One customer reports a GT2 priced at $13,000 above invoice

[Kia Stinger]

by Mark McNabb, on January 4, 2018

Kia has long been in the business of no-nonsense, economical cars and SUVs, but that’s changed with the 2018 Stinger. It’s the Korean automaker’s first “gotta have it” vehicle and its dealership network is apparently feeding on the frenzy. At least two pages worth of forum posts on StingerForum.org detail customer experiences of pricing markups from a few hundred dollars to an exorbitant $13,000 in one case.

Adding insult to financial injury, several forum users report dealerships aren’t very accommodating with test drives. User @Thebkguy, said he was able to test drive a four-cylinder Stinger but was told no test drives of the Stinger GT were given unless a price was agreed upon and a credit check had been run. He eventually coerced the dealership into a test drive but turned down the purchase over a $10,000 markup. Keep in mind; the 2018 Kia Stinger GT starts at $38,350 and crests at $49,200 for the GT2 trim level. Thankfully, not all Kia dealerships are being so overtly greedy, according to other forum users. Most seem to add between $1,500 to $5,000 to the Stinger GT’s price.

It seems no matter how much research, thought, development, and love an automaker pours into a new model, the dealership experience is consistently there to negate customer satisfaction. Kia isn’t alone in this, of course, but these stories surrounding the Stinger are troubling. Keep in mind Kia began by selling cheaply built economy cars that served no purpose besides basic transportation. These are the vehicles Kia brought to the U.S. when it washed ashore in 1992 and began selling cars in 1994. It doesn’t have the brand cache others like Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, or even Ford. Though it still isn’t in the customer’s best interests, nobody batted an eye when the 2016 Mustang GT350R consistently sold for $20,000 above invoice. Read more...

 

[westcoastGT]

Thanks for posting , I remember when the Mazda Miata was introduced and they had a sales book a mile deep for them so they started adding crazy dealer mark ups and people actually paid them ........................................and when the craze died down the mark ups went away ..........it will happen here too

 

[CO-bound]

The first dealer I went to tried that credit check nonsense on me; I specifically said credit is not an issue, let's wait until we agree on numbers then you can run it and we can close the deal. Because of the Equifax breach I have all my bureaus locked; two or three minutes after he walked into the sales manager office, I got two alerts on my phone that credit inquiries had been attempted and blocked.

I walked out without so much as a goodbye. These type of shady dealers are going to send seasoned buyers used to Audi/BMW/Benz pampering running right back to the premium brands.

 

[Waynerm002]

This tells me that these dealers seem to think folks interested in the car can’t afford it because of how it’s priced, no one buys a vehicle without driving it, at least I won’t. I know Tesla had a lot of orders based on a car no one drove and while the Stinger has a lot of positive press, I would have to experience it before I commit and I’m not going to do a credit check to test drive. I hope KIA Corporate does something about this.

 

[Chris]

It's good to see the forum making the "news". Maybe all our bitching and moaning will get noticed by someone that matters. Lol.

 

[Kia Stinger]

The first dealer I went to tried that credit check nonsense on me; I specifically said credit is not an issue, let's wait until we agree on numbers then you can run it and we can close the deal. Because of the Equifax breach I have all my bureaus locked; two or three minutes after he walked into the sales manager office, I got two alerts on my phone that credit inquiries had been attempted and blocked.

I walked out without so much as a goodbye. These type of shady dealers are going to send seasoned buyers used to Audi/BMW/Benz pampering running right back to the premium brands.

Man, that's really LOW about the credit check behind your back. I imagine this isn't rare, though...

It's good to see the forum making the "news". Maybe all our bitching and moaning will get noticed by someone that matters. Lol.

Yes, it's nice to know we're being watched.

 

[Chris]

Man, that's really LOW about the credit check behind your back. I imagine this isn't rare, though...

How did they do it without an SSN?

 

[Kia Stinger]

How did they do it without an SSN?

I was wondering the same thing but I'm going to guess it was given at one point or another.

 

[Waynerm002]

I’m guessing the credit app was filled out. Dealer figured the would run it cause he was going to buy after the drive.

 

[CO-bound]

I was wondering the same thing but I'm going to guess it was given at one point or another.

I didn't fill out a credit app, since I was pre-approved through my credit union already, and had a blank check in my car. I did, however, fill out what they called a 'guest form' with name, address, SSN, etc. As I filled it out, I made the comment about not running credit. The salesman even said not to worry, they would need a credit app for that anyway; he said it was just for records, and would be attached to the credit app, if we got that far.

Not a big deal that they tried, since it was blocked, but it's just annoying when dealers pull shady moves on their customers.

 

[Mhol]

If they have your ssn, they can pull a soft hit on your credit report. This will show up on your credit report but no one else can see it see it would not be a hit. Banks do that all the time. The credit cards offers you get in the mail are from some company pulling a soft hit on your credit.

