KIA - Would you buy one?

[smoo]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

We went from this period of like 1995-2010 where small cars were all bull**** with puny engines and 50-80KW, then 2010-2020 happened where suddenly turbos made a resurgence now it seems 2020-2030 we're going back to that bull**** 50-80kw naturally aspirated era again.

What about the hot hatch segment around 20 years ago with 120 to 140 kw. Holden Astra SRi, Focus ST170, Clio RS and 206 GTi. Polo GTi with the 1.8 turbo.
Then mid 2000s was stepped up a notch with turbos MK5 Golf, Megane RS, Focus ST, BMW 130i 135i.
Now what do we have. Makers dropping these in favour of cross over or car based SUV… hasn’t VW stated this Golf is the last. Wonder if their EV tech is gonna be as troublesome as their ICE abominations.

[MITCHAY]

I was doing my once in a blue moon browse of Carsales and WTF the new Stinger GTs are in the $70-$80k some closer to $90k range now!

Last I looked they were in the mid to upper $60k

[Big_Daz]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

I was doing my once in a blue moon browse of Carsales and WTF the new Stinger GTs are in the $70-$80k some closer to $90k range now!

Last I looked they were in the mid to upper $60k

I was catching up with the bloke to sold me our Sorento when I was waiting for it to be serviced and he was talking up the Stingers and showed me an Orange on they had as a demo. Was on Coilovers, aftermarket 20's (looked great actually) and had an aftermarket intake. For sale for.. wait for it.. $95k D/a.. for a demo.. I literally laughed in his face...

[MITCHAY]

Holy **** just saw the stupid numbers they are asking for Chrysler 300s and the GT would be as good if not whip it. Market has gone crazy

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

Holy **** just saw the stupid numbers they are asking for Chrysler 300s and the GT would be as good if not whip it. Market has gone crazy

The cheapest part about the Chrysler 300 SRT is the ridiculous buy price - wait until you have to start fixing it

[MITCHAY]

To give some context, my WRX is going on 20 years old and I want a new car considering mine is approaching 250k and paying a bit more than you like in servicing even though it has been very reliable. Plus it's not very well suited as a daily drive these days.

I've been looking for a V8 but then I'm thinking why the **** pay that sort of money for at best a 5 or 6 year old car when I could buy a brand new Stinger GT.

With prices like this I'll keep the WRX going I think. That clutch replacement doesn't look so bad anymore

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by kevino

The key is it’s light weight.
And
There is a school of thought that the kw and torque are understated.
And it’s got radar cruise control.
I knew I would get you to bite.

What about the Abarth 595 … yes it’s too expensive.

Even if its circa 200kg lighter than its competitors, having a boat anchor under the hood and being way off the ball park on figures is like being Chris Hemsworth with no cock - might as well as enjoy pizza, pasta, pavlova and Peroni if thats the case.

As far as Italian cars go, I'm saving that card for my midlife crisis

[fairmont1998]

6 months into owning my Stinger GT. Buying it was the best decision

[hackney]

The only KIA I would consider is the EV6.This is personal choice only, & no reflection on the brand as a whole.

Was originally a July delivery but now i am expecting her in March

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by TrVrPhiLpsiNdstrys

Was originally a July delivery but now i am expecting her in March



image

Good on you for choosing the red interior!

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Good on you for choosing the red interior!

Had to get the GT to be able to option the napa red leather...

I was after the 330s like the coppers use as they are 120kg lighter *sigh*

I have already bought the parts to swap out, i qouted what the package will be making in my signature but thought that was jumping the gun a bit haha...

So much info out there when you know who to believe and communicate with.

[Franco Cozzo]

Joe is Kia's US brand ambassador

Saw a Mustang get traded in for a Carnival today...

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by TrVrPhiLpsiNdstrys

Saw a Mustang get traded in for a Carnival today...

[T3rminator]

A mate of mine got the Cerato GT. Previously owned V8s. He can't stop banging on about the Cerato..... must be half decent?

Seeing quite a few on the streets.

[Late braker]

Originally Posted by TrVrPhiLpsiNdstrys

Saw a Mustang get traded in for a Carnival today...

That’s sad right there.

It is decent once you swap out the trans mount to eliminate the violent axle tramp, makes decent boost once you delete anything that may slow the exh gases down after the turbo as well.


You must run a catch can with these GDI engines but...

A fair bit of coin has been spent underneath the car between the first and last pic 3yr's on, no issues whatsoever.

I Highly recommend










Wifey hasn't even noticed that i debadged it yet

Not as sad as seeing a 2014 grey ML63 that a customer got offered $25k and he took it.

If i still had cash in the bank i would have bought it off him right there and then.

He ordered an EV6 GT

[Bossxr8]

https://www.drive.com.au/news/offici...-stinger-dead/

Stinger production to end at the close of 2023. Just didn't sell anywhere near it's expectations, especially in the USA.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

https://www.drive.com.au/news/offici...-stinger-dead/

Stinger production to end at the close of 2023. Just didn't sell anywhere near it's expectations, especially in the USA.

This is sad news for anyone who enjoys a RWD sedan.

The reality is, Kia just didn't hit the mark with the car and sadly the market for sedans is simply dead. I actually liked the styling, but many didn't. The V6 was pretty bland in the way it sounded, even with the Australia-only exhaust upgrade.

A good car, just not good enough for enough buyers.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

This is sad news for anyone who enjoys a RWD sedan.

The reality is, Kia just didn't hit the mark with the car and sadly the market for sedans is simply dead. I actually liked the styling, but many didn't. The V6 was pretty bland in the way it sounded, even with the Australia-only exhaust upgrade.

A good car, just not good enough for enough buyers.

And even recently I've had people have a crack at me for saying the medium/large sedan market is dead.

