Stinger body panel issue and need your help

[Surrito]

It's a pretty long story, so I will make it short. If you guys want to know the full details, I can post it later.

23 days into my ownership and I'm dealing with a panel gap issue, which I took notice of 10 days into ownership. I had it very briefly seen by the dealership on Tuesday (yesterday) after a long wait for an appointment, and the technician blamed it the bottom on the bumper coming in contact with the road at some point, an idea I was very skeptical of at the time but didn't immediately dismiss, until I got home later on and cleaned off that area to find what was being pointed out as scratches/marks was simply dirt/road grime from all the bad weather recently. Today being a much sunnier day, I took a peek down there again and noticed some odd asymmetry which I believe to be the cause for the failure point. Looks to me like possible disassembly with incorrect reassembly, which might of added undue stress which caused something to fail.

What I need now is something to compare my car with. I got one good shot of the front underbody from a youtube video, which shows it being quite symmetrical, unlike mine, but couldn't find any others. Would some of you be willing to take similar pictures to the ones I attached so that I may compare and see if there is any merit to my theory?

 

[DaJackson]

Go take pictures of the cars on the lot. They are much more likely to help out if they can see it for themselves than random pics from the internet.

Had to do this with the headlight paint issue.

 

[NS_Stinger]

In your photos I can clearly see that one of your fender splash guards wasn't properly reinstalled, also yes that panel gap isn't normal at all.

 

[DiabloStinger]

bumper clips. they can fix that

 

[MerlintheMad]

This doesn't require picture comparison: your two pics clearly show the former (driver side) splash guard is hooked up on the outside/bottom, instead of properly on top; hell, the middle clip isn't even attached!? The splash panel (for want of a better term) is pushed up way inside. "Morons and incompetents and fools on our team, Mr Fibuli." Fix that, and any other related fubars, and I am confident that your bumper seam will close up. Happy driving!

 

[Surrito]

Go take pictures of the cars on the lot. They are much more likely to help out if they can see it for themselves than random pics from the internet.

Had to do this with the headlight paint issue.

Oh I definitely plan to take a look at the other cars they have on the lot when I go back, but that won't be for a few days. Right now I'm waiting for a call back from Kia premium support. I'll be mentioning all of this to them, which is why I wanted some more immediate points of reference. I want to be more confident that this splash guard set-up isn't the norm. If it is not, it means it was tampered with at some point for whatever reason, with the panel gap coincidentally being on that same side. This would all make me very hesitant to incur the cost of the repairs, not matter how relatively low.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Oh I definitely plan to take a look at the other cars they have on the lot when I go back, but that won't be for a few days. Right now I'm waiting for a call back from Kia premium support. I'll be mentioning all of this to them, which is why I wanted some more immediate points of reference. I want to be more confident that this splash guard set-up isn't the norm. If it is not, it means it was tampered with at some point for whatever reason, with the panel gap coincidentally being on that same side. This would all make me very hesitant to incur the cost of the repairs, not matter how relatively low.

Your are right: somehow the splash guard came off and was reattached, by an incompetent, on the outside instead of on top where it belongs. That is producing stress and the visible point is above where the bumper meets the fender.

 

[NS_Stinger]

Your are right: somehow the splash guard came off and was reattached, by an incompetent, on the outside instead of on top where it belongs. That is producing stress and the visible point is above where the bumper meets the fender.

Good catch Merlin, you're right, the splash guard isn't just unbolted it's completely on wrong, mounted below the bumper instead of above the bumper lip. Picture 3 is correctly installed, picture 2 has everything completely mixed up and was installed by an idiot.

 

[forzanerazzurri]

Crazy. Good thing this issue isnt a serious one. You need to find a new stealership. Be sure to tell the old one why youre leaving.