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

[OriginalRobby]

are you sure? I'm seeing tiny bubbles as if they are clear coated... but it's hard to tell, could be rust / oxidation bubble? I have no idea...

 

[westcoastGT]

are you sure? I'm seeing tiny bubbles as if they are clear coated... but it's hard to tell, could be rust / oxidation bubble? I have no idea...

could be rust from brake dust but the exposed metal on these wheels is machined not painted

 

[Revvdmedia]

The weakest link in all of this remains Kia and their crap dealer network. It is odd that I have not has similar problems with Hyundai/Genesis and the many vehicles I got from them. However, Every. Single. Kia. Causes. Angst, When. Going. To. The. Dealer.

I doubt at all doubt the incompetence of some Kia dealers, been there done that. Hyundai is not immune to this either, every time my wife took her Santa Fe to the dealer they would have another stupid question they felt the need to ask. When we needed to have warranty work done, they were over their heads. It makes me glad I didn't by a Genesis G70 because I'm sure it would end up at that dealer for service due to proximity...

Listen to this one (I told my wife to tell them there is a rattling noise in the spoiler on the hatch):

"My husband says there is a rattle in the spoiler when you close the hatch." -Wife
"What is a spoiler?" -Advisor
"The thing on the top of the hatch/trunk." -Wife
"A what?" -Advisor
"The spoiler." -Wife
"Ok and it rattles?" -Advisor
"Yes, my husband found it was the spoiler by knocking on it and it rattled." -Wife
"Why would he knock on it?" -Advisor
*Facepalm -Wife

No wonder HKG has so much trouble tracking down rattles!

 

[MerlintheMad]

Anyone have any clear coat failure on their stock OEM rims? Rear in particular...

the oem 19s are machined finished and not painted or clear coated , looks like a scuff , try wet sanding with 2000 grit

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are you sure? I'm seeing tiny bubbles as if they are clear coated... but it's hard to tell, could be rust / oxidation bubble? I have no idea...

could be rust from brake dust but the exposed metal on these wheels is machined not painted

I must disagree with @westcoastGT: yes, the rims are not painted on the alloy areas, but the entire rim is clear coated. I know this, because in wet sanding mine last year, I "clearly" went through a clear coat in smoothing down the curb rash.

That said, once wet sanded they look good. And months of driving on them, even in winter crud, did not seem to phase the bare metal where I had knocked back my curb rash. So, clear coat is not necessary to a pretty OE rim (at least in the short term of c. half a year).

@OriginalRobby, I think from your pic that something very lightly impacted the rim. If you even came into the slightest contact with curb, such that you didn't feel it, that could have scratched the clear coat like it shows in your pic. It's also possible that you drove over something that flipped up against the turning rim in passing: just enough to (again) just leave very light scratches in the clear coat. It looks so light, in fact, that I'd try a rubbing compound on the spot(s) and see if that doesn't smooth out the scratches. Put your elbows into it if necessary: and use a medium Meg's (one that is made for buffer pads) and a terry cloth rag; if that knocks the scratches back, you can finish up with a light buffing compound; and then seal it up with wax. If the rubbing doesn't phase the clear coat, then the scratches go to the metal and 2000 grit wet-dry (or even 4000 grit) is the answer.

If in fact you are right and you have two rims (what are the chances?) with "bubbly" clear coat, then sand it down until it looks good and either wax, leave it, or apply a clear coat touchup.

 

[westcoastGT]

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I must disagree with @westcoastGT: yes, the rims are not painted on the alloy areas, but the entire rim is clear coated. I know this, because in wet sanding mine last year, I "clearly" went through a clear coat in smoothing down the curb rash.

That said, once wet sanded they look good. And months of driving on them, even in winter crud, did not seem to phase the bare metal where I had knocked back my curb rash. So, clear coat is not necessary to a pretty OE rim (at least in the short term of c. half a year).

@OriginalRobby, I think from your pic that something very lightly impacted the rim. If you even came into the slightest contact with curb, such that you didn't feel it, that could have scratched the clear coat like it shows in your pic. It's also possible that you drove over something that flipped up against the turning rim in passing: just enough to (again) just leave very light scratches in the clear coat. It looks so light, in fact, that I'd try a rubbing compound on the spot(s) and see if that doesn't smooth out the scratches. Put your elbows into it if necessary: and use a medium Meg's (one that is made for buffer pads) and a terry cloth rag; if that knocks the scratches back, you can finish up with a light buffing compound; and then seal it up with wax. If the rubbing doesn't phase the clear coat, then the scratches go to the metal and 2000 grit wet-dry (or even 4000 grit) is the answer.

