White stinger emblem change paint chips. Bad quality paint job?

[JustThatPenguin]

I know this issue is partly my fault but I feel like it was a bad paint job to begin with. I was wondering if anyone had the same issues.

I ordered the E badge, E wheels, and the rear Stinger logo from this site. Considering I've taken off emblems with no problems before I figured I can do this. Now it looks like I need a new paint job.

For the front, I used a heat gun. Kept it at a distance. Even placed my hand near the edge of the emblem to give me an early indicator if I am heating it too much. Left side came off, no issues. The right side however, ended up bubbling. It actually bubbled under my hand. So I didn't even see it till I took my hand away. I didn't know what to do with it so I left it. And after going to run an errand I see that a huge piece of paint just flew off and now I have a big black spot.

For the rear, the stinger came off no issues using the same method. The main Kia logo however is another story. I heated it up, no bubbling. I stuck some fishing line in and sawed it like I did with the front. I started seeing white chips hanging onto my line. Once I took the emblem off, I saw that the entire outline of the logo was missing paint. So now I have a big oval of missing paint.

I will attach some photos soon but I've never had any issues like this taking off emblems on my bmws. Now it looks like I'll have to pay a body shop more than it would of cost me to have them change emblems.

I had a cheap body shop do paint work on a repair on my old Camry once. And the paint started chipping like this from regular driving debris. This is having the same effect to me. I don't feel like this is a paint job for a 50k car.

 

[mldavis2]

I'm not defending Kia here, just offering some experience having run a new car dealership for 10 years. White paint, for some reason, has always had a bonding problem. If you look at all the vehicles on the road with peeling paint, especially work trucks and older GM and Mercedes cars, you'll see about 10:1 white paint bonding problem compared to all other colors combined. Silver is another bad color but most of the silver problems come from customer lack of maintenance. I would hope Kia would stand behind the paint, but I can understand if they don't.

 

[AV8R]

The front area where badge is located is made of plastic and paint does not adhere well. The heat gun made it worse.

 

[Robs]

Snow White Pearl 2.0L, took off the rear KIA oval after heating with a hairdryer and fishing line. Nothing like what you have experienced, sorry to hear the paint didn’t hold up. So far only heard of someone having a shadow of the oval left on the paint after removal, but was polished off subsequently. On the front oval removal, have read of a few people having paint coming off.

 

[Never thought]

So I had the guy who did my ppf take the badges off. He said the paint peeled on the front as well. But he took it to a body shop that was right next to their shop and got it touched up.

 

[JustThatPenguin]

I am so upset over this whole deal. Guess I should of just gone to the pros in the first place.

But thank you everyone for the information. Next time if it's a white csr, I'll be especially careful.

On a side note, could the fact that I just took it to a drive thru car wash less than 15min before have anything to do with it? I got the $15 special. Evrrything applied.

 

[AV8R]

Hence the reason why I’m leaving the stock badges on.

 

[voon]

@JustThatPenguin
Don't stress too much over it. It's fixable. Sure, will cost money, but it will all be fine

 

[JustThatPenguin]

Hopefully the body shop does a good job and I am not noticing a slightly off color white everytime I look at my car. Here's the pics.

 

[StingerGT68]

Ugh I'm really sorry to see that. I'm having a pro do my front one this week, will need your warnings and make sure they know about using a heat gun toooo close or anything like that.

 

[StingerGT68]

I know this issue is partly my fault but I feel like it was a bad paint job to begin with. I was wondering if anyone had the same issues.

I ordered the E badge, E wheels, and the rear Stinger logo from this site. Considering I've taken off emblems with no problems before I figured I can do this. Now it looks like I need a new paint job.

For the front, I used a heat gun. Kept it at a distance. Even placed my hand near the edge of the emblem to give me an early indicator if I am heating it too much. Left side came off, no issues. The right side however, ended up bubbling. It actually bubbled under my hand. So I didn't even see it till I took my hand away. I didn't know what to do with it so I left it. And after going to run an errand I see that a huge piece of paint just flew off and now I have a big black spot.

For the rear, the stinger came off no issues using the same method. The main Kia logo however is another story. I heated it up, no bubbling. I stuck some fishing line in and sawed it like I did with the front. I started seeing white chips hanging onto my line. Once I took the emblem off, I saw that the entire outline of the logo was missing paint. So now I have a big oval of missing paint.

I will attach some photos soon but I've never had any issues like this taking off emblems on my bmws. Now it looks like I'll have to pay a body shop more than it would of cost me to have them change emblems.

