Help an abandoned Ford Taurus SHO owner going all out KIA Stinger

[ScorpionStinger]

Ford abandoned me as a performance sedan customer...enjoyed two lease cycles...2015 and 2018 SHO...have bled blue since 1997...was a Ford employee up to 2006. Thorough research has led me to the 2022 Stinger. Weak point with the SHO and most AWD Fords is the PTU (Power Transfer Unit). What...if anything...is the weak point on the Stinger? Have fallen in love with the 2022 GT1 and getting ready ro negotiate so any advice would be appreciated. Thx in advance.

 

[nhcowboy28]

Weak point = dealer/service center.

way worse than any Ford dealer (I’ve had 3 fords).

as far as car goes... some paint issues. Sunroof chatter/squeaks.

no real systemic drivetrain issues.

well engineer cars for the most part.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Brakes are the only recurring complaint about the US spec Stinger. You could have no trouble at all (like me thus far), or you could end up with pad deposits on the rotors, necessitating going aftermarket pads and possibly even rotors. I wouldn't call it a "weak point" since there is a ready fix. The drivetrain on the Stinger is really solid.

 

[Devin]

Ford keeps turning us SHO owners into orphans. Of course, Kia may do the same to us Stinger owners as well, but we can't live life expecting the worst can we?

I picked up a 2022 GT1 in Feb and it has been trouble free so far, other than a little hatch rattle when going over bad roads. I think the dealership problem is real, but our local dealer has never given me problems, aside from being quite pricey to do work. My salesperson calls me about once a month to see how things are going.

I can't verify if the brakes are still an issue. I already replaced mine with slotted rotors and new pads.

 

[SoCalSHO]

Yup, coming from an SHO, I feel your pain.
Dealer service is definately the biggest weak point on these cars. Second, to me, are the front pads, but those are easily remedied.

 

[ScorpionStinger]

Thanks all.. @SoCalSHO ...I believe I recall ur handle from either the SHO Forum or Ecoboost Performance Forum? Yeah would have bought out my 2018 max optioned non PP SHO and tuned her up to 400+ AWHP but the driveline issues scared me away.

If the Stinger is as advertised may be my long term ICE vehicle. Sad that Ford cannot build a vehicle with a reliable long lasting driveline. Have a 2006 V6 AWD Merc Mariner that blew the tranny at 30K miles AND again at 70K miles. Lame...look forward to a long reliable relationship with my Stinger.

 

[Devin]

SHO Forum is unequaled online. Good group.

 

[ScorpionStinger]

@shoengine - absolutely. No or very limited drama real good humans. Great sharing of info and excellent advice.

 

[powermatt]

If tuning is your goal, it's nowhere near as simple on the Stinger as it was on any turbo Ford product.

Ford's ECUs are basically an open book. Kia's are very heavily locked down. So you're looking at a piggyback option such as JB4, or doing a bench tune with the ECU out of the car (or buying a second ECU just for the tune, which is $$$).

I have read a few cases of blown transmissions and transfer cases (it is a proper transfer case on the Stinger, being a RWD platform), but those cars were pushing significantly more than stock power.