That makes no sense unless the lid/spoiler was repainted for some reason. Your method, if it is at fault, is going to affect the rest of the car.
As a car detailing enthusiast your method is very appropriate, It shouldn't cause any deterioration of the paint like that. I didn't even know that the boot lid is made from plastic.
The section above the rear window is metal. The section below the rear window ie the spoiler/rear deck is plastic The rear section around the number plate under the rear lights is also plastic.
It appears that the single piece, the deck lid, is at fault, which leads to the conclusion that it was repainted at some point. Is your car first owner or are you a subsequent owner? If you determine that the lid was repainted, then paint correction or a respray properly clear coated is the only way to return to OEM spec. If by some unexpected chance you are the first owner and you are still within 36 months of taking ownership, then KIA should respray the lid under warranty.
Are you able to post some photos of your issue. Mine is clear coat failure of the boot deck lid, as the gloss is gone and surface feels rough to the touch. Either factory defect or perhaps for whatever reason the dealer repainted that panel without disclosure. This along with the terrible quality of the trim pieces used throughout the exterior that are prone to fade and discolouration is definatly unacceptable for a vehicle of this calibre and price point.
I am the first owner. I got the very first edition released in 2018, so I’m well past 36 months unfortunately. Nothing has ever been repainted. I started noticing it on the trunk a couple years ago, but thought it was water spots. I’ve been very uninformed, but as I’ve been researching I’m confident that my entire car has hard water spots/mineral buildup that seems to have accelerated in the past few months…but the trunk is a different story. I’m of the opinion that it’s definitely made from a different material than the rest of the car and is oxidizing (?) rapidly. I’ve purchased everything under the sun that I’ve read to use, (buffer/polisher, cut compound, polishes, iron remover, water spot remover, etc) but I’m hesitant to do any of it until I’m confident of what exactly the issue is.
Here are some photos of the trunk and hood (which isn’t quite as bad, but I believe it shows hard water spots or mineral deposits). Anyone have suggestions on the best way to correct?
That looks like clear coat hazing, like the OP. Until it peels away I can't imagine even ceramic coating will help, since that layer of clear coat paint is effectively damaged.
Oof! That's some nasty clear coat corruption. Like stoopid said, likely not fixable. The basecoat, color coat, should still be good. I would look into paint correction by a competent body shop. Once your new clear coat on those upper surfaces is pristine, make every effort to keep it CLEAN. You actually took a picture of bird doodoo. This tells me that you are casual about what sits on your car and for how long. This will kill any clear coat over time, the more crap literally that you leave on it the faster the clear coat gets ruined. The first and core principle of keeping the shine is to wash often. When I see water spots at all, I head to the car wash or do an Optimum No Rinse bath. As for collecting water spots, even a healthy clear coat will show spots if you let hard water hit your car, and doubly so if you leave it for days/weeks. Use soft water. ONR can take the place of soft water, but both is better. Etc.
Thank you for the response, it’s very insightful! Guilty…until I started researching about this I had never really thought about all of these factors, I would just go to the car wash before I headed to visit my customers and that was it. However, unfortunately that isn’t from a bird, it was actually something deposited from the car wash, and I’m absolutely 100% certain because it’s happened twice. The first time I was already sure because I had just been looking over my car prior to washing then immediately afterwards. The employees could not have cared less, so I canceled my membership and switched to a brand new was which was great and had no issues at all. Now that place is a few years old and the same issue. It can not be cleaned off, I’ve tried many products as well as trying to scrape it off and nothing. It doesn’t feel raised though, totally smooth. I feel very foolish that happened twice, so I’ll be washing at home from now on. Sorry kind of rambled
