Hello from Ireland.

[Dom]

I drove a Stinger for the first time a few days ago and was very impressed. Since then I can't stop thinking about changing my excellent but rather boring BMW 5 Series for a new Stinger in Panthera Grey with red leather and all the toys. Couple of questions:
Am I mad to go from a BM to a Kia?
The car I drove was in Micro Blue which was very impressive but perhaps a bit loud. The only new car available to me is the Panthera which I have never seen in the flesh. Is it a nice colour?
Cheers!

 

[GenesisG70]

Hi welcome to the forum no you are not mad to go from BM to Kia , I went from Audi R8V10 plus and porsche 981 to Kia and I'm loving it, all depends if you are a badge snob.

 

[Dom]

Very true. I suppose I am a bit! Aren't we all?

 

[nhcowboy28]

Hi welcome to the forum no you are not mad to go from BM to Kia , I went from Audi R8V10 plus and porsche 981 to Kia and I'm loving it, all depends if you are a badge snob.

This and the panthera is a beautiful color. I ended up with red because it wasn’t available on the 18s on sale in October. But was the color I really wanted.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Hi. No badge snob here. It's all about delivery. And Kia delivers with this car.

 

[Callum]

Welcome! Beautiful country you live in. I drove in Ireland for 10 days non-stop and loved it!

I only drink Guiness now...

 

[Dom]

Welcome! Beautiful country you live in. I drove in Ireland for 10 days non-stop and loved it!

I only drink Guiness now...

Love the pics! Looks like somewhere in Cork and the Cliffs of Moher. Re Guinness, it’s my regular tipple, in fact I shall shortly be heading to the pub to add a few euros to Arthur’s profits. Badge snobbery is quite prevalent here. Audi, BMW and Mercedes have it all sown up. How do you find your Stinger?

 

[MerlintheMad]

How do you find your Stinger?

Uniquely conceived and executed. If the Stinger had not come along, I'd still be "restorodding" my '94 Plymouth Voyager! The Stinger literally jolted/stung me out of my campaign to avoid buying a brand new vehicle. I'd looked at Toyota Tundras motoring by and thought I might be in the mood (at this time in my life) for my first pickup truck. I looked at (have a dozen downloaded pics of, on my background picture changer) three-wheel Morgans, and even Jay Leno driving one in a video didn't get me to pursue that any further (still love the idea of driving one, though). Then along came the Kia Stinger. WTH! What IS this? I thought about it all last winter and read the promo book and went on a test drive and bought one three days later; and I've been having a blast for over a year. The car is perfect for me. Nothing that the higher priced brands offer is like the Stinger: it checks all the boxes I didn't even know I had listed, to get my attention and impress me.

 

[Dom]

Uniquely conceived and executed. If the Stinger had not come along, I'd still be "restorodding" my '94 Plymouth Voyager! The Stinger literally jolted/stung me out of my campaign to avoid buying a brand new vehicle. I'd looked at Toyota Tundras motoring by and thought I might be in the mood (at this time in my life) for my first pickup truck. I looked at (have a dozen downloaded pics of, on my background picture changer) three-wheel Morgans, and even Jay Leno driving one in a video didn't get me to pursue that any further (still love the idea of driving one, though). Then along came the Kia Stinger. WTH! What IS this? I thought about it all last winter and read the promo book and went on a test drive and bought one three days later; and I've been having a blast for over a year. The car is perfect for me. Nothing that the higher priced brands offer is like the Stinger: it checks all the boxes I didn't even know I had listed, to get my attention and impress me.

Thank you. It’s sounding better all the time. How long have you had it? Any issues? What colour scheme?

 

[MerlintheMad]

Thank you. It’s sounding better all the time. How long have you had it? Any issues? What colour scheme?

˅˅˅ (putting car info in your signature saves time) I've had mine since 26 March 18. No issues whatsoever. Not even swirls in my clear coat from car washes. I think the clear coat is pretty dang hard. Either that, or I am so far lucky picking car washes that have clean, gentle whirling fibers and "danglies".

