How many of those are duplication? Complaints know no relief; speaking out is the only way to make it any better. Repeat as necessary!
On this forum alone (arguably the largest grouping of Stinger owners), we have relatively few complaints compared to the size of our membership (now over 5K): paint is far and away the largest category of complaints; the Yellow Discussion thread is pages and pages longer than any other color, simply over paint. Rattles and other annoying noises, in total, may exceed paint complaints; but that is because noise is so subjective an irritant. What one pair of ears cannot ignore, another pair of ears doesn't even pick up. The sum of complaints from "wind whistle/wuffle" to loose object down inside the door, through sunroof and hatch rattles, amounts to a lot of "noise" but affects very few cars out of the total sold thus far (which is somewhere around 30K worldwide). I keep repeating this litany of "denial" because if we listen to the plethora of complaints on just this forum alone we will get a distorted view of how "bad" this model is. "Hundreds" out of c. 30K is not a lot of complaints for a first year model; especially when so many of the complaints are for seldom repeated issues, i.e. this particular vehicle suffered a flaw in construction which got by the individual vehicle inspection, etc. It is not an indicator of a failure in the construction process, but rather imperfection both in the process and human intervention, which will never be perfect.
Unless you work for Kia how can you possibly know how many or how few cars are affected? You’re also quoting a WW sales number. Does the “hundreds” become more significant when we look at just US sales? I’m going to make a leap and assume you’re not perusing Korean forums. And I’m not at all sure how you arrived at the conclusion there are relatively few complaints in this forum. I think there’s a little cognitive dissonance happening here.
My car has 1200 miles and has: the radio fading and popping problems which will require complete head replacement and a day in the shop, door seal problem, sunroof seal problem, early
seat/bolster wear problem (and no, I’m not going to accept I need to learn how to properly
seat myself in the car to avoid it; it’s a design and quality flaw), and paint flaws. I have owned upscale brands like BMW and Lexus, midrange like Acura and VW, and lower end like Mitsubishi and Jeep. Other than the 1993 Grand Cherokee, I’ve never owned a car that had so many issues out if the gate. Is the Stinger a fun car: yes. Is it high quality: not so much. Will I ever buy another? That remains to be seen.
I’ll let you in on a secret: I do product development research for a living for a company that sells products that scale in the hundreds of millions, and early qualitative feedback is an incredibly powerful signal in our feedback loop. From the above, I am a sample of n=1, but we are now seeing that my qualitative insights are matching others. And we have a highly credible, objective third party in CR that folks are so quick to dismiss.
You also used the “for a first year model” qualifier, which is letting Kia off the hook for a car that can cost up to $53.5k. My first year Acura had a glovebox rattle and then never had an unscheduled repair required for 90,00 miles. Our Lexus, while not a first year model, has had exactly zero unscheduled repairs.
For many who spent this much, their psychology won’t afford them the ability to see the flaws (or they will be quick to dismiss or minimize the experiences of others), so they are likely to be promoters or passives. Please don’t be so quick to suggest there’s nothing to see here, because our own eyes and others as well tell us there is.
n.b if the paint issues were so isolated why would you feel compelled to tell a prospective buyer (today) to check the paint?
