My new Kia...

[Shahpor]

Hi all,

Apologies for the lack of Lexus content, but some time ago now I agreed to update you on the progress of my new car.

As some of you know, I sold my GS450h in Sept last year in anticipation of its arrival.  Somewhat delayed longer than I hoped, I finally picked it up yesterday.

So, here it is, my new Kia Stinger:

 

Only driven about 200 miles, and since it is still breaking in the engine I haven't had a chance to go above 3000rpm so far, but it is certainly different to my GS! 🙂

Whether it is 'better' is yet to be seen..

 

[royoftherovers]

Glad for you old pal.

Did they give you a full tank of fuel and what have they been like to deal with ?

Looking forward to more pearls of wisdom from you.

[DF-300 Sport]

9 minutes ago, Shahpor said:

Hi all,

Apologies for the lack of Lexus content, but some time ago now I agreed to update you on the progress of my new car.

As some of you know, I sold my GS450h in Sept last year in anticipation of its arrival.  Somewhat delayed longer than I hoped, I finally picked it up yesterday.

So, here it is, my new Kia Stinger:

 

Only driven about 200 miles, and since it is still breaking in the engine I haven't had a chance to go above 3000rpm so far, but it is certainly different to my GS! 🙂

Whether it is 'better' is yet to be seen..

 

Awesome car, beautiful colour and some really nice high-end touches for a very reasonable price.....Fuel consumption not so good, but wish you many years of warranty-backed, fun and compliments from admirers😎👍

[Shahpor]

4 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

Glad for you old pal.

Did they give you a full tank of fuel and what have they been like to deal with ?

Looking forward to more pearls of wisdom from you.

Thanks John.

Not only did they give me a full tank of fuel, they allowed me to drive it to the fuel station even though it still had all its plastic, stickers and foam on!  As the sales manager put it 'I didn't want anyone else driving the car before you' 🙂

The Sales team, especially the sales manager, have been brilliant.  Even though the ongoing delays weren't their fault, they did their best to make it easy for me.  In fact, when I told them that I had already sold my Lexus since I was expecting my new car last year, they agreed to sell me a Cee'd they had in stock and to buy it back when my car arrived at exactly the same value!  So, in essence, they lent me a car for 6 months.

A couple of issues with the car to sort out yet, so we will see how their service department do, but so far so good.

And no plans to leave this forum anytime soon even though I have defected 🙂

[Shahpor]

10 minutes ago, DF-300 Sport said:

Awesome car, beautiful colour and some really nice high-end touches for a very reasonable price.....Fuel consumption not so good, but wish you many years of warranty-backed, fun and compliments from admirers😎👍

Thank you.

Yep, exceptional value for money considering what you get.

As you say, fuel consumption aside 🙂  So far I am managed 25mpg, but that is mostly A roads, so I am expecting 15 - 20mpg on my town commute.

Oh, and it took all of 15 minutes and my first stop from picking it up for the first random stranger to come up and talk to me about it 🙂

Fun is certainly part of the plan but I will admit that the 7 year warranty is what sold it for me, even though I doubt I will keep it that long.

[Mr Vlad]

Beautiful car Shahpor and I'm slightly jealous. I'd have the stinger as its a superb fast family car. Love the colour. Get some ZX1 in her and you can shorten the run in period which nowadays is a thing of the past. What's the sound system like compared to the GS450h?

[royoftherovers]

33 minutes ago, Shahpor said:

Thanks John.

Not only did they give me a full tank of fuel, they allowed me to drive it to the fuel station even though it still had all its plastic, stickers and foam on!  As the sales manager put it 'I didn't want anyone else driving the car before you' 🙂

The Sales team, especially the sales manager, have been brilliant.  Even though the ongoing delays weren't their fault, they did their best to make it easy for me.  In fact, when I told them that I had already sold my Lexus since I was expecting my new car last year, they agreed to sell me a Cee'd they had in stock and to buy it back when my car arrived at exactly the same value!  So, in essence, they lent me a car for 6 months.

A couple of issues with the car to sort out yet, so we will see how their service department do, but so far so good.

And no plans to leave this forum anytime soon even though I have defected 🙂

Onwards and upwards then mi amigo.

[royoftherovers]

31 minutes ago, Shahpor said:

Thank you.

Yep, exceptional value for money considering what you get.