Outside Camry, and a lesser extent C Class (which globally is being outsold by GLC SUV) then the choices are either very limited, or selling in tiny numbers. The SUV's have won the battles, and will eventually win the war outright. There are very few sedans left now, and of the ones that do remain, most of them won't be replaced in future or are already being killed off.

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

This is sad news for anyone who enjoys a RWD sedan.

The reality is, Kia just didn't hit the mark with the car and sadly the market for sedans is simply dead. I actually liked the styling, but many didn't. The V6 was pretty bland in the way it sounded, even with the Australia-only exhaust upgrade.

A good car, just not good enough for enough buyers.

I don't think Kia actually did anything wrong with the Stinger it looked to tick all the boxes.
Maybe if they just called it Stinger and dropped the badge, public perception is a hard thing to shake.

Also I think a lot of buyers bought from habit especially Camry buyers.

Even former Falcodore owners wouldn't buy a Camry let alone a Kia.
So they changed to a twin cab or SUV instead

[Big_Daz]

Originally Posted by Vesper Martini

I don't think Kia actually did anything wrong with the Stinger it looked to tick all the boxes.
Maybe if they just called it Stinger and dropped the badge, public perception is a hard thing to shake.

Also I think a lot of buyers bought from habit especially Camry buyers.

Even former Falcodore owners wouldn't buy a Camry let alone a Kia.
So they changed to a twin cab or SUV instead

As a Current (and previous) falcadore owner, I did seriously look at Stinger when it was first released here. I crossed shopped it with FGX XR8 and VF2 SSV Redline in fact... Did I buy it? No, but not because it had a Kia badge (I didn't buy it because it was more Calais V/G6ET than SS/XR8.. Which is fine but not what I was looking for).

I don't think its the badge in general, it has a good reputation these days and make brilliant cars that sell well as can be seen by its position on the YTD sales. The problem is that its not a badge anyone relates with performance vehicles, combine that with a segment that has declined hugely to the point where only camry sells even half decently, and even then because of Fleet/Taxi/ride share sales it was always going to be a tough ask. Kudos to Kia for giving the large performance RWD thing a go, had they of done is 10 years earlier things may of been different....

[Cashie]

Originally Posted by Big_Daz

I don't think it’s the badge in general, it has a good reputation these days and make brilliant cars that sell well as can be seen by its position on the YTD sales. The problem is that its not a badge anyone relates with performance vehicles, combine that with a segment that has declined hugely to the point where only camry sells even half decently, and even then because of Fleet/Taxi/ride share sales it was always going to be a tough ask. Kudos to Kia for giving the large performance RWD thing a go, had they of done is 10 years earlier things may of been different....

I definitely think it’s the badge, whilst I owned mine people’s reaction to me (a perceived car nut) owning a Kia was of shock. Then they would be totally shocked and amazed when they would see and experience the car, would almost universally say “I can’t bekeive it’s a Kia”. People still think Kia are cheap cars.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Vesper Martini

I don't think Kia actually did anything wrong with the Stinger it looked to tick all the boxes.
Maybe if they just called it Stinger and dropped the badge, public perception is a hard thing to shake.

Also I think a lot of buyers bought from habit especially Camry buyers.

Even former Falcodore owners wouldn't buy a Camry let alone a Kia.
So they changed to a twin cab or SUV instead

Id most certainly buy a Stinger over a camry. Although if Toyota bought out a hot RWD Turbo 6/V8 Camry that might change, but i wouldnt think they would ever do that.

I think the Kia reputation is much better than it was in years gone by.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Vesper Martini

I don't think Kia actually did anything wrong with the Stinger it looked to tick all the boxes.
Maybe if they just called it Stinger and dropped the badge, public perception is a hard thing to shake.

Also I think a lot of buyers bought from habit especially Camry buyers.

Even former Falcodore owners wouldn't buy a Camry let alone a Kia.
So they changed to a twin cab or SUV instead

Yes and no in my opinion.

First off, I want to say that I actually liked the Stinger, in both concept and styling. Kia was and should still be applauded for giving this car a go, launching a medium-large sedan at a time when almost every other car company was abandoning the segment. Not only that, making it RWD with powerful engines. The styling did polarize a touch, but at least they had a go at making something other than another Audi A6 or BMW 5-Series.

There are a couple of key areas where Kia missed the mark with the Stinger, some particular to the Australian market.

-At the time, Kia thought they were in the box seat with the Stinger. It arrived literally the month Holden and Toyota closed their factories. Kia thought they would scoop up Falcon and Commodore buyers with the Stinger.

-The reality was, a lot of those Falcon and Commodore buyers were not in the market for a new car, most having waited until the final year/s of production to get a last of the line. A lot of those buyers were also only buying sedan because of the history and sentimentality of the Aussie made cars. Fleet buyers were not going to get the sort of slash and burn pricing from Kia that Ford and Holden offered in an attempt to keep metal moving.

-I know this is a cliche, but it didn't have a V8. While many people bought turbo six-cylinder Falcon's, that had a character all of its own and had a lot of legacy to fall back on. This in turn also relates to the Kia badge, at the time paying $60,000+ for Kia was not a common thing.

-At launch, the car lacked finesse. Handling was almost there but lacking the finer control and feedback of the VF Commodore. The engines were not pleasant to listen too, something that V8 Falcon's and Commodores for the same price aced, even the Turbo Barra had a more refined note. Some interior plastics were chintzy for the price. All of this would have been stuff that would have been refined with model updates and generation changes, but clearly the sales worldwide did not warrant effort.

The Stinger failed for a variety of reasons, some of it Kia's fault and some of it a buyer sentiment fault.

Very sad but maybe a god send in a few years who knows eh ?

A very true statement ... but unfortunately those whom have actually driven it, either bought one or couldn't afford to buy one...