 

[stinger1168]

Ten to Thirteen thousand over msrp!!! Screw that! I love the Stinger and I'm excited it's here but I'm not paying over msrp for one. I'd get a loaded Audi S5 for that money and get better fuel economy and resale value. Is this whole mark up thing happening everywhere in the world or just in the US? If I had to have the car right now, I can see paying msrp for it because it is a new and exciting car for KIA. And I'm not putting KIA down as I think they have achieved A LOT over the past few years but the Stinger is the car that's supposed to change the publics perception of KIA. That they no longer sell cheap, crappy econoboxes. (Not my perception but most of the general public.) The way KIA get's the word on the street that they have a great car that can compete with some of the world's is by getting them on the street! KIA isn't going to accomplish that with shady dealers selling these over msrp.

Also, in regards to the whole credit check and negotiate a price before a test drive thing, KIA want's to attract buyers who have good credit and are willing to spend up to $53k on the Stinger. The US dealers that are using these tactics, are going to turn away a lot of buyers who are willing to spend that kind of money by using these same tactics that are used with someone who has not so good credit and looking for a basic economy car.

As much research that I've done on the Stinger itself, I'll be doing a bit of research on the dealerships themselves too and will HAPPILY negotiate a fair deal with the better ones.

 

[westcoastGT]

Ten to Thirteen thousand over msrp!!! Screw that! I love the Stinger and I'm excited it's here but I'm not paying over msrp for one. I'd get a loaded Audi S5 for that money and get better fuel economy and resale value. Is this whole mark up thing happening everywhere in the world or just in the US? If I had to have the car right now, I can see paying msrp for it because it is a new and exciting car for KIA. And I'm not putting KIA down as I think they have achieved A LOT over the past few years but the Stinger is the car that's supposed to change the publics perception of KIA. That they no longer sell cheap, crappy econoboxes. (Not my perception but most of the general public.) The way KIA get's the word on the street that they have a great car that can compete with some of the world's is by getting them on the street! KIA isn't going to accomplish that with shady dealers selling these over msrp.

Also, in regards to the whole credit check and negotiate a price before a test drive thing, KIA want's to attract buyers who have good credit and are willing to spend up to $53k on the Stinger. The US dealers that are using these tactics, are going to turn away a lot of buyers who are willing to spend that kind of money by using these same tactics that are used with someone who has not so good credit and looking for a basic economy car.

As much research that I've done on the Stinger itself, I'll be doing a bit of research on the dealerships themselves too and will HAPPILY negotiate a fair deal with the better ones.

need to separate Dealers vs Manufacturer vs Kia USA , the dealers are privately owned and will do what they can ..................if you want one wait 6 months and you'll be wheeling and dealing I'll bet

 

[stinger1168]

need to separate Dealers vs Manufacturer vs Kia USA , the dealers are privately owned and will do what they can ..................if you want one wait 6 months and you'll be wheeling and dealing I'll bet

Yeah, you're right. Hopefully the actions of a few dealerships don't hurt what KIA is trying to accomplish with the Stinger here in the US. But supply and demand reign supreme in sales. Not a lot of supply with currently big demand usually means, charge whatever you want. Personally, I'll be waiting for the 2019's so hopefully I can get the features and colors that are missing on the 2018's and also so that demand will die down a bit and supply will be a lot more than what it is now so I can get a fair deal.

 

[Kia Stinger]

Yeah, you're right. Hopefully the actions of a few dealerships don't hurt what KIA is trying to accomplish with the Stinger here in the US. But supply and demand reign supreme in sales. Not a lot of supply with currently big demand usually means, charge whatever you want. Personally, I'll be waiting for the 2019's so hopefully I can get the features and colors that are missing on the 2018's and also so that demand will die down a bit and supply will be a lot more than what it is now so I can get a fair deal.

Keep in mind that there are people in this community who've purchased their GT2 for a few thousand under MSRP. You just need to negotiate. Not all dealers are willing to negotiate - but they're out there. I don't want you to feel that there's no way to get a Kia Stinger reasonably priced - even right now...

 

[stinger1168]

Keep in mind that there are people in this community who've purchased their GT2 for a few thousand under MSRP. You just need to negotiate. Not all dealers are willing to negotiate - but they're out there. I don't want you to feel that there's no way to get a Kia Stinger reasonably priced - even right now...

Very true. I believe there are a lot of good dealers out there and that with some looking around, one can get a fair enough deal considering the newness and excitement of the Stinger.

 

[Kia Stinger]

Very true. I believe there are a lot of good dealers out there and that with some looking around, one can get a fair enough deal considering the newness and excitement of the Stinger.

You know how it is. It's a hot vehicle right now. This always happens with a new car that's getting a lot of attention...

 

[stinger1168]

You know how it is. It's a hot vehicle right now. This always happens with a new car that's getting a lot of attention...

Oh yeah, seen it a thousand times. Dodge Demon, Mazda Miata, PT Cruiser etc etc... For some weird reason I thought it might be different this time around but it's not. And that's ok. Like I said in another thread, it's all about supply and demand. The people at the dealerships have families to feed too and they have to make hay while the sun is shining. And like others have said, in about 6 months or more, things will normalize and we might even see those missing features too.