2022 stinger trim discoloration

[Brightblue22]

Good afternoon, I am happy to find this group. I have a 2022 Kia stinger bright blue. I love this car. The trimwork over the windows is discolored. I had an appointment today to get an assessment as to replacing the trim and was told it is just oxidized. It just needs some rubbing compound and shined up. I accepted this at the time but the car only has 2400 miles on it and I don’t think this kind of work should need to be done on a brand new car.

So I was just informed by the dealership that they are being told by the higher-ups (supposedly )that because this is an environmental issue that it is NOT WARRANTED and that if they do replace the trim it will just do the same thing again.
Does this make even a little bit of sense to knowingly put a trim on a car that is going to look like crap in a few months?

 

[Kia Stinger]

Good afternoon, I am happy to find this group. I have a 2022 Kia stinger bright blue. I love this car. The trimwork over the windows is discolored. I had an appointment today to get an assessment as to replacing the trim and was told it is just oxidized. It just needs some rubbing compound and shined up. I accepted this at the time but the car only has 2400 miles on it and I don’t think this kind of work should need to be done on a brand new car.

So I was just informed by the dealership that they are being told by the higher-ups (supposedly )that because this is an environmental issue that it is NOT WARRANTED and that if they do replace the trim it will just do the same thing again.
Does this make even a little bit of sense to knowingly put a trim on a car that is going to look like crap in a few months?

Welcome aboard! And thank you for signing up. I’m glad you found us! Just letting you know that I moved this topic out of the community lounge and into the Stinger Exterior forum.

 

[bfglitch]

Nice long thread about this here. Trim looks like crap

 

[MerlintheMad]

Howdy and welcome. Yes, this is a common issue. Vehicles that have it and the rest that don't. I've only battled a slight case of discoloration on the dark chrome door and hatch lid trim (and wouldn't you know it, the first indicator appeared right after my 36 months warranty period had elapsed ). You'll see some real horror stories in that thread @bfglitch shared. The worst case had actual flaking of the clear coat that he could pick off with his fingernail. It sounds like one of two things happening to you: either the dealership is lying about the "higher ups" denying replacement (news to me) or Kia Corp. has changed how they treat complaints about failing trim (news to me). I think that you should approach a different dealership and get another story/opinion. Then make phone calls to Kia Corp yourself to get the real skinny.

 

[Brightblue22]

Howdy and welcome. Yes, this is a common issue. Vehicles that have it and the rest that don't. I've only battled a slight case of discoloration on the dark chrome door and hatch lid trim (and wouldn't you know it, the first indicator appeared right after my 36 months warranty period had elapsed ). You'll see some real horror stories in that thread @bfglitch shared. The worst case had actual flaking of the clear coat that he could pick off with his fingernail. It sounds like one of two things happening to you: either the dealership is lying about the "higher ups" denying replacement (news to me) or Kia Corp. has changed how they treat complaints about failing trim (news to me). I think that you should approach a different dealership and get another story/opinion. Then make phone calls to Kia Corp yourself to get the real skinny.

Thank you, that’s an excellent suggestion.

 

[Blueangel]

In any event, chemical guys light metal polish did wonders for me. Discoloration hasn’t come back since I used it couple months ago.

 

[Brightblue22]

Awesome! Thanks for this info!

 

[ChaneRZ]

Trim by the window, get a wind visor and be done with it haha.

 

[bfglitch]

Trim by the window, get a wind visor and be done with it haha.

Sadly that only solves part of it. Doesn't help with the trim along the hatch.

 

[Brandondrums]

I have a 2019 with this issue, they replaced a few of the pieces under warranty 2 years ago but the fading returned over this summer. I did some testing and I can 100% say the EASIEST and QUICKEST as well as LEAST damaging way to handle this is to remove each piece - going one at a time using Acetone to wipe off the cheap coating (that's the stuff that cracks and fades) and then use aluminum polish.

Removing the pieces is actually extremely easy, there's plenty of info elsewhere on how to do it but they practically are made to be easily removed to be cleaned.

Most of the 'best' info says to polish the film off with the aluminum polish - frankly that takes so much elbow grease you risk denting/bending the aluminum strips. I spent at least 30 min just on one piece trying to rub the coating off as others have done using rubbing compound and aluminum polish and it wasn't doing the job. So I decided to see if I could use a solvent without damaging the plastic clips or the aluminum itself. I started with a few different concentrations of alcohol before trying Acetone.

WOW, the Acetone is 100% the way to go, it practically just wipes off the ugly finish with only very light pressure and it does ZERO damage to the plastic pieces. YOU DEFINITELY NEED TO DO THIS WITH THE TRIM PIECES REMOVED AWAY FROM THE CAR - but it works so well. Easy on the metal, easy on your arm, easy on the clock. The Acetone dissolves whatever that coating is - I think it's a very thin plastic coating quite quickly but it does leave some streaks behind.

No worries, the last step I used was a light polish with a clean cloth using aluminum polish. Again, you don't need much pressure here, just haze up the aluminum and buff off with a microfiber cloth. So quick to a perfect finish, I can't believe I drove around for years with that nasty cracking junk on there knowing I could have cleaned these things up in a very fast little 2 step process in between meetings lol.

If desired, you could take those aluminum strips to a paint shop and have them paint with a smoked clear coat or something to get them to look a little darker or even black them out which I've considered. Personally though, it looks way better than stock with that coating off - the coating made it look like cheap grey plastic and now it looks far more high-end IMO.

 

[Hiryuu]

Gloss black wrap is the solution, IMO. Everything else seems temporary. Metal polish will make it look good, but you are essentially polishing off the chrome so it'll discolor or fade later on anyways.

 

[Stanger21]

Mine's a 2021 and I had the exact same issue on all of the window chrome pieces. After reading up on here I got a £5 pack of "magic eraser" sponges, only needs a bit of water and elbow grease and it brought them up really well. They're great for the job as they're just the correct size to rub down the trim while it's on the car without coming in to contact with anything else. Not perfect but definitely a massive improvement...

Before:

After: