3.3TT Pre-owned Stinger Transmission feels weird, jerky when shifting

[Bluesting18]

Just had a quick question, bought an 18 pre-owned stinger with around 6k miles, now with around 9k and i noticed the shifting has always felt like it makes the car jerk a little, although I'm kind of noticing it more now. Is this normal? I don't think i felt it on a new stinger test drive, but idk if overtime its normal on any car? Someone already told me i should get it checked but the dealer charges me ~$160 per concern and i really dont want to waste that money and then have them tell me that there is nothing wrong. I can really notice it when its shifts from 2nd to 3rd and 4th especially in manual mode when upshifting and downshifting, and Its not because of how fast im going, because i can feel it at low speeds. Would there be any place y'all would recommend in California that can get it checked properly?

 

[Jays_stinger]

Its pre owned and still under warranty... why would they charge you to look at it if you think theirs an issue...

 

[Adamdan]

Just had a quick question, bought an 18 pre-owned stinger with around 6k miles, now with around 9k and i noticed the shifting has always felt like it makes the car jerk a little, although I'm kind of noticing it more now. Is this normal? I don't think i felt it on a new stinger test drive, but idk if overtime its normal on any car? Someone already told me i should get it checked but the dealer charges me ~$160 per concern and i really dont want to waste that money and then have them tell me that there is nothing wrong. I can really notice it when its shifts from 2nd to 3rd and 4th especially in manual mode when upshifting and downshifting, and Its not because of how fast im going, because i can feel it at low speeds. Would there be any place y'all would recommend in California that can get it checked properly?

Take it to any Kia dealer. They should not charge you anything to look into the issue.

 

[Bluesting18]

Thats what i thought and asked them too but they told me if there is an issue that is covered under the warranty, then they wouldnt charge me, but if not then they would have to charge me otherwise per concern.

 

[Adamdan]

Thats what i thought and asked them too but they told me if there is an issue that is covered under the warranty, then they wouldnt charge me, but if not then they would have to charge me otherwise per concern.

I would go to another dealer that’s bull.

 

[Bluesting18]

I ended up calling the second one closest to me which is like 40 minutes away and they charge 150, and told me that if its something that does need to be fixed and is covered under warranty, there would be no charge but if its not covered, i would get charged the 150 fee on top of the repairs if i choose to get it fixed with them. No charge if there is nothing wrong. I guess my concern is that maybe theyll try to charge me and I'll have no solution.

 

[SteveCo]

Go to the dealer and tell the service manager of your concern, and ask to drive one of their demo cars to see if the shifting on that one has the same 'feel' to you. If you still feel that yours is abnormal, ask if someone can come with you for a ride so you can get their opinion.

Unless you run up against a really bad dealer, I can't see them refusing to accommodate these reasonable requests.

 

[Bluesting18]

Go to the dealer and tell the service manager of your concern, and ask to drive one of their demo cars to see if the shifting on that one has the same 'feel' to you. If you still feel that yours is abnormal, ask if someone can come with you for a ride so you can get their opinion.

Unless you run up against a really bad dealer, I can't see them refusing to accommodate these reasonable requests.

Go to the dealer and tell the service manager of your concern, and ask to drive one of their demo cars to see if the shifting on that one has the same 'feel' to you. If you still feel that yours is abnormal, ask if someone can come with you for a ride so you can get their opinion.

Unless you run up against a really bad dealer, I can't see them refusing to accommodate these reasonable requests.

I had that in mind, I'll go ahead and give that a try.

 

[ecko04]

I don’t understand.

You have a 2018 with 9K miles on it. If you don’t take that thing to the dealership and call it a day. You’re making this much more complex than it needs to be. It doesn’t matter if you bought it used as long as the title is clean, the warranties are valid and transferrable (granted your powertrain is reduced to 5/60) but you’re way under that.

They won’t charge you anything. You’re within the bounds of the factory warranty. Don’t plead your case with anyone. Drop it off, tell them what concerns you and call it a day.

 

[Stinger Girl]

I ended up calling the second one closest to me which is like 40 minutes away and they charge 150, and told me that if its something that does need to be fixed and is covered under warranty, there would be no charge but if its not covered, i would get charged the 150 fee on top of the repairs if i choose to get it fixed with them. No charge if there is nothing wrong. I guess my concern is that maybe theyll try to charge me and I'll have no solution.