 

[westcoastGT]

Between my wif and I we owned 9 BMWS over 12 years , 5s , one M5 ( e39) , 6s , 7 , X5 and X6 ......................

No issue , many of us rebadged anyway , check out the store on this forum for all your badging options , these are so rare you'll get tired of people geeking on you !!

 

[Callum]

Love the pics! Looks like somewhere in Cork and the Cliffs of Moher. Re Guinness, it’s my regular tipple, in fact I shall shortly be heading to the pub to add a few euros to Arthur’s profits. Badge snobbery is quite prevalent here. Audi, BMW and Mercedes have it all sown up. How do you find your Stinger?

I believe it was Cork, yes.

Mizen Head was where the cliffs were. Truly amazing down there

I had a blast in Dublin too. I look forward to returning soon. Where in Ireland are you?

 

[Dom]

I believe it was Cork, yes.

Mizen Head was where the cliffs were. Truly amazing down there

I had a blast in Dublin too. I look forward to returning soon. Where in Ireland are you?

I’m in the opposite end of the country from Cork - Donegal.

 

[Callum]

I’m in the opposite end of the country from Cork - Donegal.

Gotcha, furthest north we went was Dublin/Galway. Our next trip over will consist of the north end. We landed the day before the blizzard hit, lots of fun in the AWD Audi we rented

 

[GenesisG70]

Very true. I suppose I am a bit! Aren't we all?

Not all car enthusiasts care much about the badge.

 

[GenesisG70]

PLus don't know whats the big deal you are not going from something like Bugatti Chiron-Pagani Zonda-Ferrari LaFerrari to a Kia, you are going from a freaking BMW to Kia. Just saying Cheers

 

[Dom]

PLus don't know whats the big deal you are not going from something like Bugatti Chiron-Pagani Zonda-Ferrari LaFerrari to a Kia, you are going from a freaking BMW to Kia. Just saying Cheers

Here, BMW is regarded as a premium brand and Kia as a budget brand. It's not that it isn't popular, it is, but at the cheaper end of the market. Once you get to the €50K plus segment BMW, Audi and Merc call all the shots. The problem would be in residual values. The danger is that a €50K Kia would drop like a stone, whereas a €50K BMW would suffer only moderate depreciation. It's all to do with people's perceptions.
Anyway, I've just been told that a red one is also available, again with red leather. Which would you go for, Panthera or Chroma Red?

 

[Dom]

Not all car enthusiasts care much about the badge.

Very true. But what is this trend I see on this forum for changing the Kia badges?

 

[MerlintheMad]

Which would you go for, Panthera or Chroma Red?

Very true. But what is this trend I see on this forum for changing the Kia badges?

I would like the Panthera Metal far more as my car (would have gone for that, failing to get a Silky Silver). But I love seeing the Red in all the promotional pictures and videos. In "the flesh" it is even more impressive. I'd take a Stinger in any color.

I have "K" skins over my KIA badges. The idea is to avoid messing with badge removal going wrong: and I like the KIA ellipse. I can always revert back to KIA when the time is right: when the mystique of the Stinger has worn off. Mostly, anybody who asks about the car doesn't have a clue yet what it is. So messing with them a bit is still fun. My summer tires on TSW "Watkins" rims completes their confusion.

 

[GenesisG70]

Here, BMW is regarded as a premium brand and Kia as a budget brand. It's not that it isn't popular, it is, but at the cheaper end of the market. Once you get to the €50K plus segment BMW, Audi and Merc call all the shots. The problem would be in residual values. The danger is that a €50K Kia would drop like a stone, whereas a €50K BMW would suffer only moderate depreciation. It's all to do with people's perceptions.
Anyway, I've just been told that a red one is also available, again with red leather. Which would you go for, Panthera or Chroma Red?

Chroma red, also brand is mostly perception at this point. Whatever you choose cheers!