Paint quality on Kia cars

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Earlier this week, I was making a sales call at a Kia dealership. While I waited for my contact, I took a browse through the showroom. With all of the talk of how much better Kia and Hyundai have become, I kept an open mind and tried to forget my own experiences while working on these cars as a lube tech years ago.

I was surprised to see the terrible paint job on every single model in Kia's line up right there in the showroom. I first noticed when I saw the reflection of the dealer's furniture in the black paint on a Sorrento's B-pillar. It looked wavy as if it had the texture of an orange. I ran my hand across the paint and confirmed it was not smooth. At first I thought it was a purposeful effect put into the paint (no matter how ugly I thought it was) until I realized the ENTIRE CAR was painted like this! Mind you it wasn't lumpy, but it was a subtley terrible paint job.

I then looked at a Borrego with a sticker price of $38K (for a Kia!?!?!) and it had the same paint issue. Every other car on the floor was the same. Not one had a smooth, glass-like paint job.

How do people put up with stuff like this? Between that the fit and finish of the body panels on a Kia Soul (which isn't even released yet), I know I will not be considering a Kia any time soon!

Andy
 
My mom owns a Kia Spectra and I have a Hyundai Santa Fe (same company as Kia), and both of our vehicles has a flawless finish... Not sure why those would be like that...

I was at a Kia dealership with a friend to pickup some maintenance parts for my moms car and we were checking out the new Rhondo for him and his wife and it had a fine paint job...

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Originally Posted By: StevieC
My mom owns a Kia Spectra and I have a Hyundai Santa Fe (same company as Kia), and both of our vehicles has a flawless finish... Not sure why those would be like that...

I was at a Kia dealership with a friend to pickup some maintenance parts for my moms car and we were checking out the new Rhondo for him and his wife and it had a fine paint job...

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Well I should clarify and say that the paint wasn't like, obviously orange-like. I didn't notice it until I saw the bumpy reflection in the paint. That's when I touched it and I could feel with my fingertips the subtle bumps in the paint, spaced and uniform like an orange. Once I realized it, I could see the same issue with the other cars just by quickly looking at the paint. It is a detail that some people who do not care about cars might never notice, but compare it to my 2008 Subaru Legacy or the 1994 Lexus I used to have, and the paint is definitely not smooth and glass-like. Anyone who touches the paint would be able to feel this. Very surprising.

I wonder if the body shop has to do a purposely [censored] job to make a refinished part match the rest of the car?

Andy
 
I'm anal about my car and so I have a keen eye for details and neither of our cars have this on it nor did the Rhondo that we looked at, at the dealership.

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Dunno..
 
i owned a hyundai in 05-06 and it was black and it too had a very feint orange peel pattern to the paint job (you had to look hard to see it but it was there).

It would not stop me from buying a hyundai. I have some doubts about Kia though which would prevent me from getting one.
 
I think pretty much all factory paint has some degree of Orange Peel. It's very hard to paint a perfect car today with environmental issues, water borne paint processes and the quantity being painted on a production line.
 
I may or may not have seen what you describe, to me it looks like a sort of "semi gloss" and I don't find it unpleasant. Thinking of the black clearcoat on GM SUVs.

If a finish were truly mirrored it would show every flaw in the metal, I like it kind of satiny I guess.
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maybe a golf ball pattern/texture is more appropriate than describing it as an orange peel texture. a real shallow golf ball pattern
 
Orange peel. It is either from not allowing sufficient time for the material to flatten out (drying to quick) or to much finish being applied. In either event it is an unacceptable finish.
 
Originally Posted By: Amkeer
Orange peel. It is either from not allowing sufficient time for the material to flatten out (drying to quick) or to much finish being applied. In either event it is an unacceptable finish.


+1 It could also be paint that wasn't properly thinned, poorly applied. The sprayed tip could have been worn, or not the proper size for the paint being applied. There are these and other causes as well. Certain colors or light conditions show it more.
 
Take a look at some new BMWs,. These high priced cars are known for their orange peal paint jobs. Kia's paint is no better or worse than everything else out there.
 
