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Who's already test driven the Kia Stinger?
- Thread starter SeoulStinger
- Start date
![[cheers]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_cheers.gif "Cheers [cheers]"){kind=icon}
- Member ID
- #239
- Messages
- 269
- Likes
- 37
- State
- AZ
- Country
- United States
- What I Drive
- 2018 Stinger GT RWD
Going to look at this now!
http://www.rodeokia.com/vehicle-details/2018-kia-stinger--avondale-az-id-21618530
-Matt
http://www.rodeokia.com/vehicle-details/2018-kia-stinger--avondale-az-id-21618530
-Matt
- Member ID
- #280
- Messages
- 4
- Likes
- 2
- State
- CA
- Country
- United States
- What I Drive
- 2018 Kia Stinger GT2
TLDR: Test drove it, loved it. Traded in my Audi S5 for it 
RWD GT2.
Longer story:
Compared to my S5, the Stinger felt significantly heavier (despite the fact that it's actually right around the same weight). This took a bit of getting used to. The visibility out the Stinger to the rear is also compromised quite a bit - the rear window in the liftback from the mirror's perspective is very much a gunslit - similar to what I had in my older 370Z. This also took quite a bit of getting used to. Fortunately, the side visibility is great, and the mirrors when adjusted were easily able to eliminate the blind spots.
Engine is awesome though. It's got a huge amount of pull in the midrange, much more than my S5. Not quite up there with a mustang or camaro, but having owned a recent 370Z (2010), 335i (2012), and S5 (2015), it's easily the best of the bunch in midrange acceleration, which is what I use most often. And I don't care if the sound in the cabin is partially fake, it still sounds great - almost V8ish.
Handling is sneaky good. Despite it feeling "heavy", it stuck to the road like glue on my test drive. Very flat and controllable through twisties. Better than my S5. I think my 335i would have been better pushed really really hard, but that's rather expected considering the weight difference. Steering feedback and response is good, again, better than my S5, not quite as good as my 335i. As some other reviews online have noted though, it's really light, even in "Sport" mode. Could use some more weighting so that it's easier to set and keep a specific steering angle.
Features - this is where the car really shines though. 50K loaded with everything. Easily 10K less than a comparably equipped BMW or Audi. Though there is some areas that it's clear there was some decontenting to reduce cost - for example, the fuel filler door needs to be opened from within the car using the button. Both the Audi and BMW unlock the fuel filler door with keyfob proximity. But this is something I can live with, though I didn't notice it until reading the owners manual at home. The intelligent cruise control will make my traffic congested drives home much easier, as will the great sound system, two things I've not had in my Audi or BMW to reduce price to somewhere I felt comfortable with.
Dealership experience - not fun. Not anywhere up to the Audi or BMW experience. Both of those dealers are used to dealing with educated and reasonably savvy car buyers. While they might initially try to sell the "full boat", they are quick to recognize an experienced car buyer and will generally proceed to a solid "reasonable" offer pretty quickly (usually the 2nd or 3rd "pencil"). It took 7 "pencils" to come to a deal this time, and, frankly, I probably should have walked out earlier, but each deal was getting closer to the one I came in for (the lease deal), and we did eventually get there...but it took me pulling out a calculator and doing the math right in front of them for them to finally put the final deal together (they tried everything - I was promised there was no ADM on the phone prior to coming in, on the first "pencil" there was 1K in ADM, MF was above Kia's manufacturer offer by what equated to almost 3% APR, lease cash offer was lower on the first few offers, etc). Not sure if they're ready to handle customers that have higher expectations of a dealer to be honest, and that might cause problems if they really do want to steal market share from the more established luxury brands.
Eventually though, a deal was struck, and I'm now a very happy Stinger GT owner. Red/black interior (it looks like all the GT2's are being configured this way, at least the first shipment all the ones in my area are, but I love the red on this car).
RWD GT2.Longer story:
Compared to my S5, the Stinger felt significantly heavier (despite the fact that it's actually right around the same weight). This took a bit of getting used to. The visibility out the Stinger to the rear is also compromised quite a bit - the rear window in the liftback from the mirror's perspective is very much a gunslit - similar to what I had in my older 370Z. This also took quite a bit of getting used to. Fortunately, the side visibility is great, and the mirrors when adjusted were easily able to eliminate the blind spots.
