Paint Issues

[TwiceStung]

Just noticed this on my (actually Kia's since it's leased) Stinger. Worse on the left side.

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Back to the dealer you go for warranty replacement. Then vinyl wrap or ceramic coat them.

 

[Nedstand]

In the pic, your left window dark chrome trim is looking like it's getting spotted?

Yes, I noticed that also.

I bet your stinger's "port" side is more directly exposed to the sun.

True, the "port" side does get more sun exposure than than the "starboard"

That said, we bought this Los Angeles home in 1997, and since we moved in have bought a 1999 MB E320 for 10+ years, a BMW X5 for 10+ years, then I leased 3 Audis. None of the prior had this kind of paint issues in the first 18 months.

Stinger drives great, I guess it doesn't like the sun, eh? ;-)

 

[MerlintheMad]

Stinger drives great, I guess it doesn't like the sun, eh? ;-)

I think it's a complex of things. Local air quality and weather combined could ruin the finish on some cars. All Stingers? Time will tell. I have my car in the shade all the time that it isn't driven. At most, it gets a tiny bit of sun first thing in the morning and late in the evening in the summer, and even then only on its "tail feathers". When a car is outside every day all day it will age faster; inescapable fact. This is when a ceramic coating is king.

You could try wrapping your dark chrome strips. That wouldn't be very expensive and it would spiff up the appearance with minimal effort. Then ceramic coat the entire car.

 

[G-805863]

I think it's a complex of things. Local air quality and weather combined could ruin the finish on some cars. All Stingers? Time will tell. I have my car in the shade all the time that it isn't driven. At most, it gets a tiny bit of sun first thing in the morning and late in the evening in the summer, and even then only on its "tail feathers". When a car is outside every day all day it will age faster; inescapable fact. This is when a ceramic coating is king.

You could try wrapping your dark chrome strips. That wouldn't be very expensive and it would spiff up the appearance with minimal effort. Then ceramic coat the entire car.

When I travel, I put a cover on it, but here in LA, it's going to get some sun.

Since it's leased, and going back in 15 months, I'm not inclined to sink much $ into it. If I owned it, that would be a different situation.

I was just trying to point out that the Kia seems a lot more prone to sun exposure damage than the prior vehicles which received about the same exposure.

 

[UWMad]

I noticed this the other day and just thought it was salt build up (live in Wisconsin). After taking it through a touchless car wash and wiping it down afterwards...I noticed it was still there and when I tried rubbing it...there isn't nothing there...including paint! This is the roof where the back hatch opens and pivots. (Aurora Black and only 2800 miles on it)

 

[TwiceStung]

I noticed this the other day and just thought it was salt build up (live in Wisconsin). After taking it through a touchless car wash and wiping it down afterwards...I noticed it was still there and when I tried rubbing it...there isn't nothing there...including paint! This is the roof where the back hatch opens and pivots. (Aurora Black and only 2800 miles on it)

This is a known issue I believe although I’ve not seen it on either one of my silky silvers I’ve had. I have that area vinyl wrapped anyway. Call the Stinger line for a case number.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I noticed this the other day and just thought it was salt build up (live in Wisconsin). After taking it through a touchless car wash and wiping it down afterwards...I noticed it was still there and when I tried rubbing it...there isn't nothing there...including paint! This is the roof where the back hatch opens and pivots. (Aurora Black and only 2800 miles on it)

In the "main thread" on paint quality issues, this particular issue has come up a few times. As long as there is no rust you can use a touchup pen/brush on that leading edge to make it look good. But make your warranty claim first and take plenty of pictures in close to document this. If this is the only paint quality issue on your vehicle it shouldn't be a long fix. "Shouldn't", but going by others' experiences something this small can take weeks to repair, depending on the competency of the dealership you are working with. Don't let the dealership "fix" it; all they'd do is the touchup pen and hope you'll drive away satisfied with that.

 

[cornpop1]

I am in 16 months of ownership and the car has always been garaged. I have the same cracking of paint on the plastic roof line thing.

 

[Nedstand]

Update - I brought the Stinger into the dealer 3 months ago. This has gone in circles between the dealer and corporate. A case was opened weeks ago, and is now "escalated" .

 

[Aurelian]

I had my 2018 car ceramic coated two months after getting it - did not prevent the paint cracking on the strips. Temperature extremes would appear to overcome any protection advantage of the coating.

Curious to hear from anyone who has those strips wrapped and keeps their car outside as to whether the problem emerges.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I had my 2018 car ceramic coated two months after getting it - did not prevent the paint cracking on the strips. Temperature extremes would appear to overcome any protection advantage of the coating.

Curious to hear from anyone who has those strips wrapped and keeps their car outside as to whether the problem emerges.

Because of what you've experienced, I suspect that simply applying wrap wouldn't work that well either, since under the wrap the paint is reacting to the rubberized coating. If the issue is from the inside out, then only replacing the pieces or stripping them (like @rocket23 did) will fix this.

If some paint failure on the drip rails is caused by atmospheric influences (hot, cold, direct sunlight, contaminants in the air), then ceramic and/or wrap should prevent or at least slow down the paint cracking like that.

 

[Nedstand]

Update - Nearly 6 months since I brought it in to the dealer. I opened a case with corporate and it seems to go back and forth between corporate and the dealer with no resolution in sight.

 

[G-202108]

I have a silver 2018 Kia Stinger GT. I like the car and it’s fun to drive but starting to have bad paint cracking along the plastic strips on the roof. Anyone else hear anything about this problem?

Yes I just noticed that to