—
Kia Canada is on the receiving end of a class action lawsuit that claims white paint peels, chips and delaminates.
According to the Kia Canada white paint lawsuit, the class action includes two “groups.”
Kia White Paint Lawsuit (The Main Group)
“Anyone who has purchased or leased a white Kia vehicle, including those in the colours ‘Snow White Pearl,’ ‘Snow White,’ ‘Icy White Pearl’ and ‘Heavenly White.'”
Kia White Paint Lawsuit (The Consumer Subgroup)
“All individuals domiciled in Quebec or having been domiciled in Quebec who have purchased or leased a long-term Kia vehicle in white, including vehicles in ‘pearl snow white,’ ‘snow white,’ ‘pearl ice white’ and ‘celestial white’ colors.”
Plaintiff Alain Patenaude says he purchased a white 2015 Kia Sorento in March 2021 when the vehicle had 53,104 kilometers on its odometer. About a year later when the Sorento had between 90,000 and 100,000 kilometers on it, the paint was flaking on the hood and side, so he applied touch-up paint to fix the paint problem.
The plaintiff asserts a Kia dealership told him there had been no paint recall and he had nothing to worry about. But the plaintiff complains the white paint continued to peel, and during a heavy rain a “significant amount of paint had peeled off his vehicle.”
By October 2024 the white paint was increasingly peeling which caused the plaintiff to contact Kia Canada. The lawsuit says the automaker responded by saying it was unaware of any peeling paint defects.
According to the class action, Kia wrote to the plaintiff and asked him to send a photo of his registration certificate, and he sent that and also photos of his Sorento. The plaintiff says he requested compensation for the white paint peeling on his Sorento but Kia refused to repair his vehicle because the warranty had expired.
In addition, the peeling paint wouldn’t be repaired under recall because no recall had been issued.
The Kia white paint lawsuit alleges an area “approximately twenty (20) centimeters by eight (8) centimeters are peeled off from both sides of the windshield of the applicant’s vehicle, and paint has also peeled off the hood and roof.”
According to the white paint lawsuit:
“The applicant considers it unreasonable that the coating of his vehicle should show such significant deterioration after seven (7) years and 90,000 to 100,000 kilometers of use.”
The lawsuit also alleges the white paint defects have been there since the vehicles were first sold.
The Kia white paint class action lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of Québec: Alain Patenaude v. Kia Canada Inc.
The plaintiff is represented by Lambert Lawyers.