If in fact you are right and you have two rims (what are the chances?) with "bubbly" clear coat, then sand it down until it looks good and either wax, leave it, or apply a clear coat touchup.

Merlin I sanded mine and no clear coat was present on the machined area , On painted wheel like BMW standard alloys , yes , I think you may have mistaken the polished area as a clear coat

 

[Kato_the_kia_stinger]

Can everyone check out their door handles and see if any paint is flaking? I have some flaking on the lower part of the passenger side handle.

 

[OriginalRobby]

Guys, if you look at my pic the reason I believe it is some sort of clear coat failure is the way it runs, like glue was spilled on it, which is very weird because when I and the dealer runs our fingers on it the area is very smooth and won't catch a nail either, this really does not seem to be curb rash or impact, it is VERY strange and I'm getting this on both rear rims as if they came from a bad batch. I could experiment with them more but the dealer took pics to send to Kia to either replace them or refinish them - question for ya'll if they refinish the rims the guy said I won't even be able to tell, is this true??? - thanks for all your support.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Merlin I sanded mine and no clear coat was present on the machined area , On painted wheel like BMW standard alloys , yes , I think you may have mistaken the polished area as a clear coat

I know that grey "stuff" came up when I sanded the rash: very fine and powdery. And where the edges of the sanded area met the clear coat, it tended to gunk up the wet sandpaper: and my going further than the rash area turned the surface of the machined metal hazy. There is definitely some coating on the machined metal.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Guys, if you look at my pic the reason I believe it is some sort of clear coat failure is the way it runs, like glue was spilled on it, which is very weird because when I and the dealer runs our fingers on it the area is very smooth and won't catch a nail either, this really does not seem to be curb rash or impact, it is VERY strange and I'm getting this on both rear rims as if they came from a bad batch. I could experiment with them more but the dealer took pics to send to Kia to either replace them or refinish them - question for ya'll if they refinish the rims the guy said I won't even be able to tell, is this true??? - thanks for all your support.

Yes. That should be true. That little doodle flaw won't make a rim restorer break sweat.

Can everyone check out their door handles and see if any paint is flaking? I have some flaking on the lower part of the passenger side handle.

When I took my car, there were a few very tiny nicks in the outward facing surface of the two front handles. I used touchup paint on them and I haven't had any further scrapes or nicks. No flaking at all.

 

[OriginalRobby]

One more comment if it helps everyone here - my Panthera Metal / Thunder Grey build 2018 Feb now has seen all 4 seasons elements and I can attest the clear coat on these cars (in my opinion) is of very high quality - the reason I believe this to be true is because after fiddling around with a damn hood deflector that I just did not like the way it looked I ended up taking it off and including the mounting brackets and the clear coat was in perfect condition, no cracks no peeling nothing and this was after I hammered the brackets in as well cuz I had trouble with couple of the hooks- so I can tell you from personal experience if you make it past a year your cleat coat is ALL good - in other words all issues will surface within like the first 6 months and if you make it past that you should be OK. Just my 2 cents...

 

[OriginalRobby]

of course this excludes messing around with cleaners, abrasives and badge removal

 

[OriginalRobby]

Thanks Merlin, I will let Kia refinish them unless they are willing to replace them, although I doubt they would - I'm quite sure they would refinish them.

 

[Hydrajin]

Ghost grey stinger gt with oxidation spots on trunk, no chipping but it looks like the paint is oxidizing. Orange spots on the back where the license plate goes which is weird because that entire panel is plastic not metal so it must be paint or clear issue.

 

[Revvdmedia]

Ghost grey stinger gt with oxidation spots on trunk, no chipping but it looks like the paint is oxidizing. Orange spots on the back where the license plate goes which is weird because that entire panel is plastic not metal so it must be paint or clear issue.

You should look at detailing before jumping to a paint conclusion. Oxiding can easily be identified as true by polishing, if it comes out, it's just a surface defect of some sort (can happen even just sitting on the lot and can be considered normal). As for the orange spots, my car had those from delivery mostly on the C pillars, but after last winter the entire side of the car had orange spots on both the metal painted surface as well as the plastic rocker panels. A proper detail but mainly an iron decontamination (Iron X) removed all of the orange spots. It's pretty simple to apply and is about 20 bucks per bottle, I suggest you give it a try.