As you say, fuel consumption aside 🙂  So far I am managed 25mpg, but that is mostly A roads, so I am expecting 15 - 20mpg on my town commute.

Oh, and it took all of 15 minutes and my first stop from picking it up for the first random stranger to come up and talk to me about it 🙂

Fun is certainly part of the plan but I will admit that the 7 year warranty is what sold it for me, even though I doubt I will keep it that long.

My brother had a Hyundai with a 5 year warranty and in the 5th year the gearbox packed up. No problem. They threw him the keys to a brand new Tucson and said keep it until yours is fixed. Service indeed. Lexus should be worried.Enjoy.

[Herbie]

Beautiful car Shahpor, enjoy!

[Vlady]

Shahpor it is a very nice car, congratulations! I love the colour!

Keep us updated how it goes. I am sure it is a different beast to GS.

I am surprised that the car does not have a digital dash board though.

Only if fuel was cheaper! huh! 🙂

Good luck!

P.S I am thinking of selling mine, want something cheaper to run and maintain. ES out of my budget for now and I was not really impressed by NX even though it is a very good looking car! My plan is to go away from Lexus for a few years.

[The-Acre]

A corker! Kia make amazing cars. And what a fab colour!

[Las Palmas]

Very nice car and extremely good service from the seller.

Wish Lexus here was that good. No courtesy car when they keep ours more than 24 hours for service due to not foreseen circumstance.

[Shahpor]

Thanks all.

@Mr Vlad It has a Harmon Kardon system as standard, so it sounds pretty good.  I am by no means an audiophile though, so can't say for sure which is better.

@royoftherovers Indeed, I have not heard of any issues with warranty work, which bodes well. Fingers crossed I don't need it!

@Herbie @The-Acre Thank you.  Glad I picked the blue in the end as it has a nice sparkle in the sun.  I was lucky that the demo car at my local dealer was in this colour, so I got to see it in person before deciding.  I think I made the right choice 🙂

@Las Palmas That is a shame.  I have to say that I got nothing but good service from Lexus Reading, so no complaints there and I do miss visiting the showroom.

@Vlady I will keep this thread updated when I have something to update it with! 🙂  Yes, I too am surprised by the lack of digital dash.  The only thing I can think of is that the original design of the interior was from 2017 so Kia didn't want to go to the expense of modifying it too much, which is a shame.  My brother picked up his Hyundai i20 N last month and his has a digital dash that looks very nice.  Sad to hear that you might be moving on from the GS.  Any idea what you might be going for next?

[RichGS11]

Lovely car. I looked into these but ended up staying in a Lexus.

Enjoy!

[Barry14UK]

What strides the Kia/Hyundai Group have made and now in the throes of establishing their Genesis arm to compete with more upmarket marques.  I remember a passing glance when I visited a motor show a long time ago and quickly moved on, considering  them more comparable with the Lada. That Stinger looks beautiful, particularly in the blue. Anybody wanting that sort of sports car and performance would surely be pleased to have it.

Enjoy!

[ganzoom]

13 hours ago, Shahpor said:

So far I am managed 25mpg, but that is mostly A roads, so I am expecting 15 - 20mpg on my town commute. 

Nice car, did you not get tempted by the EVs Kia offer? They certainly any any slower than the Stinger but cost no where near 38p/mile in fuel it looks like the commute is going to cost you.

[Rabbers]

I have read or heard somewhere that quite a few Germans who, despite looking down on the KIA brand, bought the Stinger when it first came out often re-badged it with customised emblems of their own choosing.  

[Shahpor]

@RichGS11 Thanks.  If Lexus offered something similar, I would have stuck with them as well I suspect.

@Barry14UK Indeed.  I was speak to my brother the other day who has acquired a new Hyundai i20N and we were commenting on the fact that neither us would have expected to end up in a Korean car 5 years ago.  I do really think that Hyundai/Kia have upped their game, perhaps not quite up to the German level, but getting very close.  Looking around yesterday, I couldn't believe how many Kia's I saw on the road.  How times have changed..🙂

@ganzoom Well, there was 2 reason for not considering the EV6:  First, it costs substantially more, and second, when I ordered my Stinger they were just being released so not much info was available.  Either way, I am not quite ready for the full EV route yet, so perhaps next time.