Ok, wait....if I'm reading this right then the only way you would be charged the $150 is if 1) something's wrong that's not under warranty, and 2) you CHOOSE to have them repair it. So if they find something wrong that's not under warranty, choose to have it repaired somewhere else and problem solved.

Aside from that, if that's their policy then ask for their policy in writing.

 

[Bluesting18]

Yeah the first dealership made it seem more complicated and sound as if i would pay the fee. The second dealership told me they'll only charge the fee if they do find a problem, but its not covered under warranty, regardless of whether i fix it there or not. I'm dropping it off tomorrow morning, but they might keep it for a couple days until they can get to it since they are busy with appts.

 

[ecko04]

It’s practically impossible that you’ll be charged for anything unless it was your, or the previous owner’s, own doing. Hard to imagine that would be the case with a jerky transmission.

It’s under warranty. Drop it off and call it a day.

 

[Oryan]

Some of the earlier Stingers have more aggressive transmission tuning which can make the car shift harder. It may not be an actual issue, it may just have that more aggressive logic. If that's the case, a simple TSB is out which should soften it up if that's what you'd prefer.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I've been offered the trans logic flash TSB several times over the last half year. The service manager makes sure I know about it, and I say that I'll pass because I don't consider the shifting in my Stinger to be faulty. I can feel it "bump" too, but it isn't annoying or uncomfortable or in any way alarming.

 

[Doel]

For me, the transmission is definitely pretty "jerky" when in sports mode, I like it that way. It's smooth in comfort. If it's jerky in comfort mode, I would bring it in.

 

[GNS]

That's not how warranties work. You don't get charged a diagnostic fee for looking at something that is related to the warranty. I'm not at all surprised that a Kia dealer would be pulling these tricks, though.

 

[BlaydeX15]

Mine jerks from 2-3 and 3-4 when very cold (like, below 0f). Other than that, it really only jerks if you adjust throttle during a shift, or when rapidly downshift/upshifting. Transmission is really smooth the rest of the time, I can barely tell where the shifts are on flat ground from a stop, unless I mash the gas.

It's really bad if you force a lot of rapid shifts via cruise control though. There's a hill out by my work that's pretty steep, I'll set cruise to 50, and by the bottom the car will reach 60 or so, so it downshifts 7-6-5-4 to keep speed in check. Then the hill goes flat immediately, so the car shifts back up, 5-6-7-8. All in the space of like 10 seconds. Each one of those shifts is really noticeable.

I have a feeling the car doesn't like shifting when outside of an optimal RPM band, and you might be replicating a similar pattern with your manual shifting.

Still though, have it looked at.

 

[nhcowboy28]

Where exactly did you buy the car from?

Was it a true KIA CPO car?

Or just a used Kia on a lot (Kia dealership or otherwise)?

 

[Bluesting18]

Sorry, Just got back after having another accident with my other car so i had to delay dropping it off as i needed to use the Stinger while the other car gets fixed. I bought it at a Dodge dealership but not CPO. I can notice the shifting feels more aggressive when in Sport mode but i do get the bumpy feeling even when in eco sometimes. Its almost as if the shifting pulls you into the seat a little. I thought it could just be something normal but am surprised on how noticeable it is especially in sport and/or manual mode when upshifting and downshifting myself around 2nd-4th gears, but i should be getting it checked. Another thing i get is when i put the car into Park, sometimes there is a loud pop/thump that sounds like it comes from the engine bay. I was able to record it yesterday by surprise, but its random and when i tried recreating it, i didn't hear it anymore. Its louder in person. You can hear it around 00:05 seconds. Any idea?
I have a video of that here:

 

[Adamdan]

Sorry, Just got back after having another accident with my other car so i had to delay dropping it off as i needed to use the Stinger while the other car gets fixed. I bought it at a Dodge dealership but not CPO. I can notice the shifting feels more aggressive when in Sport mode but i do get the bumpy feeling even when in eco sometimes. Its almost as if the shifting pulls you into the seat a little. I thought it could just be something normal but am surprised on how noticeable it is especially in sport and/or manual mode when upshifting and downshifting myself around 2nd-4th gears, but i should be getting it checked. Another thing i get is when i put the car into Park, sometimes there is a loud pop/thump that sounds like it comes from the engine. I was able to record it yesterday by surprise, but its random and when i tried recreating it, i didn't hear it anymore. Its louder in person. You can hear it around 00:05 seconds. Any idea?
I have a video of that here:

That does not sound normal.