 

[Hydrajin]

You should look at detailing before jumping to a paint conclusion. Oxiding can easily be identified as true by polishing, if it comes out, it's just a surface defect of some sort (can happen even just sitting on the lot and can be considered normal). As for the orange spots, my car had those from delivery mostly on the C pillars, but after last winter the entire side of the car had orange spots on both the metal painted surface as well as the plastic rocker panels. A proper detail but mainly an iron decontamination (Iron X) removed all of the orange spots. It's pretty simple to apply and is about 20 bucks per bottle, I suggest you give it a try.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've tried a very fine grit polish for mirror polish, it didn't seem to have an affect on the spots. May try clay then a slightly harder polish then move to fine polish and see if it makes a difference.

 

[Revvdmedia]

Thanks for the suggestion. I've tried a very fine grit polish for mirror polish, it didn't seem to have an affect on the spots. May try clay then a slightly harder polish then move to fine polish and see if it makes a difference.

It is a lot more work than you probably know to remove paint defects by "polishing". In the most aggressive order is wet sanding, then compounding, then polishing. Usually clay first but that is only prep and removes fine contaminants, it will not remove defects. If you used polish, that is the least aggressive and is normally used for finishing. You can likely move to a compound, then finish with a polish. The compound will take off more material with less effort but must be finished with a polish to remove the defects inflicted by a compound. Or take it to a pro.

 

[Dmchristie1]

Can everyone check out their door handles and see if any paint is flaking? I have some flaking on the lower part of the passenger side handle.

Ghost grey stinger gt with oxidation spots on trunk, no chipping but it looks like the paint is oxidizing. Orange spots on the back where the license plate goes which is weird because that entire panel is plastic not metal so it must be paint or clear issue.

We had both license plate panels replaced for cracking under the plate. (Yellow stinger and red stinger) Some paint peeled but i think it was due to using “goo gone” product post emblem removal.

 

[Dodger Blue]

I've noticed a few issues now that I've had the car (which is a Micro Blue GT2) about a month.
I have a deep scratch on the top of the trunk that I'm almost positive was there when I got the car, I didn't notice until the 1st car wash. I've been too busy to take it back to Kia to see if they'll touch it up. However that's actually the least of my worries.
You know those rectangular, body color plastic strips on the roof? They're already beginning to fade. It's like they forgot to apply clear coat to them and the UV exposure has weathered them or something. They're noticeably duller, and they have a different texture than the metal roof panel. It's very strange.

PPF was one of the first things I did to the front half of the car so I haven't had any issues yet with paint chipping. My guy says when I get those dull panels replaced he'll throw in PPF for those and the other black trim pieces free of charge, which is awfully nice of him.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I've noticed a few issues now that I've had the car (which is a Micro Blue GT2) about a month.
I have a deep scratch on the top of the trunk that I'm almost positive was there when I got the car, I didn't notice until the 1st car wash. I've been too busy to take it back to Kia to see if they'll touch it up. However that's actually the least of my worries.
You know those rectangular, body color plastic strips on the roof? They're already beginning to fade. It's like they forgot to apply clear coat to them and the UV exposure has weathered them or something. They're noticeably duller, and they have a different texture than the metal roof panel. It's very strange.

PPF was one of the first things I did to the front half of the car so I haven't had any issues yet with paint chipping. My guy says when I get those dull panels replaced he'll throw in PPF for those and the other black trim pieces free of charge, which is awfully nice of him.

I'm guessing that your theory is correct: the roof strips did not get the same clear coat that the metal panels did. There isn't likely going to be a problem with replacement strips, or, if Kia chooses, a repaint of the existing strips: they would get a clear coat.

Is the hatch scratch white? Because if it is then it didn't get through the clear coat and can be buffed out. Getting that competently done is the important part. You could look on YouTube for that video I saw on here months ago: showing very clearly how to fix a scratch the right way. The one detail I remember is that you sand lateral to the scratch, not in swirling motions and definitely not parallel to the scratch; and wax finishes up the job.

 

[Dodger Blue]

I'm guessing that your theory is correct: the roof strips did not get the same clear coat that the metal panels did. There isn't likely going to be a problem with replacement strips, or, if Kia chooses, a repaint of the existing strips: they would get a clear coat.

Is the hatch scratch white? Because if it is then it didn't get through the clear coat and can be buffed out. Getting that competently done is the important part. You could look on YouTube for that video I saw on here months ago: showing very clearly how to fix a scratch the right way. The one detail I remember is that you sand lateral to the scratch, not in swirling motions and definitely not parallel to the scratch; and wax finishes up the job.

I'm able to pick at it with a fingernail so I think it's deeper than that. I'll try to post a pic when I get time. I had some surface scratches on the door that I polished out already and this is deeper than those.