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

[jondyer]

Lol, my list is somewhat current. I am now at 5 with the Stinger.

I have a problem with hoarding cars. As for being loaded, no I am not. I spent my money on cars. And Scotch.

In fairness, one of them is driven by my mother, but I bought it, and another is going to LA with one of the kids.

I will be down to three in a couple months., Maybe.

In any event, I read through the article and it is informative, however there are still questions. I am still in the fence regarding the Stinger and the process used to paint them. Of course these days when I look up Stinger paint, I am lead here.....

I am looking at G70s now and cannot find one with a paint problem, nor can I find any other new car with issues, and I was shopping Audis a week ago along with a buddy of mine who also has a car/Scotch problem.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Of course these days when I look up Stinger paint, I am lead here.....

Ahah! You noticed that, did you? It's been that way since early June, when this poll in its current iteration got started. This in itself is instructive: a wider paint problem would have produced not only more visitors to this thread to add their two cents worth; but the Net would have many more pages on the problem with Stinger paint.

I think that all of us are "on the fence" vis-a-vis Kia Stinger paint: process used, painting environment (contamination?), durability. Even the best Stinger paint is still a nagging doubt. How long will the paint last?

 

[OriginalRobby]

there are definitely some paint issues, flaking and peeling but at this point I believe minor 'weak spots' on the cars and not all cars - probably other car brands have this ... nothing is perfect.

 

[Brian Novack]

I have a pearl white 2.0 AWD Base stinger. A paint chip smaller than a pencil eraser showed up on the sharp edge of the back hatch where the hatch begins to go straight down. No way could a pebble have hit this area. I noticed the paint chip when I had about 700 miles on the car. I went right into the dealer and got a paint pen that they provided for free. I have been rather unsuccessful applying the paint myself as it looks a bit lumpy. I feel that after spending a good amount of money on this car the paint should look right. I plan to call customer service corporate on Monday. Any recommendations anyone?

 

[MerlintheMad]

I have been rather unsuccessful applying the paint myself as it looks a bit lumpy.

Hi and welcome. Paint pens do best with a small brush; i.e. get the paint out with a brush, do not dob paint on with the end of the pen. I have two kinds of pen: the fibrous ended one and the kind that has a very small point (hollow metal tip) and a small brush; I like the latter type best, it's more versatile and facile.

Make sure that you shake the pen a good minute before using it. And don't keep it in any temperature extremes (especially this time of year, don't try to use it if the pen is cold; let it warm up inside first). If the car is cold that's not going to work very well either; the paint will get cold the instant it is applied to the surface, it won't flow. You'd have to apply a hair drier first to get the area warmed up. Touch up in winter is a bitch.

A chip on the acute edge of the hatch or hood or a door is most likely impact damage (though not from the road). A paint pen is the best tool to repair an edge chip. When the paint flows on and doesn't get "lumpy" you will hardly be able to see a thing.

(edit to add: I think as new as your car is that any respectable dealer would fix the chip for you inside their service center where it's nice and warm; while you watch, if you insist; I would; how long can it take? Five minutes, max.)

 

[OriginalRobby]

Hi All, today I noticed in the middle of the top edge of the hatch (about near the shark fin antenna) paint missing, it seems to be the common edge hatch paint issue but it does not run the whole length of the hatch edge, it's about the middle portion near the shark fin antenna area - I could try to take a pic - it seems to be what DiabloStinger was talking about ... I am debating touching it up but perhaps I shouldn't and just take it in to the dealer in the spring to report it... everything else OK so far apart from a minor bumper peel on the plastic part which has not gotten worse after touching it up and a very minor headlight rub that I've also touched up. SO far the hatch edge is the worst and one that is bugging me but could also be touched up fairly easily so long as the clear coat holds up the rest of the surface of the hatch...

 

[Ezra Ngo]

Anyone know if the 2019 Ceramic Silver stingers are still having the issue?

 

[CaliSting]

So here’s my updated input on paint with my hichroma red gt2.. My car suffered initial chipping in some weird places. I have mentioned that dealer installed clear bra on my car pre delivery which seemed strange as it wasn’t an ad on. I don’t know if it’s due to paint curing but haven’t seen excessive chips since early days however I do have clear bra. I suspect clear bra is limiting significant chipping as well. bought Kia touchup paint which in fact doesn’t match but looks better than white undercoat showing through on few chips that emerged. Chips did not appear to be caused by stones. Literally looked like it flaked off but they were small enough to look past as big deal and I just dabbed some touch up paint into chips and covered with clear coat .

I do have over 16000 miles now with no more chips. Thing that bugs me in addition to chips that occurred within days of picking up car paint had what appears to have debris under paint. So no quality checks at either Kia factory or dealer. Shame on me for not looking over every inch of the car when I bought it but after reading about great Kia quality guess my guard was down and assumed they would never release cars with bad paint.

Good news to me is it seems once paint cures over time it’s less likely to chip?

 

[Doel]

When I brought my car into the dealer to take care of the recall, I checked out their 2019s. I couldn't find any paint flaws on any of them. Fingers crossed the paint issues are in the past.

 

[MerlintheMad]

When I brought my car into the dealer to take care of the recall, I checked out their 2019s. I couldn't find any paint flaws on any of them. Fingers crossed the paint issues are in the past.

