Never had a car that turned so many heads.

[Lawrence Williams]

Ran into a local McDonald's (mickey D's) for a quick bite of crap food...... I know , I know...... Elderly woman sitting in fairly nice Jeep 4dr waves for me to come over......unsure of her motivation, I cautiously move forward......She asked the obvious question; what kind of car is that? I asked, what do you think it is? She spouts out new Jaguar? Nope , it's a Kia !

She's like , I took pictures and sent them to my sister who told me that was a stingray......STINGER I corrected her......

So the adulation continued , I told her thank you and have a merry Christmas.

3 days prior, I'm heading home and just moving through traffic when I notice a convertible 3 series in chase mode. I add a bit more and finally allow him to pass me by as we come up to a light. I fall in right behind him and he gets on the throttle hard so I switch to Sport and punched it......overtaking him with ease.....as we get to next light like , the excitement in his face .....like a kid in a candy store .....what car is THIS?! You know the response.......but more than anything his respect for our machines was truly earnest and inspiring.

 

[Flameangel]

Got out of my car today and up pulls a HCR Stinger to park next to me, " hello fellow Stinger owner " I say to the beaming gent getting out,
" I met you a while back at the servo " he said, then it all came flooding back......months ago I was filling her up and this gent had approached me and asked about the Stinger and I had opened the door for him to look inside etc, he had been contemplating buying one.
After our meeting he had ordered one and now has this red Beauty which came last August, " I love it " he stated and we had a chat, we were both chatting when a couple and their teenage son came up, "my husband loves Stingers " says the wife, the husband takes pics of the cars and asked us some questions. I show the wife the inside of the car " oh it's really nice " she says, they like the Micro blue and Silver it seems, he's contemplating trading in his Mustang for a Stinger.
Hope that was another recruitment

 

[RedCal]

KIA prolly owes you a commission cheque now

 

[Intelliburn]

Got out of my car today and up pulls a HCR Stinger to park next to me, " hello fellow Stinger owner " I say to the beaming gent getting out,
" I met you a while back at the servo " he said, then it all came flooding back......months ago I was filling her up and this gent had approached me and asked about the Stinger and I had opened the door for him to look inside etc, he had been contemplating buying one.
After our meeting he had ordered one and now has this red Beauty which came last August, " I love it " he stated and we had a chat, we were both chatting when a couple and their teenage son came up, "my husband loves Stingers " says the wife, the husband takes pics of the cars and asked us some questions. I show the wife the inside of the car " oh it's really nice " she says, they like the Micro blue and Silver it seems, he's contemplating trading in his Mustang for a Stinger.
Hope that was another recruitment
View attachment 66628View attachment 66629

Good work!!!

 

[Flameangel]

The other day I drove my son to the shops, I reversed into a park and waited.
When he returned he told me how a lady stopped him on the way. They were sitting nearby watching. A young man in his twenties and his Mum.
The lady had said “ sorry, I need to ask you a question, is that a Stinger or a Jaguar? “
He replied “ Stinger “ , she went on to ask the brand and bombarded him with more questions, he had to reply “ I don’t know those answers, Mum would know “, I would have been happy to oblige but they had moved off shortly after he returned to the car.

 

[KAS]

The other day I drove my son to the shops, I reversed into a park and waited.
When he returned he told me how a lady stopped him on the way. They were sitting nearby watching. A young man in his twenties and his Mum.
The lady had said “ sorry, I need to ask you a question, is that a Stinger or a Jaguar? “
He replied “ Stinger “ , she went on to ask the brand and bombarded him with more questions, he had to reply “ I don’t know those answers, Mum would know “, I would have been happy to oblige but they had moved off shortly after he returned to the car.

People have mistaken mine for a Jaguar, too.

 

[rpoffen]

Had a couple gentleman come up and comment on mine when I was in the local lowe’s parking lot.

 

[MerlintheMad]

As I put my walking sticks into the hatch after my walk today, a guy standing beside his SUV a couple of parking spaces away asked, "Is that a Jag?" (second time someone has asked that): I pointed to the wheels and said, "The wheels tell all." He said, "Kia? No way. What car is that?" And the conversation was launched. It was easily the longest Stinger conversation I have had, probably fifteen minutes anyway: I covered a lot, and he asked a lot of questions.

