Stinger vs. Alfa Romeo Giulia

[Mike_TX]

If you care, the Giulia probably won't hold its value as well as the Stinger (and that's saying something for a Kia product!). The Giulia appeals to a much smaller demographic, and after all, it's an Alfa Romeo - not exactly a household name in America.

Those who DO know the name also know about Alfa pulling out of the U. S. market a few years back because of quality issues and dismal sales. And I'm not sure its affiliation with FCA does it any favors in that department, either. I think the Giulia is a niche product, and I don't expect it to be a big sales hit.

 

[Wolvesq]

What makes the Giulia special is its superb handling, steering feel, and suspension. It has that old school, analog, "I am one with the car" feel that BMWs used to have and no longer do. Almost no major car company offers that on high performance/luxury cars any more other than Alfa, Porsche, and niche players like Ferrari. The Stinger feels bigger, more modern, and high tech, like modern BMWs and Audis. Apples and oranges, and tastes vary. Obviously issues like reliability, resale value, etc., factor in depending on your priorities.

 

[StingMe]

KIA is ranked first in initial quality

Alfa is the very bottom of the reliability pit

 

[BAM]

The Guilia drives amazing!, sorry Stinger does not compare and I have a Stinger 2.0 premium. If money didn’t matter I’d buy the Guilia as I suspect maintence and repairs may be much more.

 

[Berzerker]

The Guilia drives amazing!, sorry Stinger does not compare and I have a Stinger 2.0 premium. If money didn’t matter I’d buy the Guilia as I suspect maintence and repairs may be much more.

I've driven the Giulia and it doesn't drive any better than the Stinger. I'll take my 85 horsepower and massive increase in quality for $5k more.

 

[Stinger73]

I thought the Giulia handled better too but the Stinger is faster. I do love the tech more so in the Stinger than in the Giulia and the ride is way better too. Reliability wise the Giulia forum had several different people complaining about things like the sound system not working well or at all after the windows were tinted?!?!

How does window tinting affect sound you ask...because the liquid from the tinting process was dripping into the trunk where the amp was...lol. Other complaints like the mentioned breakdowns not just from reviewers but customers too, along with supposedly structure integrity issues in the earlier production models.

Plus a lot of customers have been complaining of lack of service technician knowledge as the dealer network is mostly Fiat and supposedly the technicians at the time didn't know how to work on the cars. So several people stated having the car there for days and going back multiple times. Some stating they didn't drive there car as much as it was in the service.

Furthermore I knew more about the car than the Italian salesman knew about it. He kept going on about how beautiful the car was and when I stated the features or information about the car, he kept telling me how I was teaching him things he didn't know. So sad. Besides being a new car for Kia, I believe this is one of the reasons they made sure their dealer service technicians and sales force went through a lot of training on the Stinger.

I test drove it like I stole it and made the salesman nervous when I fish tailed it while he was stating "Calm down you don't know this car yet", I said "Now I do" .

 

[mldavis2]

I test drove it like I stole it and made the salesman nervous when I fish tailed it while he was stating "Calm down you don't know this car yet", I said "Now I do" .

Which is exactly why I will never buy a "new" car that has been demo'd by a dealer. It has not been broken in properly and it is sure as hell not "new."

 

[Dick Dastardly]

I test drove the Giulia Veloce - 280bhp RWD - it was nice but missing something, has lost what was once special about Alfa.
In comparison the Stinger is a much more rounded car.

For the same (list) price you get two more cylinders, 90 bhp more, standard kit you can not even order as an option on the Alfa, better looks and a 7 year warranty. To spec a Veloce close to a Stinger it would be at least an additional £5-6K but there are heavy dealer discounts available as in the UK Alfa can not shift many.

Handling is not too different, being slightly more compact helps the Alfa marginally, it is not night and day. I actually like the hooligan way the Kia lays down the power, more fun to drive if not quite as accurate but that is my preference!

Both cars are good but in the end I spent my hard earned on a Stinger.

 

[BAM]

I thought the Giulia handled better too but the Stinger is faster. I do love the tech more so in the Stinger than in the Giulia and the ride is way better too. Reliability wise the Giulia forum had several different people complaining about things like the sound system not working well or at all after the windows were tinted?!?!

How does window tinting affect sound you ask...because the liquid from the tinting process was dripping into the trunk where the amp was...lol. Other complaints like the mentioned breakdowns not just from reviewers but customers too, along with supposedly structure integrity issues in the earlier production models.

Plus a lot of customers have been complaining of lack of service technician knowledge as the dealer network is mostly Fiat and supposedly the technicians at the time didn't know how to work on the cars. So several people stated having the car there for days and going back multiple times. Some stating they didn't drive there car as much as it was in the service.

Furthermore I knew more about the car than the Italian salesman knew about it. He kept going on about how beautiful the car was and when I stated the features or information about the car, he kept telling me how I was teaching him things he didn't know. So sad. Besides being a new car for Kia, I believe this is one of the reasons they made sure their dealer service technicians and sales force went through a lot of training on the Stinger.

I test drove it like I stole it and made the salesman nervous when I fish tailed it while he was stating "Calm down you don't know this car yet", I said "Now I do" .

You were lucky to get Kia salesman that knew about the car. Most of us did not have that experience, maybe it has gotten better in the last month. I’ve taken my Stinger to service a couple of times and they are obviously still learning the car and figuring things out as they go. Glad you’ve had a good experience.

 

[BAM]

I've driven the Giulia and it doesn't drive any better than the Stinger. I'll take my 85 horsepower and massive increase in quality for $5k more.

Obviously personal opinion, like everyone is giving.

 

[Craig]

The funny thing is that I found the Stinger via the AR Giulia site. Someone stated that the Stinger will be competing with the Giulia, so that is when I started looking and trying to learn. I think I am leaning towards the Stinger.

