Hello all

[dunhamjr]

New here, curious if this forum can be accessed on tapatalk?
I searched the forums but couldn't find anything.

Currently trying to decide if I want a Stinger at this point, enough to pay current covid elevated used market prices for one.

 

[Kia Stinger]

New here, curious if this forum can be accessed on tapatalk?
I cannot seem to find it.

Forums needs more info.
Currently trying to decide if I want a Stinger at this point, enough to pay current covid elevated used market prices for one.

Hi there. Welcome aboard! No TapaTalk. Surprised it still even exists with all the security issues it’s had.

 

[RedCal]

Welcome. .. what else are you cross shopping?

 

[MerlintheMad]

More info? What do you want to know? Welcome too.

 

[StingertimeNC]

If you want to know something about a stinger, I'm sure it's here. This place is loaded!

 

[dunhamjr]

Welcome. .. what else are you cross shopping?

Tldr; see if the stinger could work as an only car, or if not then an Alfa Romeo Giulia and a minivan


The longer story...
I am in a weird spot and very undecided, per usual. Wife doesn't care either way so long as she gets heated seats and other modern car comforts.

Less than a year ago I bought a new 2021 chrysler pacifica hybrid. Which has been a complete isht show from a reliability perspective, I really do like the concept and theoretic package of the van. But it has to go while the seller market is good.

I still need a family car "thing" for general moving of family and stuff, and road trips but it doesn't need to be a minivan specifically. We have had a vw jetta wagon and later a toyota highlander. But if I am going to have a big vehicle, I prefer a minivan.

Because the chrysler was such crap from literally day 2, I never got around to selling our prior minivan a 2005 toyota sienna.

So the plan is to sell the chrysler and buy a car for me.

The top contenders at this point have basically trimmed down to...
Giulia
Stinger

The stinger rises because it's got a much larger cargo space than most sedan-ish cars, I have liked them since the day they dropped. And IF the stinger really works for our family of 4, even if that means adding a roof box... then I might even be able to strip the car stable down to just 2 cars instead of our current 4.

At worst, we could drop to 3 cars. Mine. Hers. Minivan or SUV. I can't remember the last time I only owned 2 cars though, might be a nice change of pace, might trigger car ADD causing another purchase in a matter of months.

I won't make the stable changes all at once. First the Chrysler will go for the Stinger. If that works then the old 2005 Sienna will be next. Based on usage the 2006 Miata could be next, bringing us down to 2 cars.

 

[dunhamjr]

If you want to know something about a stinger, I'm sure it's here. This place is loaded!

Yeah appreciate that. Honestly it's way less down to hard vehicle data and facts, and more to how a car fits for my family needs.

 

[StingertimeNC]

A stinger is great for around town for 4 people, but I would never give up a large SUV or a minivan for family road trips. For 95% of the time you will enjoy the stinger. Back seat is plenty for kids and cargo space is good, but not road trip good. The Alfa is sweet, but if you thought the Pacifica was a sh!t show, get the Alfa! LOL. No personal experience on that, just rumors and various car mags reviews and such. Stinger is great though and it's a looker, plus quick and fun to drive to boot. Good value compared to the cars it competes with on features and power level.

 

[JSolo]

I went through the same conundrum back in 2019. Death in family, 2 cars ('12 g37s 6mt, and '15 accord exl, both sedans) 1 driver, 1 had to go. Brilliant epiphany, get rid of both cars, get some thing new.

Spent a good 2 months test driving all sorts of different cars/suvs, came up short. Nothing appealed much. Even test drove a stinger but didn't care for it too much. The demo barely had 5K but seemed all beat up inside - a testament to kia's long term quality? I decided to keep the accord get rid of the infiniti - more so for practical reasons than anything else.

Last summer was a partial repeat of 2 years ago. This time I was determined to find something given the inflated value on the honda. The stinger seemed to check off more boxes than other cars. So far at 3K the interior doesn't show any of the damage the demo had. Suspect someone with sharp rings was driving it given the steering wheel wear.

tl;dr, make a list and check it thrice. Surely there's some vehicle out there that meets most of your criteria. Ultimately only you can decide what's right for you.

I think the stinger makes a great road trip car for 2; plenty of space for luggage and other stuff. For 4.... with luggage, that's a tough ask. Definitely no pacifica. How old are the kids?

Pass on the alfa based on the magazine reliability reviews.

 

[dunhamjr]

From what I have seen searching the later model Giulia with the 2.0 turbo really seem pretty stout, it was mostly the 2017-early 2018 models and the QVs that saw the most actual failures. The biggest issue the Giulias seem to have in the US is that most of the dealers just plain suck.

The kids are 7 and 9, so not too big. I am aware that my hopes for a Stinger, or really any nearly Stinger sized car/wagon, to be fully competent as a long distance road trip car for 4 is a bit of a stretch.

One of the potential mitigations is that if we really did drop down to just the Stinger as the family car, we would need to consider limiting the road trips to more PNW/West Coast and anything else just buck up and fly to/near the location and rent a vehicle while there. We did that a few years back going to St George Utah, and ended up in a Passat rental that we drove from Las Vegas to St George, around S Utah, to Zion, and then back to Las Vegas again. That was back when both kids were in full front facing car seats, not just but boosters.

If I am very honest with myself, I would bet that 3 cars is where we will actually land, since we have been in that situation since 2015 when I bought the Sienna... discounting 'extra' project cars of mine. We have hers, mine, and a minivan. Plus its just a nice situation to have a backup in the driveway for when things go wrong.