"Overthinking". "Normal." Both are subjective and only you can decide for yourself. If I ever face something like you guys have been going through, I am well prepared to weigh all the considerations after following your stories. And if I had just had a repaint, I first of all would not be looking at my car under super bright lights other than to inspect it. After that, just normal RL lighting for me. Why? "Nothing in life has any business being perfect." Especially a thing that is mass produced. A repaint is of course not part of that mass production. If you put more time and consideration and money into the paint job than Kia authorized, then yes, something closer to perfection should be demanded and delivered. A blemish would be fixed. A tiny "crater" or dark spot or bubble, etc., would be pointed to and the warranty for the higher priced shop would cover you: total satisfaction: but then, you'd pay thousand of dollars more for that elite repaint.
The "crater" gets a dob of touch up paint, fill it in and smooth it off. The bubbles? They will probably buff to near invisibility. The dark spots under the clear coat? I have no idea. Are they in glaringly obvious places? Or are they in places that you almost have to contort yourself to see? That's the kind of subjective value system you have to apply. I don't sweat the small stuff. Because time inflicts us all with small stuff; too much of it to try and do combat with. My "yardstick" for judging the appearance of my own baby: If she looks good from five or six feet away under daylight, we're good enough.
