Buying mom’s 2018 GT2, questions about fuel and other things to look out for

Lemony

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I’m currently in the process of buying my mom’s 2018 GT2. I helped pick out this car for her with my dad back when these cars first came out, and if i remember correctly it has nearly every option except a heated steering wheel and AWD. My mother is not really a car person but she likes nicer interiors and getting up to speed but doesn’t like getting luxury car brands (expensive oil changes and parts stigma). I currently don’t own a stinger (I intend on replacing my 2011 subaru forester) but i’ve driven this car a lot for her and taken care of it a couple times. I’ve visited this forum a number of times (mostly because of the GT break pad issues) but i decided on making an account finally and this is my first post. I’ve got some questions and was wondering if there are any things anyone would recommend or stuff I should watch out for. The car has just passed 50,000 miles so no more warranty for me when the title gets officially moved in my name

1. My mom has mostly been filling it with 87 octane, probably half of the time with 10% ethanol and the other half with 100% gas. After reading the manual, it says this is fine as long as every 6,000 miles fuel additive is added. she’s has the dealership do this every time she gets the oil changed, but I was wondering if there might be any other repercussions or things I should get checked.

2. The car has the typical vibrations from the break pads, I plan on just using them until they get to around 25% pad life, and then replacing the rotors and pads myself, any reason I should get this done earlier? the breaks are around 50% life currently.

3. She’s been driving the car when it needs an alignment for around 6-12 months, after me and my dad both telling her the whole time she needs to get it fixed. She’ finally getting it aligned with 4 new tires, but are there other items that might wear uneven that I should check for?

4. One of the panels near the rear hatch has some form of “cracked” texture to the paint. i’m not really sure what caused this besides it being a defect, but does anyone know how to fix/get a replacement and how much it’ll cost? sorry for the bad picture it’s the only one i have of it right now

Also, i’m not necessary looking at any large mods right now, I really just plan on tinting the front windows (the backs have the factory tint) and maybe swapping the kia logos for the korean K logos i’ve seen on some of them
 

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I’m currently in the process of buying my mom’s 2018 GT2. I helped pick out this car for her with my dad back when these cars first came out, and if i remember correctly it has nearly every option except a heated steering wheel and AWD. My mother is not really a car person but she likes nicer interiors and getting up to speed but doesn’t like getting luxury car brands (expensive oil changes and parts stigma). I currently don’t own a stinger (I intend on replacing my 2011 subaru forester) but i’ve driven this car a lot for her and taken care of it a couple times. I’ve visited this forum a number of times (mostly because of the GT break pad issues) but i decided on making an account finally and this is my first post. I’ve got some questions and was wondering if there are any things anyone would recommend or stuff I should watch out for. The car has just passed 50,000 miles so no more warranty for me when the title gets officially moved in my name

1. My mom has mostly been filling it with 87 octane, probably half of the time with 10% ethanol and the other half with 100% gas. After reading the manual, it says this is fine as long as every 6,000 miles fuel additive is added. she’s has the dealership do this every time she gets the oil changed, but I was wondering if there might be any other repercussions or things I should get checked.

2. The car has the typical vibrations from the break pads, I plan on just using them until they get to around 25% pad life, and then replacing the rotors and pads myself, any reason I should get this done earlier? the breaks are around 50% life currently.

3. She’s been driving the car when it needs an alignment for around 6-12 months, after me and my dad both telling her the whole time she needs to get it fixed. She’ finally getting it aligned with 4 new tires, but are there other items that might wear uneven that I should check for?

4. One of the panels near the rear hatch has some form of “cracked” texture to the paint. i’m not really sure what caused this besides it being a defect, but does anyone know how to fix/get a replacement and how much it’ll cost? sorry for the bad picture it’s the only one i have of it right now

Also, i’m not necessary looking at any large mods right now, I really just plan on tinting the front windows (the backs have the factory tint) and maybe swapping the kia logos for the korean K logos i’ve seen on some of them
Welcome aboard! And thank you for signing up. I'm glad you found us! I'm going to move this topic out of the community lounge and into the main Stinger forum as you've got a few Stinger-specific questions. As far as mods like emblems, check out the forum store for all sorts of interesting options. :)
 
Hey @Lemony,

If you are already planning on replacing the rotors, then I don't see a benefit to changing the brakes sooner in that aspect. When our shop car started getting the Brake-Shake, we replaced them with our pads immediately in case of any safety issues.

