1 Week, 1 Month, 1 Year

[JusticeMKII]

My thoughts of my USED 2019 Stinger GT RWD 3.3L @ 70K miles.

[Edit: added RWD]

I actually meant to post this a little bit ago, but it's initially late due to life getting in the way. I will update this post as I hit the appropriate milestones. As I write this I'm actually starting in week 3, but it's all still relevant.

1 Week:
This car, even at 70k miles (As far as I can tell it was taken good care of, maybe better than the average car) is amazing. You need to be observant of what you are doing at all times, because it is too easy and too much fun to get up past the speed limits, which in turn drains the fuel tank too fast. Being a used car at 70K miles there are the usual acceptances to contend with like worn materials and surface spots in the interior, nicks and chips in all parts of the car, shopping cart dings, dusty/dirty parts of the car that are hidden until you open doors and crawl under the car. On my car, these were expected but I was pleased that there was less than what I expecting.

Now I did make a mistake in my plans on buying this car. I had found not one, but two used stingers at the same dealership. There was a 2019 and a 2021. I test drove the 2021, but bought the 2019. I should have driven the 2019 because I had found a problem too late after signing all the papers and drove off. I'll touch on that later down the line. So now I will touch on what I like and dislike comparing to the Focus ST I traded in.

Likes: The styling. It is a beautiful car. I loved the looks of the ST, but I always felt it needed to be a few inches shorter in body height. I'm not talking about lowering the ST, as I already felt every rock and crack in the road with the ST's suspension. Design-wise I just wished the ST was shorter. The Stinger is a very good height at stock. I'm enjoying the smoother ride very much. I'm getting older and my knees hurt a lot more now, so the 8 SPD auto in this car makes longer drives more enjoyable. The manual 6-SPD in the ST would make my leg hurt from time to time. The fit and finish is good overall. There a few things that are on the cheaper side, but overall it's still good.

Dislikes: I'm comparing these things to my previous car obviously, but this is still just my opinion. The sound system is meh. The ST has a better sound system, but it has a separate bass kicker in the back that the Stinger lacks. The front seats are nice and cushioned, but I'm spoiled with the ST's Recaro seats. The side bolsters just suck in the Stinger. I feel like I'm sliding side to side in the seats during corners.

Other than these things, I do have an issue with the car slowing down sporadically/randomly. It feels similar to the automatic reduction in speed that adaptive cruise control does. This car does not have adaptive cruise control. I spent time testing in various conditions and made a list of my observations:

• The slow down effect is at random intervals, and for a random amount of time each time it happens.
• The slow down is 100% repeatable. I have not taken a drive where it has not happened.
• When braking lightly and moderately, without applying additional force to the brake pedal, the car will (randomly) slow down additionally as if the pedal was pressed further.
• When coasting, noticeable @ 30mph or less, the car will randomly slow down as if the pedal was pressed lightly.
• There is no pulsing through the brake pedal.
• There is no vibrations through the car.
• There is no pull on the steering wheel. (Car is aligned)
• The car does not shift to either side when brakes are applied.
• There is no squealing/scraping noises from the wheels.
• Brake Pads are new, but the dealership put them on without new rotors or resurfacing the rotors.
• Rotors are smooth and mirror like. No grooves.
• After 5 consecutive high speed hard stops, all brake rotors and calipers were heated evenly. (Average 187°F with a variance no greater than 5°F)
• There is no cyclic pattern to the slow down.
• The slow downs happen with AC off.
• The slow downs happen in all driving modes.
• The slow downs happen with Coasting setting enabled or disabled.
• Additionally this issue happens while in cruise. Driving at 75 with cruise on, you can feel the car slow a little (Like being adaptive or having wind drag, but not so noticeable) then the cruise accelerates the car back up to the set speed. You can watch the fuel efficiency gauge bouncing a lot more than it should.

All of this has led me to think the issue is possibly one or more of these:
Vacuum Pump is malfunctioning
Transmission clutches are slipping (But it should throw a CEL if it was detecting that)
There is enough brake dust debris in the parking brake drum that it's causing clearances issues
The rotors need replaced/resurfaced.


1 Month: (Due for update on 9/19/2023)

1 Year: (Due for update on 8/19/2024)

 

[vipeboy2000]

I've never noticed a slow down while using cruise control ( there is another thing that lots of kia's have where the cruise kind of "pulses" and it's not very smooth aka, feels like someone is lightly stabbing the gas and letting off constantly)

The slow down while coasting at slower speeds, and while braking lightly is common if you search, i've noticed it has a more aggressive than usual engine braking programing in the transmission where under specific circumstances it almost feels like you hit the brakes harder as you are slowing down. Our old bmw's did it in sport mode but not in normal mode..
On the stinger, It should be most prominent in sport mode but it occurs in all the modes .

