I've mentioned this in another thread but I have had 3 KIA Optima Hybrids and this is the first one that I got paint chips on but it was from getting pelted by stones from a truck carrying stones on the highway. Also it's my first dark color Optima and I guess that makes it shows up more. I was annoyed when I saw it, I even went to see what it would cost to repaint the hood. The guy at the paint shop looked at me like I was crazy and said get some touch up paint, it's not a flaw with the paint, it's because of the hits. Over on the Optima forum some folks complained about peeling bumper but it wasn't widespread in my opinion. As mentioned, every brand will have folks that will complain about varying issue. Let's be honest, folks in the forums are a small portion of owners of any vehicle so you will hear about it as you peruse the posts. You also will hear a lot more folks saying they don't have the issue but bad news travel faster than good and when we hear something we start to get skeptical.
A lot of folks looking at KIA now are folks that would have never bought one and don't know the changes KIA has made to put them where they are today. In their minds, KIA is the same company that sold cheap cars over 20 years ago. Folks are shocked to know that they are close in price to their Japanese competitors and now with the Stinger selling at a price point normally reserved for "luxury" cars, they are really losing their mind that KIA can sell a car at that price point. Even the press are shocked to hear that there are more of the expensive Stingers being sold compared to the lower trim. Those of us that came over due to the Optima from luxury brands can attest to the improvements they have done to this vehicle to make it better each year. With the Stinger, they pulled out the stops and made a great performing car! As with any car in it's first year, there are bound to be some teething problems, so far the things that have cropped up are minor and are being handled by KIA.
If driving is your passion, then the Stinger is a great bargain when compared to cars costing much more than it does. Any luxury car in it's price point doesn't compete with it on space or performance, you have to go to a higher tier and as seen on Autoblog's story on this, it still outruns them. All that being said, you are the one making the decision on what is best for you. Get the car that makes you happy!