I had a cheap body shop do paint work on a repair on my old Camry once. And the paint started chipping like this from regular driving debris. This is having the same effect to me. I don't feel like this is a paint job for a 50k car.

Would you suggest not using a heat gun at all on the front?

 

[JustThatPenguin]

It's possible. I have taken off an emblem before using just goo be gone and fishing line. Lots of patience required for that.

I feel like my paint being white just made it so much worse. If your extremely careful I think you can get away with using one for the front.

 

[Killianz26]

Damn, was it a cold day?
It might be safer to get the badges off on a hot day opposed to heat gun

 

[Weareblondi]

All the times I removed badges from my cars, over the years, I just left them in direct sunlight. That was enough heat for them to pop off. If there was a reluctant badge, I just went for a quick drive, enough to heat the hood and nose for it to come off. Maybe because I used a mint flavored dental string helped.

 

[westcoastGT]

use a hairdryer , not a heat gun , it doesnt need to be over heated just warm , use 20 lb fishing line and saw it off , dont lift , take your time ...............sorry to see all this damage

 

[Never thought]

1000000% agree with Westcoast. I took my Optima badges myself and had no issues. I just left it in the AZ sun for an hour and then used fishing line to saw it off. I am assuming the guy who did my ppf did use a heat gun. But he said a little bit of paint pealed under the front badge which was completely covered by the badge, but he allegedly had it touched up anyways.

To speed it up a bit, what I did with my Optima badges is that once I got one of the sides of the badge unstuck from the car, I used a slim flathead screwdriver to pry it off. But when doing this make sure no portion of the screwdriver touches the car.

I had to do this a few tunes do to the badges peeling and fading. I didn’t want to deal with it again which is why I went with the OEM quality E badges.

 

[Never thought]

Hopefully the body shop does a good job and I am not noticing a slightly off color white everytime I look at my car. Here's the pics.View attachment 4884 View attachment 4885 View attachment 4886 View attachment 4883

That sucks man but it’s fixable. Don’t get too upset over it. Enjoy the amazing Stinger. Even with the additional cost of fixing the paint, I think it’s worth debadging it. The Stinger at least should’ve come from the factory with the large Stinger script on the rear.

 

[JustThatPenguin]

Yes. I think it looks so much better with the badge changes and the big stinger in the rear. Such a shame Kia didn't go with it. Should of kept it like they did in Korea.

At least I learned my lesson. Lol I hope anyone else trying this learns from me and takes it really slow. I was looking into a touch up paint pen by Kia but probably best at this point to just stop doing it myself. Lol

 

[Jonathan]

Yes. I think it looks so much better with the badge changes and the big stinger in the rear. Such a shame Kia didn't go with it. Should of kept it like they did in Korea.

At least I learned my lesson. Lol I hope anyone else trying this learns from me and takes it really slow. I was looking into a touch up paint pen by Kia but probably best at this point to just stop doing it myself. Lol

I was in the same situation. White Stinger, and I messed up the front badge. Rear was fine. I used a stronger fishing line since whatever I had kept breaking. Apparently sawed a little too hard...
You wont be happy with a touch up pen. It may not be noticeable to others far away, but I think it will bug the hell out of you. I went to one professional body shop and they quoted me $500 for something just like yours on the front.
I bought some aerosol cans from automotive touch up. Sand/Scuffed the area and repainted it this weekend. It is quite time consuming if you want the paint to be blended in nicely. It was my first attempt on my new car, would I do it again if I had to? Probably not.
In your situation I would seek out a professional shop.

 

[JustThatPenguin]

I was in the same situation. White Stinger, and I messed up the front badge. Rear was fine. I used a stronger fishing line since whatever I had kept breaking. Apparently sawed a little too hard...
You wont be happy with a touch up pen. It may not be noticeable to others far away, but I think it will bug the hell out of you. I went to one professional body shop and they quoted me $500 for something just like yours on the front.
I bought some aerosol cans automotive touch up. Sand/Scuffed the area and repainted it this weekend. It is quite time consuming if you want the paint to be blended in nicely. It was my first attempt on my new car, would I do it again if I had to? Probably not.
In your situation I would seek out a professional shop.

Yikes. $500!! Just for the front.... really should of just gone to a body shop to begin with. Sigh.. has anyone gotten quotes on wrapping? My gf suggested a wrap if my paint job was going to end up costing a lot. We were thinking possible matte grey. Like the mb stock matte color.