I have read where some have taken the car in and gotten the transmission "memory" reset and it solves the harsh /early downshifts while slowing down. It's not bad for me and i've gotten used to it so i don't even think about it.

However, if the car is actually slowing down while driving with a steady pressure on the gas pedal, that's a new one for me...

 

[G70LEbyAdoom]

SO here is one for you? Do you happen to notice the slow down happening while you are turning? Because the AWD stingers have torque vectoring and will slow the car down automatically while using cruise control when going around corners.

 

[JusticeMKII]

SO here is one for you? Do you happen to notice the slow down happening while you are turning? Because the AWD stingers have torque vectoring and will slow the car down automatically while using cruise control when going around corners.

No, mine is RWD.

 

[JusticeMKII]

I've never noticed a slow down while using cruise control ( there is another thing that lots of kia's have where the cruise kind of "pulses" and it's not very smooth aka, feels like someone is lightly stabbing the gas and letting off constantly)

The slow down while coasting at slower speeds, and while braking lightly is common if you search, i've noticed it has a more aggressive than usual engine braking programing in the transmission where under specific circumstances it almost feels like you hit the brakes harder as you are slowing down. Our old bmw's did it in sport mode but not in normal mode..
On the stinger, It should be most prominent in sport mode but it occurs in all the modes .

I have read where some have taken the car in and gotten the transmission "memory" reset and it solves the harsh /early downshifts while slowing down. It's not bad for me and i've gotten used to it so i don't even think about it.

However, if the car is actually slowing down while driving with a steady pressure on the gas pedal, that's a new one for me...

The issue happens in all drive modes, with none of them being greater or lesser from another in the occurrences. If you have ever encountered a high wind situation where driving by in to the wind slows you down, just a little and in surges, is how this feels regardless of speed or direction. It happens while turning, or going straight.

My suspicions do make me feel that issue has something to do with the transmission. I have an appointment to bring the car in to the dealer, so hopefully they'll be able to figure it out.

 

[JusticeMKII]

So, I believe I was able to figure out what's causing the random slowdown issue, and it's the transmission. I've been into performance and muscle cars since I was a kid. I've had both automatic and manual cars. The stinger is the first 8 Spd automatic I've ever had. All the previous AT cars I've had operated normally when cruising and coasting. Essentially it gets up to the top gear and doesn't downshift until I accelerate fast enough to overcome the load resistance of the current speed, or of course I stop. My stinger on the other hand appears to be automatically downshifting as my speed decreases, and is keeping me in the optimal gear for the powerband. That's something I would do manually driving a stick. I never expected my AT to do this. To verify this, I pulled the shift selector to the manual mode whenever I immediately felt the slow down, and sure enough I was in a lower gear every time.

So now I am confident this is what's happening. But I don't know if this is by design or not. I can see that while cruising with cruise control on at above 60mph, a small amount of resistance may be causing the car to down shift 8 to 7, then quickly back up to 8. This may be the "pulsation" in throttle I'm experiencing.

 

[bfglitch]

I kind of figured this was exactly what was causing your "random slowdown issue". Being an 8 speed auto it's going to shift more often, especially at higher speeds. It seems like between 30/40-60 (mph) or so it will shift quite a bit depending on how much you hit the gas or coast.

Also drive mode does have some slight effect as in eco mode it will go into a higher gear sooner but because of that it seems like it will have to downshift more often to make up when the power is needed. In sport it'll purposely stay in a lower gear to provide the power needed the moment you hit the gas. Also drive mode changes the throttle curve. Eco tends to provide less "gas" in the first bit of travel compared to sport. Just as an example the first 20% of throttle in eco provides more like 5% where as sport gives the full 20%...not exact as I really don't know the mapping, but that's why they have stuff like pedal tuners so you can change that.

 

[JusticeMKII]

1 Month ownership reflection:

As with any used car it can take time to find out things that may have been damaged or abused on it. Sometimes it's not easy to identify a problem or multiple problems that can show the same symptoms and can fool you down one path of problem solving when it's something completely else. So, with the specific issue I listed previously I finally figured out the issue is not really an issue after all. I'm both a little surprised and not surprised with having a car with an AT that downshifts based on speed to keep the car in its optimal powerband. All my previous cars that were AT never did this, so this was something I never took into account when troubleshooting. I would like to find some local Stinger owners here in AZ and compare, just to see if mine is the norm or a little harsher/aggressive.

I have noticed some bodywork issues. Something has happened to the underside of the driver front corner of the car. I can see the cover hanging down a little when it shouldn't be. I'm hoping it's just a missing/broken panel button/clip. When I get out of the car and my leg presses against the side skirt it moves a lot than it should instead of flexing. Again, hoping its just missing/broken button/clips. One of my roof molding strips is loose and wiggles a bit. I think a clip is broken, and because it's loose the paint on the strip is cracked (and oxidizing). Easy fix. I've got a few dings in the from doors, shopping carts, etc. There's some very small nicks in the center console. A tiny gouge in the leather on the steering wheel I can feel, but can't see normally. All of this is expected for buying a used car with 70K miles on it.