Engine is awesome though. It's got a huge amount of pull in the midrange, much more than my S5. Not quite up there with a mustang or camaro, but having owned a recent 370Z (2010), 335i (2012), and S5 (2015), it's easily the best of the bunch in midrange acceleration, which is what I use most often. And I don't care if the sound in the cabin is partially fake, it still sounds great - almost V8ish.
Handling is sneaky good. Despite it feeling "heavy", it stuck to the road like glue on my test drive. Very flat and controllable through twisties. Better than my S5. I think my 335i would have been better pushed really really hard, but that's rather expected considering the weight difference. Steering feedback and response is good, again, better than my S5, not quite as good as my 335i. As some other reviews online have noted though, it's really light, even in "Sport" mode. Could use some more weighting so that it's easier to set and keep a specific steering angle.
Features - this is where the car really shines though. 50K loaded with everything. Easily 10K less than a comparably equipped BMW or Audi. Though there is some areas that it's clear there was some decontenting to reduce cost - for example, the fuel filler door needs to be opened from within the car using the button. Both the Audi and BMW unlock the fuel filler door with keyfob proximity. But this is something I can live with, though I didn't notice it until reading the owners manual at home. The intelligent cruise control will make my traffic congested drives home much easier, as will the great sound system, two things I've not had in my Audi or BMW to reduce price to somewhere I felt comfortable with.
Dealership experience - not fun. Not anywhere up to the Audi or BMW experience. Both of those dealers are used to dealing with educated and reasonably savvy car buyers. While they might initially try to sell the "full boat", they are quick to recognize an experienced car buyer and will generally proceed to a solid "reasonable" offer pretty quickly (usually the 2nd or 3rd "pencil"). It took 7 "pencils" to come to a deal this time, and, frankly, I probably should have walked out earlier, but each deal was getting closer to the one I came in for (the lease deal), and we did eventually get there...but it took me pulling out a calculator and doing the math right in front of them for them to finally put the final deal together (they tried everything - I was promised there was no ADM on the phone prior to coming in, on the first "pencil" there was 1K in ADM, MF was above Kia's manufacturer offer by what equated to almost 3% APR, lease cash offer was lower on the first few offers, etc). Not sure if they're ready to handle customers that have higher expectations of a dealer to be honest, and that might cause problems if they really do want to steal market share from the more established luxury brands.
Eventually though, a deal was struck, and I'm now a very happy Stinger GT owner. Red/black interior (it looks like all the GT2's are being configured this way, at least the first shipment all the ones in my area are, but I love the red on this car).
- Member ID
- #239
- Messages
- 269
- Likes
- 37
- State
- AZ
- Country
- United States
- What I Drive
- 2018 Stinger GT RWD
TLDR: Test drove it, loved it. Traded in my Audi S5 for it RWD GT2.
Longer story:
Compared to my S5, the Stinger felt significantly heavier (despite the fact that it's actually right around the same weight). This took a bit of getting used to. The visibility out the Stinger to the rear is also compromised quite a bit - the rear window in the liftback from the mirror's perspective is very much a gunslit - similar to what I had in my older 370Z. This also took quite a bit of getting used to. Fortunately, the side visibility is great, and the mirrors when adjusted were easily able to eliminate the blind spots.
Engine is awesome though. It's got a huge amount of pull in the midrange, much more than my S5. Not quite up there with a mustang or camaro, but having owned a recent 370Z (2010), 335i (2012), and S5 (2015), it's easily the best of the bunch in midrange acceleration, which is what I use most often. And I don't care if the sound in the cabin is partially fake, it still sounds great - almost V8ish.
Handling is sneaky good. Despite it feeling "heavy", it stuck to the road like glue on my test drive. Very flat and controllable through twisties. Better than my S5. I think my 335i would have been better pushed really really hard, but that's rather expected considering the weight difference. Steering feedback and response is good, again, better than my S5, not quite as good as my 335i. As some other reviews online have noted though, it's really light, even in "Sport" mode. Could use some more weighting so that it's easier to set and keep a specific steering angle.
