June?! He went through all the case notes with me, and they matched my notes, so nothing is lost, at least. When he saw that there still were no photos of the damage in my case file, he put me on hold to call the district parts and service manager to see if they'd ever been sent to her by the dealership. He said she's one of the best DPSMs he deals with, and when he came back on the line, he said she hasn't received either the initial photos taken at the dealership on 6/28, or those taken by the service manager on 8/3, and that she was extremely angry about this. Sounds like she's a real fire cracker, and he thinks she can get this going. He's sent my case notes to her, and since I won't be available tomorrow, I'll hear back on Monday.

He also said that if I have to go back to the dealer for more pictures, that I should call the customer service line while standing at the service desk, so they can deal with the service manager this time.

All this effort and time on the phone for a chip so tiny I could paint it myself if it weren't for the fact that I'm the kind of woman who can't even paint her nails without creating a hazmat situation.

 

[somedudedontknowwhoheis]

@MerlintheMad I may have been thinking of Genesis or some other luxury brand then. Admittedly I haven't looked into it much for our cars, figured I'd just get around to it closer to when it was needed. Not sure what the big deal is with most auto manufactures and updating their infotainment (not just nav) systems. I may have to see if I can download the update, take it apart, and see what's inside

@eljay And here I was ready to move back to California over the issue I'd touch that chip up for you but then they'd start questioning you why it was touched up before losing all your information and asking you to go back to a dealership to get pictures, of the touch up lol

 

[DiabloStinger]

@IBurton that new Genesis looks exactly like the stinger from behind... Minus the taillights. I followed on the other day and they absolutely used the same exhaust tips and a similar rear diffuser

 

[Tonkabob]

@IBurton you are going to get dogpiled on by old case information finally working its way through the system like a slow and painful bowel movement. I am not kidding, I am being serious. I will use my little case with the SD card replacement for the NAV. Back in June I talked to two different people about getting a new updated version of the NAV on an SD card. I had my card within a week. Months later, last week to be exact, a got a phone call from Kia customer service, checking to see my "case number" was being resolved. I was pleased to say yes it is resolved and you can close it!

So, be getting ready for one, two, three or more Kia reps reaching out to you probably in quick succession. Kia is SLOW. And apparently not very well organized. But, they mean well. Individual cretins notwithstanding, the company as a whole entity wants everything to be good. I wish beyond words to express with, that you and others in a similar limbo of frustration did not have these things happen. It is an imperfect world ...

Keep on them. I was denied as well, given the rock chip excuse. Then i said escalate again and found chipping on both rear quarters, front doors and rear end. The chips are very very small. Had to wax the car and nearly use a magnifying glass but the chips are there and help counter the rock chip excuse. I also marked the chips with tape so you could find them again before my dealer visit. Non front facing chips are that small. But the wind rain and bug forward facing chips are both big and small. They denied my $2300 estimate for hood, front and fenders and are now paying $5000 to also paint the front doors, rear quarters and rear end.
Get the car back this Wednesday. I paid $1000 myself to paint the rear doors to get as much kia paint off as possible. Rear doors had chips too but found those after the second estimate and before the visit with the regional mananger so just took what i could get.

 

[DiabloStinger]

Is this getting worse, bigger, under the clear coat? Or is it exposed to the air?

Feels rough. Not smooth like the other edges. Its either primer showing and i didn't notice before, or a failure in the paint now just showing up.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Feels rough. Not smooth like the other edges. Its either primer showing and i didn't notice before, or a failure in the paint now just showing up.

You had me going there. I was visualizing a new type of paint failure: one which "surfaces" beneath the clear coat (or even PPF). That's how paranoid I am after this traumatic thread! And I don't even have paint failures on my car. I am a sympathetic type.

 

[ghedoicy]

I created a petition on change.org for us, but I can't post links yet apparently.

-Matt