The brakes feel a little mushy at times. I know the dealer slapped on new pads but didn't resurface the rotors. I am planning on upgrading the rotors and pads in the future. Any advice on those would be appreciated. And speaking of upgrades, I do have a spreadsheet full of planned things. Performance first, then cosmetic after. Well, mostly cosmetic after... There's a few cosmetics I'll do soon.

My average gas mileage is not as good as I'd hoped. This is my fault as I am still flooring it too often, plus I don't have a lot of highway in my daily drives. 18-20 is still decent. I'm trying to not compare to my Focus ST as much because they are too different. Some things that were standard on the ST, are not on this car. Stiffer suspension was stock, Recaro seats as well. Better stock sound system.

But the Stinger is still a fantastic car and I've seen enough videos on how to perform a lot of the upgrades myself. I feel like Kia engineered the car with the aftermarket in mind, as to make things practically modular in that respect. I love this car a little more each day.

 

[Snicklefritz]

I feel like Kia engineered the car with the aftermarket in mind, as to make things practically modular in that respect.

your right about that. when kia unveiled the production stinger at the sema 2017 show, they entered a fed orange and enhanced blue with 20" wheels, carbon fiber, alcantara, and aftermarket front lips, side skirts diffusers and exhaust tips, etc. in the stinger promo book they approached 'personalizing' your stinger with these already off the shelf aftermarket parts featured in the two show cars.

 

[bfglitch]

The brakes feel a little mushy at times. I know the dealer slapped on new pads but didn't resurface the rotors. I am planning on upgrading the rotors and pads in the future. Any advice on those would be appreciated

Mushy brake is probably either air in the fluid or just old fluid. At 70k miles (if still the original fluid) it would probably be a good idea to flush the old fluid and put new in. As for pad/rotor recommendations, there are loads of threads on here with that info. Rotor wise for the most part the consensus is the OEM rotors are actually pretty good but the pads are crap. If you want flashy you can always go slotted and/or drilled but it's really more for looks.

Pads wise you're pretty much better off with anything that isn't OEM.

As for the shifting, most people get a bit annoyed with the 3 to 2, and 2 to 1 downshift as it can be pretty harsh, especially when cold. Many have gone through a reset procedure and it clears it up for a while until it eventually starts doing it again.

And yeah, this car is definitely thirsty if you aren't easy on the pedal. But as most people say, it's more about smiles per gallon.

 

[JusticeMKII]

Many have gone through a reset procedure and it clears it up for a while until it eventually starts doing it again.

Is this something I can do, or do I have to take it to the dealer to perform?

 

[bfglitch]

Is this something I can do, or do I have to take it to the dealer to perform?

The dealer can do it, otherwise I believe you would have to purchase scan tool or another diagnostic tool that will allow you to reset the TCM/TCU/Transmission adaptive values.

Some info in here The hard downshifts in sport mode and here as well Hard downshift transmission

Probably a couple of other threads to.

 

[vipeboy2000]

Is this something I can do, or do I have to take it to the dealer to perform?

tool/dealer... a battery disconnect does not reset these values apparently.

Also, it gets thirsty in sport/city/stop and go / mountain roads... on long road trips though can be quite good, we average 29-31mpg on our 600 mile round trip from nashville to asheville consistently following traffic speeds and not hypermiling on our 2020 GT AWD .

 

[JusticeMKII]

your right about that. when kia unveiled the production stinger at the sema 2017 show, they entered a fed orange and enhanced blue with 20" wheels, carbon fiber, alcantara, and aftermarket front lips, side skirts diffusers and exhaust tips, etc. in the stinger promo book they approached 'personalizing' your stinger with these already off the shelf aftermarket parts featured in the two show cars.

I think they should have named the car the Scorpion, and later called the special option package the Stinger package, But that's just my 2¢.

 

[Snicklefritz]

I think they should have named the car the Scorpion, and later called the special option package the Stinger package, But that's just my 2¢.

I bet 'they' had designer room brainstorm sessions over what to name the car. stinger won out because they knew that kia was 'stinging' the competition by ten to twenty thousands of dollars in price point msrp. 'scorpion edition' got its special edition anyway which is cool.

 

[JusticeMKII]

I bet 'they' had designer room brainstorm sessions over what to name the car. stinger won out because they knew that kia was 'stinging' the competition by ten to twenty thousands of dollars in price point msrp. 'scorpion edition' got its special edition anyway which is cool.

Yeah no doubt. Stinger is a good model name, I'm not arguing that. I just commented on what would have sounded to better to me.