Features - this is where the car really shines though. 50K loaded with everything. Easily 10K less than a comparably equipped BMW or Audi. Though there is some areas that it's clear there was some decontenting to reduce cost - for example, the fuel filler door needs to be opened from within the car using the button. Both the Audi and BMW unlock the fuel filler door with keyfob proximity. But this is something I can live with, though I didn't notice it until reading the owners manual at home. The intelligent cruise control will make my traffic congested drives home much easier, as will the great sound system, two things I've not had in my Audi or BMW to reduce price to somewhere I felt comfortable with.
Dealership experience - not fun. Not anywhere up to the Audi or BMW experience. Both of those dealers are used to dealing with educated and reasonably savvy car buyers. While they might initially try to sell the "full boat", they are quick to recognize an experienced car buyer and will generally proceed to a solid "reasonable" offer pretty quickly (usually the 2nd or 3rd "pencil"). It took 7 "pencils" to come to a deal this time, and, frankly, I probably should have walked out earlier, but each deal was getting closer to the one I came in for (the lease deal), and we did eventually get there...but it took me pulling out a calculator and doing the math right in front of them for them to finally put the final deal together (they tried everything - I was promised there was no ADM on the phone prior to coming in, on the first "pencil" there was 1K in ADM, MF was above Kia's manufacturer offer by what equated to almost 3% APR, lease cash offer was lower on the first few offers, etc). Not sure if they're ready to handle customers that have higher expectations of a dealer to be honest, and that might cause problems if they really do want to steal market share from the more established luxury brands.
Eventually though, a deal was struck, and I'm now a very happy Stinger GT owner. Red/black interior (it looks like all the GT2's are being configured this way, at least the first shipment all the ones in my area are, but I love the red on this car).
RWD GT2.Longer story:
Compared to my S5, the Stinger felt significantly heavier (despite the fact that it's actually right around the same weight). This took a bit of getting used to. The visibility out the Stinger to the rear is also compromised quite a bit - the rear window in the liftback from the mirror's perspective is very much a gunslit - similar to what I had in my older 370Z. This also took quite a bit of getting used to. Fortunately, the side visibility is great, and the mirrors when adjusted were easily able to eliminate the blind spots.
Engine is awesome though. It's got a huge amount of pull in the midrange, much more than my S5. Not quite up there with a mustang or camaro, but having owned a recent 370Z (2010), 335i (2012), and S5 (2015), it's easily the best of the bunch in midrange acceleration, which is what I use most often. And I don't care if the sound in the cabin is partially fake, it still sounds great - almost V8ish.
Handling is sneaky good. Despite it feeling "heavy", it stuck to the road like glue on my test drive. Very flat and controllable through twisties. Better than my S5. I think my 335i would have been better pushed really really hard, but that's rather expected considering the weight difference. Steering feedback and response is good, again, better than my S5, not quite as good as my 335i. As some other reviews online have noted though, it's really light, even in "Sport" mode. Could use some more weighting so that it's easier to set and keep a specific steering angle.
Features - this is where the car really shines though. 50K loaded with everything. Easily 10K less than a comparably equipped BMW or Audi. Though there is some areas that it's clear there was some decontenting to reduce cost - for example, the fuel filler door needs to be opened from within the car using the button. Both the Audi and BMW unlock the fuel filler door with keyfob proximity. But this is something I can live with, though I didn't notice it until reading the owners manual at home. The intelligent cruise control will make my traffic congested drives home much easier, as will the great sound system, two things I've not had in my Audi or BMW to reduce price to somewhere I felt comfortable with.