I've done this too. None of the eight cars on the lot at that time had any paint flaws that I could see: and I think my experience looking for flaws is pretty sound: I've looked over two dozen plus Stingers specifically searching for edge damage, pin sized bubbles/pits, headlight assembly chipping and flaking/chipping. I think that paint adhesion quality has been ramped up over the last year. It will never be perfect, but the incidence should go way down.

 

[OriginalRobby]

I believe some of the issues will show up in the initial sub 10000 km / miles and could be the clear coat still hardening, I don't know. I do believe the hatch edge is an issue though, just as much as the head light rubbing - they are design flaws... not enough clear coat in those areas.

 

[Doel]

I believe some of the issues will show up in the initial sub 10000 km / miles and could be the clear coat still hardening, I don't know. I do believe the hatch edge is an issue though, just as much as the head light rubbing - they are design flaws... not enough clear coat in those areas.

I don't know, I don't have any hatch rub on my car. If it was a design flaw, it should be on all cars. I'm thinking it was a production side issue.

 

[westcoastGT]

I don't know, I don't have any hatch rub on my car. If it was a design flaw, it should be on all cars. I'm thinking it was a production side issue.

I have an Oct 17 build and have 0 paint issues , and I've been over the car thoroughly several times

 

[Jimmer]

I have an Oct 17 build and have 0 paint issues , and I've been over the car thoroughly several times

Dec 17, same.

 

[Revvdmedia]

I have an Oct 17 build and have 0 paint issues , and I've been over the car thoroughly several times

I had a theory, but your statement should negate it. I was curious if many people with paint issues did not have fully cured and hardened paint. Normally, I believe paint undergoes a "bake" process to quick flash harden the clear, so that could also negate that theory. I had wondered, though, those with paint issues, if the time span between manufacturing and delivery meant the clear was not fully hardened to its maximum strength and exhibited these problems. I wondered about uncured paint on my own car since I had two defects on the non-steel parts - the headlight rub and a chip off the top edge of the side skirt and neither looks to have gotten worse. I'm thinking my issues were damage due to installation and the paint wasn't cured enough to handle the impact that happened during installation, resulting in the paint chips.

 

[Ezra Ngo]

I've done this too. None of the eight cars on the lot at that time had any paint flaws that I could see: and I think my experience looking for flaws is pretty sound: I've looked over two dozen plus Stingers specifically searching for edge damage, pin sized bubbles/pits, headlight assembly chipping and flaking/chipping. I think that paint adhesion quality has been ramped up over the last year. It will never be perfect, but the incidence should go way down.

I appreciate everyone's response. Would you recommend rear bumper & full frontal protection Merlin? Are there issues with paint chipping on the back?

 

[Doel]

I appreciate everyone's response. Would you recommend rear bumper & full frontal protection Merlin? Are there issues with paint chipping on the back?

I haven't heard of anyone having any chipping on the back. If you you have no front issues, I wouldn't worry about the back.

 

[Fl stingergt]

I have 2017 oct build micro blue gt.Been in shop three times for paint problems. Top of hatch repainted all 4 doors taken off car all repainted. Now roof will be repainted next week clear coat is delaminating. That is the big problem with kia it is clear coating not the paint

 

[MerlintheMad]

I appreciate everyone's response. Would you recommend rear bumper & full frontal protection Merlin? Are there issues with paint chipping on the back?

Back chipping only shows if there is an adhesion issue with that particular vehicle. As has been shared on this thread, some adhesion issues have even appeared under the back licence plate. So if a particular vehicle is showing these kinds of adhesion defects, I would not put any PPF on that car until it is resprayed. If your car seems to be okay in all areas, NOW is the time to lay on PPF. I have full frontal PPF back to the rear edge of the hood and front fenders. Others have PPF on the A pillars and side mirror cups. At the very least, the entire front bumper should be PPF.

A PPF patch across the top of the rear bumper is a good idea too! I got lucky, lucky, lucky that my bumper wasn't scarred up when my son dragged his heavy suitcase out of my hatch and hit the bumper. The very next day, in the sunlight, I walked up on my car from the rear and it looked like two black gouges in my paint! I freaked and said words my mom never taught me (but I was by myself so no offense to my son). Imagine my relief when I applied an alcohol drenched rag to the black marks (which I was sure by the look of them were the black plastic of the bumper exposed to the raw air!) and they disappeared: not even a scuff in my clear coat. It looked almost miraculous. But, I still haven't put any PPF back there. What am I waiting for?

 

[MerlintheMad]

I have 2017 oct build micro blue gt.Been in shop three times for paint problems. Top of hatch repainted all 4 doors taken off car all repainted. Now roof will be repainted next week clear coat is delaminating. That is the big problem with kia it is clear coating not the paint

No, clear coat is a separate issue from paint chipping/flaking. I haven't heard of any "delaminating" of clear coat till you said it here. Who knows what kind of clear coating you'll get with a respray? The factory clear coat seems to be good and gets better as it "cures" if that is what is going on. Some have said that their clear coat is soft enough to dig a fingernail into. Others, like me, are convinced our clear coat is hard. But the entire top coat layer is only c. 4.3 mils. So our Stingers get rock chipped comparatively easy; that's where the PPF comes in.