 

[Never thought]

You were lucky to get Kia salesman that knew about the car. Most of us did not have that experience, maybe it has gotten better in the last month. I’ve taken my Stinger to service a couple of times and they are obviously still learning the car and figuring things out as they go. Glad you’ve had a good experience.

When I was looking, I told the sales guys there was no 360 camera. Each time they said there was, went to a GT2, saw there wasn’t one, and was shocked. They knew nothing about the car.

 

[mldavis2]

Very few salesmen know their products. All they know is what they are told. Many do not receive any training on new vehicles or they sleep through the training sessions. The 360° camera is not on U.S. models, just Canada and maybe Korea.

 

[Stinger73]

Very few salesmen know their products. All they know is what they are told. Many do not receive any training on new vehicles or they sleep through the training sessions. The 360° camera is not on U.S. models, just Canada and maybe Korea.

Yeah, sadly it's true for the industry as a whole with my experience, especially with all the cars I test drove within a two week time frame, with the exception of Kia/Toyota in my area. You would think you would want to know everything there is about the thing you are selling. I know I have I to know what I am doing at my job I can understand different models with different features but several things would be the same across the model lineup.

It appears I lucked out and my assigned service representative has a GT2. So he has known and experienced the same things posted in this forum, which has made it easy to explain. More I think about it, my dealer and a different dealer had me work with a salesperson who knew about the Stinger. Maybe they don't have the whole sales staff go through training.

 

[Stinger73]

I test drove the Giulia Veloce - 280bhp RWD - it was nice but missing something, has lost what was once special about Alfa.
In comparison the Stinger is a much more rounded car.

For the same (list) price you get two more cylinders, 90 bhp more, standard kit you can not even order as an option on the Alfa, better looks and a 7 year warranty. To spec a Veloce close to a Stinger it would be at least an additional £5-6K but there are heavy dealer discounts available as in the UK Alfa can not shift many.

Handling is not too different, being slightly more compact helps the Alfa marginally, it is not night and day. I actually like the hooligan way the Kia lays down the power, more fun to drive if not quite as accurate but that is my preference!

Both cars are good but in the end I spent my hard earned on a Stinger.

I whole heartily agree the Stinger is a more rounded car. I test drove a dozen plus cars and it was the only one that could do all of strengths of each of the cars I test drove and still not be more expensive.

I wish it had better app support here in the US but IMO as a car with a combination of performance/comfort/utility/technology(UVO, CarPlay, & DriveWise)/reliability(Still better than most first year cars besides Kia being more reliable as a whole), no match in it's price range.

 

[eljay]

Very few salesmen know their products. All they know is what they are told. Many do not receive any training on new vehicles or they sleep through the training sessions. The 360° camera is not on U.S. models, just Canada and maybe Korea.

Off track, but: Salesmen for this car were at a real disadvantage. Using the surround view as an example: Even at the Anaheim auto show, when I grilled the reps about the 360º camera, they only had the Korean-spec cars to show me and kept pointing out the camera positions on ithem. They then told me that, even though it didn't show up on their computer in the specs, surely it would have the feature since Optima and Cadenza did. The reps on the KMA customer service line told me basically the same thing. The sales reps in dealerships also only had K-spec cars to go by for months, which all had the cams, and absent Kia telling them directly that the U.S. version would not have it, they used logic and assumed it had to be an omission in the published specs, since training hadn't occured yet. Even when the cars arrived in late 2017, lots of dealerships wouldn't let sales reps drive the cars, as they didn't want the miles on them, so once again, they were at a disadvantage. I'll give them this one, and blame corporate.

But if anyone who attempts to sell one now doesn't know the facts, then they're just a dope.

 

[Rufus]

Very few salesmen know their products. All they know is what they are told. Many do not receive any training on new vehicles or they sleep through the training sessions. The 360° camera is not on U.S. models, just Canada and maybe Korea.

The ones who do are usually enthusiasts themselves, or are the rare birds who actually take pride in knowing about what they sell. I was genuinely shocked our salesman knew as much as I did. He also had a working knowledge of the interior workings.
The world of sales will always attract folks who are more about the commission, undoubtedly. More than I would prefer, as you need to weed through them to get to ones who are standup. But honest, ethical, and knowledgeable salesman do exist. My 2 cents

 

[Never thought]

I drove a 2018 A4, and the salesman knew EVERYTHING about the car. It was very impressive. But the A4 didn’t have the wow factor the Stinger GT has, and is significantly smaller. I never drove a Giulia because reliability was so horrendous. I don’t have time to deal with a car that’s always in the shop. Sorry to go off topic here a bit...

 

[mldavis2]

I bought five Pontiacs from the same salesman and dealership over the past 20 years. He knew his cars and he knew me and what I would and would not accept or tolerate. Sadly Pontiac is a fond memory and the salesman has gone to another dealership selling Buicks and trucks.

But there is no excuse for a car salesman not to know his cars. How long during the day do they spend with no customers when they could be reading literature and asking questions? Pencils yesterday, cars today, vacuum cleaners tomorrow. Typical of too many salesmen. Find one you can work with and give him business.

 

[Merkur720]

The funny thing is that I found the Stinger via the AR Giulia site. Someone stated that the Stinger will be competing with the Giulia, so that is when I started looking and trying to learn. I think I am leaning towards the Stinger.

I think you’ll be happier in the long term with the Stinger. The Alfa is undoubtedly beautiful and likely great on a twisty road. But in the normal reality of life, I think the size, cargo flexibility, interior layout, and reliability will be so much more satisfying with the Stinger in typical rush hour; day to day traffic, seasons, etc.

The Alfa would be a great “Sunday driver”, IMO.