Removal of rear STINGER emblem fail!

[Bren1979]

I posted this on another thread as well but it won’t let me link to it so here is the text...

Guys, my name is Brendan and I was one of the first Stinger owners in Australia, having picked up my car last October. Anyway, I am the guy who has had my Stinger stripped to bare metal and resprayed, all under warranty at a cost of AUD$20k.

There is DEFINITELY an issue with the paint on ALL Stingers, regardless of colour, build date, spec, LHD, RHD etc. as I have outlined in posts on various other forums and groups, the issue is that because the Stinger is the first ever Kia to use an aluminium hood, they had problems with adhesion so they didn’t use a conventional primer but instead used an etch primer on bare metal, followed by the white base coat (my car is yellow) which they then baked for 24hrs+. So no primer+etch primer+baking base coat = colour coat not adhering.

Korean executives and technical reps flew out to Sydney to inspect my vehicle and several parts such as the hood and bumpers were replaced and the old ones sent to PPG for testing and then to Korea for analysis.

When they removed the bumpers, the paint was literally flaking in their hands in some of the hidden/concealed edges.

In the last 24hrs, they have withdrawn both yellow and blue from sale in Australia and are apparently likely to withdraw the others soon.

I am more than happy to provide information and/or assistance/advice to anyone who needs or wants it. You can reach out to me via email which is brendan@knowles.live

I know there’s been questions about whether I’m full of shit so I have attached a copy of the paperwork I got when I picked up the car after respray. I’m also happy for anyone to come and inspect it.

Hope this info helps and I’m here if anyone needs more.

Cheers

Brendan

 

[forzanerazzurri]

Having all of these stingers with cheesy rebadge jobs is making me think twice about getting this car.

 

[Ucinn]

If what somebody else does to their car sways you one way or the other, then maybe this isn't the car for you. I do hate to say it, but every car out there, people will do something to theirs you may not like, so maybe public transportation might be a better option.

 

[Ivansito]

Having all of these stingers with cheesy rebadge jobs is making me think twice about getting this car.

That would be a unusual tipping point on why you wouldn't purchase this amazing car.

 

[84Phins]

What an absolute pain...Decided to take it to my local body shop and let them fix all the micro scratches. I took these off on past vehicles without anything near the amount of trouble. It took over 3 hrs to get one tag completely off and remove all glue.

I'll gladly pay someone else to handle this with the appropriate tools and car care techniques.

Oh, mine is black paint...So every micro scratch is visible from across the universe!

 

[StingerGT68]

Having all of these stingers with cheesy rebadge jobs is making me think twice about getting this car.

You're right, no one ever does anything cheesy with BMWs, Mercedes, or Audis! Bye!

 

[stingermang]

I really like the Stinger and am in the process of getting bids on a GT2 in CA. (Protip: Avoid Capitol Kia in San Jose.)

I recently went on a trip to TX for about a week and had the opportunity to drive two different Kia Sportages, 2017+2018 model years. I was left with the distinct impression Kia may not do so well with their paint in general. It 'felt' thin...both cars had lots of micro-flaking...which I've never observed on any new/ish car. (I'm kind of OCD that way.)

I was thinking about a custom paint job anyway, but I find Brendan's story interesting. I realize I'm speaking from a poor sample size, so I'm probably just engaging in confirmation bias.

 

[4wheelpilot]

I had a 2013 Kia Optima SX in Remington red. Never garaged in area with 4 seasons. Never had ANY problems with the paint.

 

[stingermang]

I had a 2013 Kia Optima SX in Remington red. Never garaged in area with 4 seasons. Never had ANY problems with the paint.

I'm new here, so I just found this:
stingerforum.org/threads/paint-chip-issue.4632 (can't post an actual URL just yet)

At least a few of the people in the thread are talking about Kia making the situation 'right', so hopefully this is a short-lived trend?

 

[Hydrajin]

Don't why so many struggled with this but the best advice I can give u guys is do it in the shade when everything is cool because the adhesive is not as messy and will most likely completely come off with the emblem, the bits left will peel off easily when cool. Heating the adhesive makes it soft and messy, best trick I found across all automakers (nearly all use 3m adhesive) is the dental floss trick.

