A bit of this intro in italics is repeated from my Tesla thread so bear with me if you chimed in there.
My wife and I are both turning 47 this month. She's been driving various kid haulers (we have 4 kids) for most of our 23 years of marriage, but now with 2 kids gone and a third leaving soon the time has come to dump the minivan. We've had a Honda minivan since 2003, that's 16 years. My thing has always been when the time comes she picks whatever she wants up to the price of $50k. So we've been casually looking at a few vehicles over the last year or so with plans to buy in the next year or two. We kinda figured we'd get an SUV or sedan...Mazda CX-9 or CX-5 were high on the list, Accord sport 2.0 or Acura RDX were all possibilities. Maybe even a Ford Explorer. Any of those fully loaded gets up around $40-45k.
I don't care about Tesla or Elon Musk or the cool points that do or don't come with that, but the appeal of an EV got my interest, but for only a few days. While I think an EV is the way to go for an around town appliance car (for many reasons - that's another discussion), ultimately we want something we can use for long trips so the EV is out due to charging issues. Beyond that I did some pretty extensive research into Tesla and while I respect the Model 3 there are too many things that made it lose my interest pretty quickly.
However the Kia Stinger has been on my radar as well. On a whim I did some quick research last evening and spontaneously went to a dealer this morning for a test drive.
Cliffs notes on my research - Kia Stinger (in V6 form) is a bargain luxury performance car that outperforms many more expensive rivals, is packed with tons of standard equipment, has the best warranty around, looks amazing. There are some suspension flaws if it's driven to the extreme on the track but for daily driving they are quite nice. It's kind of comical but the main "drawback" everyone cites is "would you spend that money on a Kia"? Also noted are some creaks and rattles, but that varies depending on who's doing the review.
Test drive - salesman was super chill, zero pressure, I was test driving it after only a few minutes, he didn't even look at my license. Afterward we didn't even sit down, he took my name and number on a post it note and shook my hand, that was it. Super impressed. The car in question is the GT2 RWD V6 for $50k. I'm gonna say, I was shocked. It's like the Fiesta ST of sports sedans. Relatively unknown, bargain for the money vs. the competition, insane performance. Interior is super nice and intuitive, lots of analog still going on in there in terms of dials and knobs, but very simply laid out. Seats are super comfortable; back seat is huge and hatchback is near SUV-sized. The car is quiet, has HUD, all the cameras, etc. Dang it looks nice in person too. Zero creaks and rattles, very quiet. Now guys my Fiesta is quick - 304whp and 337wtq - but the Stinger would kill it. I did a few conservative 10-60 accelerations and the car feels like it could climb a tree. Even without AWD (which is an option) there were zero traction issues. Super impressed - both is faster and also feels faster than my Fiesta. Overall I'm far more impressed that I thought I was...I have driven a ton of cars and this feels special. Even next to my friend's Audi S3, which is comparable in every way, this felt every bit if not more of a special car.
Side note, there is a GT2 RWD V6 with 10,001 miles on eBay right now for $35k. Actually I found two. WOW. If I buy one that is probably the way I'd go unless the dealer gave me a super deal on a new one.
Anyhow I'd love opinions if you've been researching the same or have experienced or owned a Stinger.
My wife and I are both turning 47 this month. She's been driving various kid haulers (we have 4 kids) for most of our 23 years of marriage, but now with 2 kids gone and a third leaving soon the time has come to dump the minivan. We've had a Honda minivan since 2003, that's 16 years. My thing has always been when the time comes she picks whatever she wants up to the price of $50k. So we've been casually looking at a few vehicles over the last year or so with plans to buy in the next year or two. We kinda figured we'd get an SUV or sedan...Mazda CX-9 or CX-5 were high on the list, Accord sport 2.0 or Acura RDX were all possibilities. Maybe even a Ford Explorer. Any of those fully loaded gets up around $40-45k.
I don't care about Tesla or Elon Musk or the cool points that do or don't come with that, but the appeal of an EV got my interest, but for only a few days. While I think an EV is the way to go for an around town appliance car (for many reasons - that's another discussion), ultimately we want something we can use for long trips so the EV is out due to charging issues. Beyond that I did some pretty extensive research into Tesla and while I respect the Model 3 there are too many things that made it lose my interest pretty quickly.
However the Kia Stinger has been on my radar as well. On a whim I did some quick research last evening and spontaneously went to a dealer this morning for a test drive.
Cliffs notes on my research - Kia Stinger (in V6 form) is a bargain luxury performance car that outperforms many more expensive rivals, is packed with tons of standard equipment, has the best warranty around, looks amazing. There are some suspension flaws if it's driven to the extreme on the track but for daily driving they are quite nice. It's kind of comical but the main "drawback" everyone cites is "would you spend that money on a Kia"? Also noted are some creaks and rattles, but that varies depending on who's doing the review.
Test drive - salesman was super chill, zero pressure, I was test driving it after only a few minutes, he didn't even look at my license. Afterward we didn't even sit down, he took my name and number on a post it note and shook my hand, that was it. Super impressed. The car in question is the GT2 RWD V6 for $50k. I'm gonna say, I was shocked. It's like the Fiesta ST of sports sedans. Relatively unknown, bargain for the money vs. the competition, insane performance. Interior is super nice and intuitive, lots of analog still going on in there in terms of dials and knobs, but very simply laid out. Seats are super comfortable; back seat is huge and hatchback is near SUV-sized. The car is quiet, has HUD, all the cameras, etc. Dang it looks nice in person too. Zero creaks and rattles, very quiet. Now guys my Fiesta is quick - 304whp and 337wtq - but the Stinger would kill it. I did a few conservative 10-60 accelerations and the car feels like it could climb a tree. Even without AWD (which is an option) there were zero traction issues. Super impressed - both is faster and also feels faster than my Fiesta. Overall I'm far more impressed that I thought I was...I have driven a ton of cars and this feels special. Even next to my friend's Audi S3, which is comparable in every way, this felt every bit if not more of a special car.
Side note, there is a GT2 RWD V6 with 10,001 miles on eBay right now for $35k. Actually I found two. WOW. If I buy one that is probably the way I'd go unless the dealer gave me a super deal on a new one.
Anyhow I'd love opinions if you've been researching the same or have experienced or owned a Stinger.
