What did you pay for your Kia Stinger?

[RogueIV]

edit, Whoops wrong place!

 

[CapitalGains]

I just did the same thing on mine. I was very concerned about the paint as well. As long as you are careful and take your time, its not likely to cause damage. I did the fish line method and cut through the double sided tape above the paint line. once the badges were off, you can scrape off the remaining tape gently with a fingernail and then a bit of goo gone to remove residue.

The most important thing is to not rush the job and yank the badges off mid way. I've seen a couple of videos where guys have done that and ended up turfing the paint.

If you end up scuffing the clear coat a bit, you can get car scratch remover from anywhere and gently buff it smooth if needed.

any issues with putting the circle badge over the original oval footprint? I ordered the circle (yours looks great), but I was beginning to wonder if residue or fading would show around the edges of the circle where the oval once was.

any specific YouTube tutorials you watched and liked? I've viewed a couple so far, no one has used a fishing line that I've seen yet (they used heat gun).

 

[Robilar]

any issues with putting the circle badge over the original oval footprint? I ordered the circle (yours looks great), but I was beginning to wonder if residue or fading would show around the edges of the circle where the oval once was.

any specific YouTube tutorials you watched and liked? I've viewed a couple so far, no one has used a fishing line that I've seen yet (they used heat gun).

In the front yes, I was concerned about that as well but once all the residue was removed it was fine. As you can see from my front hood pic, the paint is fine. I did not polish or buff, that was right after mounting it.

Fading is a different question. Although my car is a 2019, it sat in storage underground for a year and a half before I bought it with on 2000km on it. The car wasn't in direct sunlight and as such there wouldn't be any potential for paint fade. other used cars that have sat outside, I expect there might be some.

I had a heat gun on hand for when I did mine but the car had sat in the sun for a couple of hours and the badges were hot to the touch so no need.

Most of the youtube videos I watched showed me what not to do (as in getting impatient and yanking the badges off while still partly stuck).

Fishing line makes the most sense because you are cutting through the 3M tape above the line where it touches the car. No scraping on the actual paint. When I took both badges off, a lot of the adhesive was still on the car (which is a good thing).

 

[Aloneinthefog1]

Crazy what the used ones are going for right now in Canada. I saw a 2019 GT Limited (same as mine) with 9000km on it going for 42k from a dealership... I got with a quarter of that mileage for a lot less. So tempting to sell mine . Talk about easy profit.

I, like you bought a used stinger but only because I wanted the US GTS RWD specifically for how its optioned, couldn't find a new one and had a helluva time finding the one I've got with 5000 miles on it and I paid $42.500 USD and so far it's been worth every penny!

 

[CapitalGains]

I, like you bought a used stinger but only because I wanted the US GTS RWD specifically for how its optioned, couldn't find a new one and had a helluva time finding the one I've got with 5000 miles on it and I paid $42.500 USD and so far it's been worth every penny!

what do you like best about the GTS? I wanted one, but I couldn't find one below $39k.

 

[Aloneinthefog1]

The best part that I like is that it has no "action assisted features" (drive wise) and that it has a cable shifter instead of an electronic shifter, now granted there's options I would like to have like the Heads up display, torque meter and full instrumentation but to get those you gotta get a GT2 so I'm good with what I got, she was set up to drift and she does it flawlessly

 

[CapitalGains]

I'd be afraid to attempt to drift, I'd probably have it in a ditch in no time. That is really sweet though.

 

[Aloneinthefog1]

I'd be afraid to attempt to drift, I'd probably have it in a ditch in no time. That is really sweet though.

Lol it takes a little practice if you haven't done it before, my advice would be to try it somewhere out in the open where there's no traffic and you've got room to see what you can and can't do but in this regard the stinger is very manageable and steering responsive with a little practice you could do it

 

[CapitalGains]

Lol it takes a little practice if you haven't done it before, my advice would be to try it somewhere out in the open where there's no traffic and you've got room to see what you can and can't do but in this regard the stinger is very manageable and steering responsive with a little practice you could do it

Maybe an abandoned parking lot would be a good place to start...with no light posts lol

 

[Aloneinthefog1]

Maybe an abandoned parking lot would be a good place to start...with no light posts lol

If you know of such a place, that would be ideal even if it had light poles, just pay attention to what your doing and don't panic if you happen to see one of those pesky light poles trying to hit your car. No matter what else is happening drive the car. Concentrate. As I said before you can do it.

