The good news is, it's a one-off (basically). Having said that, it's something that can happen at pretty much any time, on any car, regardless of line (Ascent, Outback, Forester, whatever). Most of the time something like this happens on a panel that's NOT visible, so it's not an issue. Typical cause is just a quick reduction of the amount of paint that came out of the gun when it was being applied. And I'm talking about literally a milliseconds worth of variance.
Now, where the fun comes into play, where you'd think someone should have caught it, is this. Paint shop inspection line has a lot of bright lights, so they can see orange peel, crackling, or other things. The bright white lights wash out and make it difficult to see thin coverage.
Then they wouldn't have caught it in trim, because up until the time they actually start the car at the end of the line, the hood is up the whole way. And once it gets to final inspection line, they're doing checks to make sure everything that was put on in trim and final is done - and then they put the plastic shipping cover (diapers)on the roof, hood, fenders - so no one sees the painted metal again until it is unwrapped at the dealership.
So yeah, factory defect, and the dealership took care of it like they should have, without any muss or fuss. That's how things are supposed to work.
