farmerjones

Just saw the Stinger first hand at an auto show. Impressive car and impressive price. Loaded with features and certainly has a "look" many will enjoy. Does it have the fit/finish/material quality of the Audi? No.....and you save $25,000. Is the Audi $25,000 better? No. I can see how many people will be attracted to this car where the Audi was a big stretch for their budget.

I think one of the biggest differential will be dealer service experience...if you don't need free loaner cars during your oil change, fancy coffee, free details and enjoy conversations with executives of businesses in town while you drop off your car you will probably be satisfied with Kia. How much is this extra pampering worth to you? Are you willing to pay $25,000 for 10% softer seat leather or the VirtualCockpit with MMI? It think Kia will capture more Ford/Chevy owners than Audi, or maybe offer Honda/Toyota owners a lot more excitement than their current rides. Certain "brand snobs" will never accept the Kia...that's fine, Kia wasn't trying to earn your business anyways.

As far as quality of the Kia goes during ownership I would not be surprised if it is the equivalent of the Audi. Those who are so critical of Kia/Hyundai quality should seriously reconsider their perception of this brand. The changes made in even the last 5 years (let alone 10) are monumental. Lets give credit where credit is do. Audi certainly has their fair share of quality concerns (20,000 miles and 3 attempts and my Audi still has interior trim that breaks off as a "know issue" and can not be resolved).

And FYI, a TT in Dynamic mode is not a front wheel biased AWD system...it's a 50/50 split and totally changes your perspective of Haldex's ability

plat27265

I just watched another review of the Kia Stinger in Alex on Autos at Youtube. What he says about the target buyers of the Stinger makes sense. Kia is not out to sway brand-conscious car owners into buying the Stinger. Yes, it would be good if they were able to win these customers. However, the main target market of the Stinger are those who go for more substance and higher quality rather than brand name. Let's face it, Kia won't win in the brand name recognition category but the Stinger stands a chance of gaining a few customers due to what they have done with the Stinger and the higher reliability rating (Consumer Reports).

stan23

I don't see the $25,000 difference.

A top trim Stinger in the US is $52,000, and a comparable high trim S5 SB Prestige is $65,000.

farmerjones

The original $25K reference was in Canadian. US Dollars is a lesser amount but still a substantial difference (for some)....I guess that's the questions, how substantial, LOL?!?

NoMoreBMWs

The top trim Stinger is only $50,000 in Canada! A loaded Technik is $75,340.

stan23

I built up a comparable S5 SB on audi.ca, and it came to 70K.

With the Stinger, it came to 51K,

It seems Kia underprices the Stinger in CA vs. US. About a 10K difference.

Since you like Stinger, you should have gotten that. Seems like a lot of car for $40K.

stan23

I know that, but I was basically replying to your post since you are in the US and quoted the 25K difference.

I now realize that Kia sells the Stinger in Canada much cheaper than the US.

NoMoreBMWs

Generally we Canadians only know what the U.S. price is prior to a car hitting the ground - so I expected the loaded Stinger to be about $62,000. Factor in discounts and probably only about a $10,000 difference. Had I known it would be this cheap I might have tried to persuade the wife. Clearly Kia is being very aggressive with this car in Canada, at least at the introduction.

stan23

They are very aggressive in marketing. I noticed 2 malls I went to (one local here in the SF Bay Area, and one in Irvine, CA) that had stores with Stingers in 'em. Kinda like the Tesla design studios.

N8!

I never thought of Kia as a serious car until a guy I work with brought his '15 Optima over to Germany and that thing is nice. I rode with him on a business trip up to Wiesbaden from Stuttgart and we were cruising at 140 mph as much as we could on the autobahn. He said he has had it up to 160 mph. The ride was plush and the fuel efficiency on the car at normal speeds is great. The Sitnger looks like a great fit for the blingy/flashy US market and I think Kia will have great sales with it. I personally prefer the design language of the A5 SB vs the Kia Stinger, but not by a lot - and the PRICE is better on the Kia. That said, I'm sticking to the A5 SB (my first non-Toyota in 30 yrs).

After living in Germany for a few years, I've come to appreciate the "less is more" quite elegance of their design philosophy vs the US "shiny aggressively-angled thingy of the moment." Not everything needs to look cartoonishly aggressive - I was often reminded of that when I'd see a new Corvette or newish Camero on the Autobahn... they looked a bit cartoony and out of place amoungst the Audi/Porsche/Maybach/Mercedes cruising the same bit of asphalt.