Dealership experience - not fun. Not anywhere up to the Audi or BMW experience. Both of those dealers are used to dealing with educated and reasonably savvy car buyers. While they might initially try to sell the "full boat", they are quick to recognize an experienced car buyer and will generally proceed to a solid "reasonable" offer pretty quickly (usually the 2nd or 3rd "pencil"). It took 7 "pencils" to come to a deal this time, and, frankly, I probably should have walked out earlier, but each deal was getting closer to the one I came in for (the lease deal), and we did eventually get there...but it took me pulling out a calculator and doing the math right in front of them for them to finally put the final deal together (they tried everything - I was promised there was no ADM on the phone prior to coming in, on the first "pencil" there was 1K in ADM, MF was above Kia's manufacturer offer by what equated to almost 3% APR, lease cash offer was lower on the first few offers, etc). Not sure if they're ready to handle customers that have higher expectations of a dealer to be honest, and that might cause problems if they really do want to steal market share from the more established luxury brands.
Eventually though, a deal was struck, and I'm now a very happy Stinger GT owner. Red/black interior (it looks like all the GT2's are being configured this way, at least the first shipment all the ones in my area are, but I love the red on this car).
I have to say I was surprised at the lack of power in the mid-range simply because of the reactions all these YouTube testers have had.
Rodeo Kia, where I just left pulled out the $4k markup that was advertised on the sticker, but not the website. There was about $2600 in add-ons which I didn't even begin to deal with. When I left I compared the MF and it was spot on. Didn't seem like any games which I appreciate.
I look forward to your final numbers!
-Matt
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
- Member ID
- #280
- Messages
- 4
- Likes
- 2
- State
- CA
- Country
- United States
- What I Drive
- 2018 Kia Stinger GT2
Final deal was essentially the Kia deal offered from manufacturer. Given the high amount of lease cash offered, and the fact that it's a new model (that seemed to be popular - the dealer I went to had 7 at the beginning of the day, and mine was the third one to sell that day), I didn't figure that I would get them to budge much on the MSRP end.
$1305 down (+1st months payment = $2K out of pocket), $695/mo lease 36mo/12K miles (out the door, all tax/title/fees - a little higher than I expected as I didn't think to realize the capital cost reduction of $7400 (lease incentive+cash down) was taxable (which added about $20/mo to my original target price). Residual value of $26117 at lease end (52%).
Doing the math at home, it's pretty close to the deal I was going in for:
$608/mo base (from Kia's website using the GT2 deal with the cargo mat/net, $1300 down, and 12k/miles per year).
+ use tax (7.75% sales tax) = $655/mo
+ sales tax on capitalized cost reduction (amortized) = $671/mo
+ license/other government fees (amortized) = $687/mo
So they managed to hide about $8/mo in markup in there somewhere, but all in all, I'm pretty happy with the deal.
To put that in perspective, the first offer they gave me had my lease terms at just over $1000/mo for 36 mo. I literally laughed at him. Fortunately I was in a good mood, though I did point out to the salesman that at those terms, I could wander over to the BMW dealership and drive off with an M3.
$1305 down (+1st months payment = $2K out of pocket), $695/mo lease 36mo/12K miles (out the door, all tax/title/fees - a little higher than I expected as I didn't think to realize the capital cost reduction of $7400 (lease incentive+cash down) was taxable (which added about $20/mo to my original target price). Residual value of $26117 at lease end (52%).
Doing the math at home, it's pretty close to the deal I was going in for:
$608/mo base (from Kia's website using the GT2 deal with the cargo mat/net, $1300 down, and 12k/miles per year).
+ use tax (7.75% sales tax) = $655/mo
+ sales tax on capitalized cost reduction (amortized) = $671/mo
+ license/other government fees (amortized) = $687/mo
So they managed to hide about $8/mo in markup in there somewhere, but all in all, I'm pretty happy with the deal.
To put that in perspective, the first offer they gave me had my lease terms at just over $1000/mo for 36 mo. I literally laughed at him. Fortunately I was in a good mood, though I did point out to the salesman that at those terms, I could wander over to the BMW dealership and drive off with an M3.
- Member ID
- #280
- Messages
- 4
- Likes
- 2
- State
- CA
- Country
- United States
- What I Drive
- 2018 Kia Stinger GT2
Red with black interior. As far as I can tell, at least in Southern California, that's the only color combo being delivered in the initial shipment of GT2s. I'm fine with it though, since the red looks great on this car and the only other color I was really considering was the blue (which also looks great, they had a base GT in the blue color).
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