@Rabbers Yep, I am a member of the UK Stingers Facebook group and quite a few people on there replace the badging.  Mine has the newer style, but it never did bother me so I doubt I would have changed it regardless.  These 'E' badges are quite popular:

https://www.drive.com.au/news/kia-e-badge-explained-debuts-on-korean-stinger/

Oh, and up to 320 miles on the clock now, so getting there slowly 🙂

[Vlady]

On 6/2/2022 at 8:31 PM, Shahpor said:

Any idea what you might be going for next?

Skoda, I was thinking about Superb for a while now but a few days ago test drove Karoq, really liked it. 

I know people will thrown stones at me on this forum but I want something else and have a few friends who are happy with Skoda, maintenance, reliability etc.

 

 

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, Vlady said:

Skoda, I was thinking about Superb for a while now but a few days ago test drove Karoq, really liked it. 

I know people will thrown stones at me on this forum but I want something else and have a few friends who are happy with Skoda, maintenance, reliability etc.

 

 

You really must try out the latest DSG Autobox Vlady  as I understand that it can still hesitate when wanting to floor it when leaving a Roundabout. Something the GS simply does not do.

[Shahpor]

19 hours ago, Vlady said:

Skoda, I was thinking about Superb for a while now but a few days ago test drove Karoq, really liked it. 

I know people will thrown stones at me on this forum but I want something else and have a few friends who are happy with Skoda, maintenance, reliability etc.

 

 

Nothing wrong with Skoda - I would consider a Superb myself if I was in the market.

You will miss your GS thought when it is gone though! 🙂

Up to 400 miles now and still going strong.  Needs to go back as the USB port doesn't work properly, which is slightly annoying.  Hopefully their service department is as good as their sales team.

[Joe43]

What a cracking car you have especially in that blue gorgeous.

I considered a Stinger before buying my IS300h last year, test drove a couple of Lexus cars, always wanted a Lexus and thought I could live with one. Love the relaxed driving combined with power mode when needed for me it's the perfect combination.

I just wish they had an estate version or even a comparable hatchback, the small boot opening has forced me to ask favours too often for my liking. Not a fan of the SUV so am really interested how you enjoy the Stinger.

 

[Shahpor]

Thanks Paul.

Despite my new car, I would never say buying a Lexus is a bad idea, so hopefully you are enjoying your IS300h enough 🙂

You are echoing my thoughts as to the current model line up as I am also not a fan of SVU's, so there wasn't really a comparable choice for me to stay with Lexus, so here we are.  I see that the new RX has a 2.4 4 Cylinder turbo engine option now with roughly 370hp.  Put that into a rear or 4 wheel drive ES and I might consider that next.

Having said that, apart from the fuel consumption, I can't see any reason why I won't enjoy owning my Stinger, and I will certainly be keeping you guys informed on my progress.

[Shahpor]

Well, my first update is regarding the service department and the issue with my non-functional USB port.

Thankfully, I can say that it was overall a positive experience.

I went to the dealership on Monday for them to have a look at it whilst I waited.  About an hour later I was told that the USB port was indeed dead and wouldn't recognise any inputs and I would have to bring it back for them to investigate further as it will require dismantlement of the lower part of the dash.

Initially I was told the earliest I could have it done was the 20th if I wanted a loan car as that was the first date they had a service car available.  Since I did need a car, especially as they wanted mine for 2 days, I was about the resign myself to not having a USB port for a while, however, the aforementioned sales manager then stepped in and said I could borrow one of his demo cars.  It was then booked for Thursday morning for a Friday afternoon pickup.

However, after dropping it off on Thursday morning, I then got a call on Thursday afternoon saying it was ready and they had fixed the fault.  So I collected it and now have working USB music and Android Auto.

Can't really fault the service department as they did well in this instance.  The not so good part is that the fault turned out to be that the connecting cable wasn't plugged in properly at the factory.  Make of that what you will, but it doesn't speak well of their quality control.

in other news, the car now has over 600 miles on it and has managed roughly 25mpg doing it.  My daily commute is averaging 17mpg, so pretty much in line with what I was expecting.  I did take out some work colleagues today and my 'demo run' worked out at 9mpg 🙂

[B1RMA]

Hi found your thread, interesting cars, as I mentioned a chap at our local Pistonheads pub meet had one in a grey colour. It certainly got a lot of attention. Not surprised at the MPG but then anyone buying a performance vehicle is in no position to moan about fuel consumption. I'll keep up to date with your thread as it's always nice to hear about something that's not mainstream car wise.