I am unsure of the mileage/age on the paint warranty, but I have heard of many owners getting that piece repainted under warranty. We wrapped ours when we first got it, so we haven't run into that issue yet.

Let me know if you need anything or have any questions. We do carry our K8SS Elite Sport Ceramic Pads as well as a few other brands of pads and rotors. We also carry all types of emblems on our website which I will link below.


 
the drip rails going all snake skinny is a known issue. our blue premium has that defect too, but it is much less noticeable than yours. so far, I haven't let it bother me, because it doesn't attract attention. if or when I do something about it, most likely I will strip them and spray them gloss black. others have wrapped theirs or had them sprayed in the factory color, or, had new ones installed. you probably don't need to replace rotors. if you can obtain much smoother braking by rebedding the existing pads, then you don't have hot spots or need to resurface the rotors, just get new aftermarket pads and be gentle while they seat evenly.
 
Welcome!

My $0.02:
...

1. My mom has mostly been filling it with 87 octane, probably half of the time with 10% ethanol and the other half with 100% gas. After reading the manual, it says this is fine as long as every 6,000 miles fuel additive is added. she’s has the dealership do this every time she gets the oil changed, but I was wondering if there might be any other repercussions or things I should get checked.
I don't think there are repercussions, er se. However, using the less expensive gas may not be the cost savings you realize. See below:
~~~
I did some napkin math on this. Unfortunately there are a lot of variables so I'm using my local costs and personal experience. YMMV:

Using the costs of regular 87 ($4.77/gallon) and premium 92 ($5.21/gallon), for fuel economy alone (92 is premium here):

Using 92 octane for highway I can get 29mpg reliably. That at $5.21/gal is about $0.0113 per mile. Anything 26.5 or less mpg for the cost of 87 octane ($4.77/gal) is losing money over premium.

Commuting I can get 18mpg reliably on 92 octane. At $5.21/gal that is about $0.0182 per mile. Anything less than 16.5 mpg for the cost of 87 octane is losing money over premium.

Do with that information what you will.

Personally though, I would use the recommended 91 octane or better. You never know when you will want to, or need to, open her up. The last thing I'd want to do is be overtaking on a 2 lane rural highway, and the jackwagon you're passing decides to be a douche-nozzle and accelerate, only for it to bog down because you're using 87.
~~~

Personally, I'd start using 91+ octane fuel.

2. The car has the typical vibrations from the break pads, I plan on just using them until they get to around 25% pad life, and then replacing the rotors and pads myself, any reason I should get this done earlier? the breaks are around 50% life currently.
The quick fix is to rebed the pads. That should help remove the deposits. You'll get them back again but it'll stop the vibration
3. She’s been driving the car when it needs an alignment for around 6-12 months, after me and my dad both telling her the whole time she needs to get it fixed. She’ finally getting it aligned with 4 new tires, but are there other items that might wear uneven that I should check for?
I don't think so, but I'd either visually inspect it myself or have a trusted shop inspect it.
4. One of the panels near the rear hatch has some form of “cracked” texture to the paint. i’m not really sure what caused this besides it being a defect, but does anyone know how to fix/get a replacement and how much it’ll cost? sorry for the bad picture it’s the only one i have of it right now
I'll let other handle the paint question.
Also, i’m not necessary looking at any large mods right now, I really just plan on tinting the front windows (the backs have the factory tint) and maybe swapping the kia logos for the korean K logos i’ve seen on some of them
Everyone here raves about doing sway bars as a 1st mod. I haven't done them yet, but I want to. If there was one simple mod I'd recommend, it's if you're doing your own oil changes to install a Fumoto valve. It makes oil changes easier and less messy.

Good luck!
 
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