 

[staccz1991]

I bought a White 18 GT Stinger AWD for 32k. One owner was used as a lease vehicle. With 21k miles on it. Inspected it best I can to see if any mods were used. Didnt look like any. Everything looked stock and catback exhaust looked appropriately aged (yes i know its hard to detect any mods by just eyeballing). So far it has been good to me. I just recently debadged and put the E badge and stinger script on back. Also MBRP catback exhaust

 

[CapitalGains]

I bought a White 18 GT Stinger AWD for 32k. One owner was used as a lease vehicle. With 21k miles on it. Inspected it best I can to see if any mods were used. Didnt look like any. Everything looked stock and catback exhaust looked appropriately aged (yes i know its hard to detect any mods by just eyeballing). So far it has been good to me. I just recently debadged and put the E badge and stinger script on back. Also MBRP catback exhaust

Nice, seems like a good deal. How did your rebadge go - any lessons to pass along? I plan to do mine this weekend

 

[staccz1991]

Nice, seems like a good deal. How did your rebadge go - any lessons to pass along? I plan to do mine this weekend

Yes a pretty good deal. Base GT AWD with just the advanced driver assistance package and 18 inch all seasons. I saw some a bit cheaper that were RWD but I wanted AWD because im on the east coast. Drove about 2 hours to get it cause it was the best deal at the time. As far as the rebadge. PATIENCE!! lol seriously I was so amped to put the script badge on I realized on one corner I started to make fine marks in the clear coat with the plastic pry tool. I just slowed down, applied heat liberally and used fishing line to saw away at adhesive behind the kia emblem. After that I was able to pop the emblem off with my hand, goo gone to clean up residue, and silicone to fill the holes.

 

[CapitalGains]

Yes a pretty good deal. Base GT AWD with just the advanced driver assistance package and 18 inch all seasons. I saw some a bit cheaper that were RWD but I wanted AWD because im on the east coast. Drove about 2 hours to get it cause it was the best deal at the time. As far as the rebadge. PATIENCE!! lol seriously I was so amped to put the script badge on I realized on one corner I started to make fine marks in the clear coat with the plastic pry tool. I just slowed down, applied heat liberally and used fishing line to saw away at adhesive behind the kia emblem. After that I was able to pop the emblem off with my hand, goo gone to clean up residue, and silicone to fill the holes.

Yeah, I hear you...I drove 5 hours 1 way to get mine on Saturday and then drove back. LONGGG day, made worse by the 45 minute ambush I got about how dumb I was for not buying the dealer's 3rd party extended warranty on the Stinger.

Anyways, as far as the heat gun goes, did you cover the paint surrounding the badge or did it cause any bubbling? I know they get crazy hot.

And for replacing the rear Kia badge with the "Stinger" script: did you have to fill and paint any holes from the KIA badge posts? From one video I saw on YouTube, the dude had a little trouble getting the Stinger letters to fully cover the former post holes.

 

[staccz1991]

Yeah, I hear you...I drove 5 hours 1 way to get mine on Saturday and then drove back. LONGGG day, made worse by the 45 minute ambush I got about how dumb I was for not buying the dealer's 3rd party extended warranty on the Stinger.

Anyways, as far as the heat gun goes, did you cover the paint surrounding the badge or did it cause any bubbling? I know they get crazy hot.

And for replacing the rear Kia badge with the "Stinger" script: did you have to fill and paint any holes from the KIA badge posts? From one video I saw on YouTube, the dude had a little trouble getting the Stinger letters to fully cover the former post holes.

I did not buy the dealer warranty either. I figured it was still in great shape. It would have been $3700 and change extra for a 100,000 mile warranty. Plus second hand owners kia offers the 5 year 60,000 warranty. ill see if i kick myself for not getting it. Time will tell. I plan on putting an oil catch can with the next oil change.

I did not cover the surrounding paint but I did not have the heat gun up to the highest setting. I went until the emblem felt very hot to touch. When I was heating up the emblem I moved the heat gun back and forth across the emblem while heating. Didnt just aim it at one spot for too long.

For the emblem post holes after removing, I just filled in the holes with clear silicone and took excess off. No Painting. When the badge is aligned correctly, part of the "N" and "G" will cover them correctly.

 

[CapitalGains]

I did not buy the dealer warranty either. I figured it was still in great shape. It would have been $3700 and change extra for a 100,000 mile warranty. Plus second hand owners kia offers the 5 year 60,000 warranty. ill see if i kick myself for not getting it. Time will tell. I plan on putting an oil catch can with the next oil change.

I did not cover the surrounding paint but I did not have the heat gun up to the highest setting. I went until the emblem felt very hot to touch. When I was heating up the emblem I moved the heat gun back and forth across the emblem while heating. Didnt just aim it at one spot for too long.

For the emblem post holes after removing, I just filled in the holes with clear silicone and took excess off. No Painting. When the badge is aligned correctly, part of the "N" and "G" will cover them correctly.

awesome, thanks...they arrive tonight. Wish me luck

 

[CapitalGains]

Just got the badge...it's the round E badge. Looks bent...I assume that's to match the contour of the hood?

 

[Aloneinthefog1]

You'll have to clip one of the pins off to put it on, you'll see it when you get the KIA badge off

 

[staccz1991]

Just got the badge...it's the round E badge. Looks bent...I assume that's to match the contour of the hood?

Yes for the contour.

You'll have to clip one of the pins off to put it on, you'll see it when you get the KIA badge off

^ This is true

 

[goat]

Picked up my 2021 GT2 AWD a week ago for $47,899 + ttl in CA.