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

[DiabloStinger]

So, I got my panthera stinger back on Tuesday the 4th... They 'repaired' the bubbles on the door edges, the leading edge of the hatch, and the spot under the headlight. Well, not really. They did mask off and spray the leading edge of the hatch and it looked good. The bubbles? Terrible. They just put a spot of touch up over the white spots... Though it is a coating there to cover the edge but it still looked like a 2 year old painting a Picasso. The headlight? No repair was done outside of them adjusting the light higher. So I gave it back to the dealer in trade, netting me $700 and got a 2018 red gt2 awd.
Why red? They had 5. I picked the one with the least amount of chipping, bubbles and tire wear. The paint isn't perfect but much much better than my old one, and good enough that I can touch up with a pen.
My compensation? Kia corp offered me the accessory of my choice or a 3 year maintenance and warranty platinum plan.

I asked for both plus a tire and wheel warranty.

These ventilated seats are awesome. Ended up making $700 on the trade, and overall will pay 1k less considering total money invested over three years. Not bad for a car 7k more expensive.

 

[MerlintheMad]

So, I got my panthera stinger back on Tuesday the 4th... They 'repaired' the bubbles on the door edges, the leading edge of the hatch, and the spot under the headlight. Well, not really. They did mask off and spray the leading edge of the hatch and it looked good. The bubbles? Terrible. They just put a spot of touch up over the white spots... Though it is a coating there to cover the edge but it still looked like a 2 year old painting a Picasso. The headlight? No repair was done outside of them adjusting the light higher. So I gave it back to the dealer in trade, netting me $700 and got a 2018 red gt2 awd.
Why red? They had 5. I picked the one with the least amount of chipping, bubbles and tire wear. The paint isn't perfect but much much better than my old one, and good enough that I can touch up with a pen.
My compensation? Kia corp offered me the accessory of my choice or a 3 year maintenance and warranty platinum plan.

I asked for both plus a tire and wheel warranty.

These ventilated seats are awesome. Ended up making $700 on the trade, and overall will pay 1k less considering total money invested over three years. Not bad for a car 7k more expensive.

Cool. Don't forget now, your Stinger is RED, not dark metal, when you go looking for it in a parking lot.

 

[DiabloStinger]

I had to do a double take in the garage this morning

 

[BTAMBO]

Hi all,

I am in the process of potentially buying a red GT1. I filled out paperwork but haven't taken delivery because the car needed to be detailed based on scratches and marks that I saw. I am concerned about these spots. the ones near the bottom on the 3rd picture look like they could just be water marks but they are too few and far between higher up to be water marks. Some of them look too big too. The dealer said these are just from sitting in the lot with pollution and dirty and thinks they will come out with a detail, but I am not sure. They said they will detail and spray the car again too.

What do you think? It's not the typical chips that I have seen in this thread but I'm not sure I buy that these are just a result of dirt and pollution. It's concerning with all the issues other are having. I am going back tonight and will take delivery if it looks good.

 

[westcoastGT]

Are they marks or actual chips ?? If chips dont buy it , if the detailer can remove them easily then its probably fine

 

[BTAMBO]

Are they marks or actual chips ?? If chips dont buy it , if the detailer can remove them easily then its probably fine

Thanks, they weren't chips but I tried to rub them out yesterday and they don't go away. The car was supposedy being sent to guy nearby that details Audis and then the dealer was going to spray it with their protectant. Definitely won't buy if there are chips but was still concerned about all these marks since they seem abnormal. Guess we willl see how it looks tonight.

 

[TwiceStung]

I wouldn’t touch a vehicle that a dealer has to send somewhere to be “fixed”, especially on a color that shows most defects. All sorts of things can happen when cars sit outside for a year or more. I’ve seen cars new and old get holes eaten through the paint by the fallout of industrial smoke stacks. Yes, the company paid to repaint all the cars.

 

[BTAMBO]

I wouldn’t touch a vehicle that a dealer has to send somewhere to be “fixed”, especially on a color that shows most defects. All sorts of things can happen when cars sit outside for a year or more. I’ve seen cars new and old get holes eaten through the paint by the fallout of industrial smoke stacks. Yes, the company paid to repaint all the cars.

Thans for the feedback. Definitely have concerns too. I know the car was built in 2018 but not sure the exact month. Will check that tonight. I feel like I'm getting a good price and I'll probably end up haveing to wait on better deals for the MY2019 if I don't take delivery of this one since inventory of the 2018 GT1s is so low here.

 

[Peeso33]

Thanks, they weren't chips but I tried to rub them out yesterday and they don't go away. The car was supposedy being sent to guy nearby that details Audis and then the dealer was going to spray it with their protectant. Definitely won't buy if there are chips but was still concerned about all these marks since they seem abnormal. Guess we willl see how it looks tonight.

I know you've got a good price negotiated, but if their detailer can't get it off, chances are you won't be able to either. Those are whole lot of marks. Hope they can buff it out.
Don't forget to look at the door frame paint bubbles too.

 

[TwiceStung]

The door frame paint “bubbles” are a naturally occurring part of the seam material Kia used that then was painted over. My 2017 Sportage has them as well as my 2003 Toyota Tundra.......which by the way only has 34,000 miles on it.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Hi all,

I am in the process of potentially buying a red GT1. I filled out paperwork but haven't taken delivery because the car needed to be detailed based on scratches and marks that I saw. I am concerned about these spots. the ones near the bottom on the 3rd picture look like they could just be water marks but they are too few and far between higher up to be water marks. Some of them look too big too. The dealer said these are just from sitting in the lot with pollution and dirty and thinks they will come out with a detail, but I am not sure. They said they will detail and spray the car again too.