Grab some good dental floss of the ribbon type and slice the adhesive. Make sure it's stiff dental floss not the stretchy type which (I've seen some ribbon type floss that has some give to it which doesn't work at all for this application). If you find yourself snapping the floss frequently, take it slow and as close to the body panels as possible to prevent heat build up and emblem edge friction on the dental floss so you don't find yourself snapping it every few strokes.
Once you cut as much as possible of the adhesive, slide a plastic card in between the emblem and the body panel after making sure there is no debris on either surface; use a wide and flat tool of ur preference (scrapper, 5in1, w.e you have handy) to pry the emlem away slowly and carefully so you don't slip off the plastic card and onto the body panel, push the plastic card in everytime you get room for it to fit after prying attempts and do not try to pry it in one shot because it can either break the old emblem or release suddenly and have ur prying tool dig a nice trench into the finish. I had to pry a few times cycling both left and right side in the case of the Kia badges.

Proceed cleaning bit of glue by peeling and wipe down with IPA before applying new badges. If done in cool conditions, there should be no smeared glue left to make clean up hard.

 

[basysmith]

Well... I just f&*%ed mine up big time on the rear. Half asleep in the garage tonight, I left the heat gun on too long and started to melt the paint around the KIA badge edge. Now there's a sort of textured rough line around the top left edge of where the badge use to be.. so I'm guessing it's going to look disgusting when I get it out in the daylight tomorrow.

But I guess it's nothing a spray painting shop can't fix.

I was wondering though... has anyone taken that boot panel off where the number plate goes? It seems like it's just a plastic one piece that sticks onto the actual boot under the tail light bar.

Also.. does anyone have the colour code for the Silky Silver??

 

[AV8R]

Well... I just f&*%ed mine up big time on the rear. Half asleep in the garage tonight, I left the heat gun on too long and started to melt the paint around the KIA badge edge. Now there's a sort of textured rough line around the top left edge of where the badge use to be.. so I'm guessing it's going to look disgusting when I get it out in the daylight tomorrow.

But I guess it's nothing a spray painting shop can't fix.

I was wondering though... has anyone taken that boot panel off where the number plate goes? It seems like it's just a plastic one piece that sticks onto the actual boot under the tail light bar.

Also.. does anyone have the colour code for the Silky Silver??

Paint code 4 S S

 

[OliverNuther]

Well... I just f&*%ed mine up big time

Also.. does anyone have the colour code for the Silky Silver??

I hope you haven’t fkd yours up too bad but mate there are a million posts saying don’t use heat guns. Especially in Australia.

Your paint code can be found on your compliance plate.

 

[basysmith]

YES! THANK YOU! Can you order those separately? Those rear panels already painted? I don't know how much it's going to cost but I'm assuming the panel beaters will want a few hundred dollars.. if the panel is less than $200 then I'd be inclined to simply order one of those instead.

Are you a dealer/kia service/rep of some sort?

Thanks again!

 

[AV8R]

YES! THANK YOU! Can you order those separately? Those rear panels already painted? I don't know how much it's going to cost but I'm assuming the panel beaters will want a few hundred dollars.. if the panel is less than $200 then I'd be inclined to simply order one of those instead.

Are you a dealer/kia service/rep of some sort?

Thanks again!

Best i can do for you. No not a rep or dealer just been around awhile lol
2018 2019 KIA Stinger Rear Trunk Lid Trim Panel 87371-J5000 | eBay

 

[AV8R]

Some one who,owns a ceramic grey posted something on the same issue when his panel beater stuffed up the badges and shows how he replaced the back panel. I cant find it tho.

 

[basysmith]

I cant find it tho.

Bugger. That would be helpful. From the looks of that ebay panel.. there's a strip of adhesive or 3M across the middle and edges of the panel.

I hate those clips too.. they never come out easy but it looks like if you get the right one out first you might be able to slide the entire panel off sideways.

Anyway.. I'll see if a shop can fix the damage first without taking anything off. If you come across that thread please post it here and thanks again for all your help.

 

[AV8R]

You have to go in from back but be careful removing panels to get to bolts you may break the clips.

 

[basysmith]

I hope you haven’t fkd yours up too bad but mate

Yeah I stuffed it up pretty bad with the heat gun. I'm not sure what I was doing.. the missus went to bed and I thought I'll get it done before tomorrow. So half asleep, I was waving the stupid heat gun over the badge thinking about something else.. and then.. BAM! CRINKLE! The paint started to warp under the heat. I'm usually good with things like this.. but I well and truly f&*%ed this job up. Not the end of the world though.. but I'm going to cop it in the morning when the missus walks into the garage and has a look.

 

[OliverNuther]

Mmmm. Not ideal. What are you planning to replace the original badges with?