Apart from custom paint jobs it seems almost all cars have a high degree of orange-ppel effect leaving the factory. Even M-B's have it. It's especially obvious on clean black paint jobs.
 
I noticed this on a showroom black Kia Amanti. No repaint there.

And guys, I don't know what kind of cars you're driving but if it would appear to you that all of them come off the showroom floor with noticeable orange peel then maybe you should start looking at another brand. In all my years I've had one vehicle come off the factory like that, a black Caprice. It had a 3 inch wide blister peel near the rear wheel well. As soon as I noticed it (the first time I waxed the car) it immediately went back for a warrantied repaint.
 
I had a new 1984 E-150 in black. I had it about a week and decided to wax it including the roof. I climbed up a ladder to wash the roof, and noticed the entire center of the roof was primed and never painted. They had to send it out to repaint the roof.

Most cars today have minor flaws in the paint, it just depends how critical you are and how close you look. I was just stating above things that can cause orange peel. Black as a rule tends to show everything.
 
You are right, Frank- you probably catch more flaws than the untrained eye due to your profession. And black does seem to bring out the worst in paint defects. Aside from that one instance I noted though, none of the cars I've ever purchased had any noticeable flaw to them, and I'm somebody that has a pretty strict detailing regimen. I just shudder to think that if the average guy walks up to a brand new car on the showroom floor and notices a defect he's still going to pay full price for the car. I'm just more nit-picky than the average consumer I guess.

It's like, "Oooh, what a beautiful 30,000 dollar car- except for the orange peel paint. Oh well, we'll get it repainted some day!"
 
The QC these days is actually pretty good, but Sh****it happens. I've actually seen runs in paint especially around tail lights.

Then there is the long trip the vehicle makes from its assembly point to the dealer. A lot of handling, small scratches tiny chips etc can occur. Also the way some dealers park them in their inventory, and the lot jockey that moves them increases the chance for damage as well. But that's a different topic.

I've learned to TRY and over-look tiny defects, because I've been told I nit-pick a lot more than most people.
 
When my brother got his new 2008 Honda Accord Coupe delivered (they have to order the ones with a manual transmission) my brother and I spent 20 minutes with the car going over it in the dealership parking lot.

We went over the whole outside of the vehicle, and interior. Under no circumstances would we accept a car with a poor paint job or scratches. I even checked for panel gaps or workmanship slop jobs. After 20 minutes, we both agreed it was a finely assembled automobile and drove it home.

It's your vehicle, and buyer beware when you take it home. Accept nothing less than what you paid for.
 
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Originally Posted By: Throckmorton
Apart from custom paint jobs it seems almost all cars have a high degree of orange-ppel effect leaving the factory. Even M-B's have it. It's especially obvious on clean black paint jobs.


I haven't looked closely at a recent MB lately. However, of the recent cars I have owned (90 Cutlass Supreme, 94 ES300, 08 Legacy), none of them have any type of orange peel pattern. My parents' 2009 Town and Country does not have this defect. Even my 1982 DeLorean's bumpers were painted better than these 2009 Kia's. I know this because I have hand-washed, waxed, and detailed all of my own cars.

Cars with non glass-like paint are not acceptable to me as it speaks a lack of attention to detail, and thus poor quality. Very surprised to see EVERY car in the showroom with this 'feature'. Yes, every one of them.

Andy
 
I'm happy with the paint on my current fleet. I told the sales manager before I took my Jeep I worked in car sales, and to please make sure that there are no issues with my Jeep at delivery or I wasn't going to take it. We had a good relationship, and as dealerships go this was one of the better ones. I looked over my Jeep with a magnifying glass before I took it. I was satisfied, but as I mentioned I can really nit-pick things, and have since lightened up a tiny bit.

Having worked at new car dealerships, I did see some lousy painted cars, doors out of alignment etc. This was at Honda, Kia, Suzuki, and Nissan. It happens, not too often, but it does happen.

GM fan is right on with this quote: It's your vehicle, and buyer beware when you take it home. Accept nothing less than what you paid for.
 
Good Grief now we're comparing '82 DeLorean paint jobs with Mass produced computer painted KIA's. I wonder if these people compare Micky "D"'s Happy Meals with Outback Steakhouse?
 
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