What do you think? It's not the typical chips that I have seen in this thread but I'm not sure I buy that these are just a result of dirt and pollution. It's concerning with all the issues other are having. I am going back tonight and will take delivery if it looks good.


View attachment 16321 View attachment 16322

I do buy the outside "pollution" explanation; even though I wouldn't use that word. Weathering is a better word. So much can get on a car left outside for months. If it isn't failing paint, then buy it with reasonable confidence in "probability and outcome". The huge majority of all Stingers have paint that is fine, including Reds. A detail should put the car to rights. As the opposite result is possible, I wouldn't touch a car that has been detailed and still shows paint damage. Because that's what it would be, if buffing and polishing didn't get the marks out.

 

[BTAMBO]

I know you've got a good price negotiated, but if their detailer can't get it off, chances are you won't be able to either. Those are whole lot of marks. Hope they can buff it out.
Don't forget to look at the door frame paint bubbles too.

I do buy the outside "pollution" explanation; even though I wouldn't use that word. Weathering is a better word. So much can get on a car left outside for months. If it isn't failing paint, then buy it with reasonable confidence in "probability and outcome". The huge majority of all Stingers have paint that is fine, including Reds. A detail should put the car to rights. As the opposite result is possible, I wouldn't touch a car that has been detailed and still shows paint damage. Because that's what it would be, if buffing and polishing didn't get the marks out.

Thanks everyone. All of the dirt marks came out so it doesn't look like it was anything permanent with the paint. FWIW, It's a 3/18 build date so it was sitting there for quite some time. I looked for all the other common problem spots and there didn't seem to be any issues so I ended up taking delivery tonight. The only thing I wasn't super happy about is there are some scratches and a nick or two but they clearly look like its from actual contact and the dealer wouldn't do anything about it. I can live with those if the rest of the paint is fine since its bound to happen eventually. Ended up being $37,800 ($46,200 minus $5400 dealer discounts minus $3000 conquest) @ 0% for 66 months for a red on red 2018 GT1 with the drive assist package so I feel like I still got a pretty good deal

 

[Stinger GT SS]

G’day, welcome to the forum & to the Stinger Owners Fraternity, congrats on your purchase, enjoy your new ride.

 

[Peeso33]

Thanks everyone. All of the dirt marks came out so it doesn't look like it was anything permanent with the paint. FWIW, It's a 3/18 build date so it was sitting there for quite some time. I looked for all the other common problem spots and there didn't seem to be any issues so I ended up taking delivery tonight. The only thing I wasn't super happy about is there are some scratches and a nick or two but they clearly look like its from actual contact and the dealer wouldn't do anything about it. I can live with those if the rest of the paint is fine since its bound to happen eventually. Ended up being $37,800 ($46,200 minus $5400 dealer discounts minus $3000 conquest) @ 0% for 66 months for a red on red 2018 GT1 with the drive assist package so I feel like I still got a pretty good deal

Congrats! Glad it worked out for you in the end. See you around LA/OC area.
Edit: Double post from earlier.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Ended up being $37,800 ($46,200 minus $5400 dealer discounts minus $3000 conquest) @ 0% for 66 months for a red on red 2018 GT1 with the drive assist package so I feel like I still got a pretty good deal

I'd say! Way to go. A touch up pen is a handy, stress relieving tool. Get one! And, once the scratches and nicks are out of sight, cover your cool acquisition in PPF and/or ceramic.

 

[Revvdmedia]

Speaking of touch up pens...a little off topic, but, has anyone used the white touch up on their car and figured out how well it matches? I have one from Kia with the correct color labeled on it, but it really doesn't match as nice as I had expected. I've been doing touch ups for years and know how to do it well, but this just seems to have a hint of grey in it, not as white as the paint. Not sure if a quick polish might get a better match, but I didn't want to do that til spring.

 

[westcoastGT]

Speaking of touch up pens...a little off topic, but, has anyone used the white touch up on their car and figured out how well it matches? I have one from Kia with the correct color labeled on it, but it really doesn't match as nice as I had expected. I've been doing touch ups for years and know how to do it well, but this just seems to have a hint of grey in it, not as white as the paint. Not sure if a quick polish might get a better match, but I didn't want to do that til spring.

make sure it is really well shaken , mine matches really well but it really "settles" , warm it up too

 

[Revvdmedia]

make sure it is really well shaken , mine matches really well but it really "settles" , warm it up too

Yes, the first go around was near zero celsius and it was even more grey looking. I used my touch up paint remover to start over, then went over it again when it was left inside the house and then well shaken. It looks better but still slightly grey. It could use another pass then smoothing out, but I'm holding out in case I found a better matching paint. Or I'll just wait for warmer weather. It's a pretty big paint chip though.

 

[OriginalRobby]

Hello, I bought a Thunder Grey (dark grey) Stinger and picking it up Saturday, I'm very scared now of what I've been reading on this forum. Is it pretty much a sure thing the paint will begin chipping? It is 2018 model, not sure of MFG date but probably Dec 2017.

Also could someone confirm this is the panthera metal in the USA? I don't think it's the ceramic / ghost grey... ?

thank you.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Hello, I bought a Thunder Grey (dark grey) Stinger and picking it up Saturday, I'm very scared now of what I've been reading on this forum. Is it pretty much a sure thing the paint will begin chipping? It is 2018 model, not sure of MFG date but probably Dec 2017.

Also could someone confirm this is the panthera metal in the USA? I don't think it's the ceramic / ghost grey... ?

thank you.

Picture is worth a thousand words. If it's really dark metallic grey, then it is the Panthera Metal. And you can see from half a year of the poll being up, that c. 3% of our membership have paint issues. Panthera Metal is one of the least affected colors. Your odds are very, very good that nothing is going wrong with your paint.