 

[KAS]

As I put my walking sticks into the hatch after my walk today, a guy standing beside his SUV a couple of parking spaces away asked, "Is that a Jag?" (second time someone has asked that): I pointed to the wheels and said, "The wheels tell all." He said, "Kia? No way. What car is that?" And the conversation was launched. It was easily the longest Stinger conversation I have had, probably fifteen minutes anyway: I covered a lot, and he asked a lot of questions.

I've had the exact same experience - right down to the bystander guessing it was a Jag.

 

[ht_addict]

Nothing beats a Maserati owner telling you, " that's a nice looking car"

 

[eljay]

Hadn't had any comments for a very, very long time, and then when my pest service guy out to do a check last week, he walked into the garage and said, "Niiiice car!" I showed him the hatch and the interior, and he was impressed by the puddle lights under the doors. Fun to have people still noticing a four-year-old car.

 

[rpoffen]

I’ve had both ends of the spectrum, those that want to know what make the car is and can’t believe it is a Kia. Then most recently, a guy that knew about the car, but had never seen one up close. He commented that it was cool that it was AWD and wondered if they all came with it and I told him it was optional, but seemed to be a popular option in my experience.

 

[lostangeleman]

People have mistaken mine for a Jaguar, too.

i get a BMW a lot, prolly the grill and the 23 headlights

 

[Buzzman12]

Took my Stinger out of hibernation a few days ago when the weather was good, and drove over to Tim Hortons (Canadian coffee shop).
Parked it near the shop and went in to order my tea and donut.
As I'm waiting, the drive through attendant leaves his station, walks over to me and asks if I was the owner of the white car outside the shop.
(He saw me pull into the parking lot through his window.)
I said yes. He's got a huge grin on his face and starts telling me what a cool car it is, and then asks all the usual questions, like what is it, what's under the hood, etc etc. I guess he just had to know what it was.
Same thing happened earlier this year when I pulled in to a convenience store to buy my lottery tickets.
Customer saw me get out of the car, and comes over and start a ten minute conversation about the car.
I am constantly amazed at the positive attention this car gets.
It is so exclusive around my area that when people see it, they don't know what to make of it.

 

[felixthemaster]

I get a lot of looks from middle aged men. My friend jokes he gets the same for his Merc E400.
I'm not even upset, they know how to appreciate a good car

 

[Buzzman12]

I get a lot of looks from middle aged men. My friend jokes he gets the same for his Merc E400.
I'm not even upset, they know how to appreciate a good car

I get people of all ages look at the car and come up and ask questions.
Last summer I was parked near a Dairy Queen, and I could see two young guys, probably no more than 16 years old, looking at the car, trying to be discreet.
I Looked at them and said, hey, are you interested in seeing the car?
Their eyes lit up and they came up and asked the usual questions. I could see the star studded look in their eyes.
I'm a senior now, but I remember as a teen seeing my first Jaguar XKE in the flesh. I was absolutely awestruck (I still want one by the way......lol).
These kids had the same look.
When I decided years ago that I wanted a Stinger, it wasn't because I was looking to show it off, or get looks from strangers.
I just loved the car and felt the need to own and drive one. The attention it gets is a side effect I wasn't expecting.
It's a very satisfying feeling being the owner of a Stinger. I love this car.

 

[Paihan Lee]

A few years ago, I was driving with my windows down in Long Beach, CA and pulled up to a red light, next to a gentleman in an Audi A4. He rolls his window down and asks, "Hey, can I ask you - is that a hypercar?" Unfortunately, I had to disappoint him by telling him what it actually was. Sure enough, he was surprised to hear that it was a Kia and was able to ask me a couple more questions about the car, before the light turned green. Although I was flattered, it definitely amazed me how my ~$40K GT sedan was mistaken for a $1M+ hypercar.

I absolutely love cars and like many auto enthusiasts, I am constantly researching for and on the lookout for my next vehicle. However, every time I drive my Stinger, I am reminded of how much I love this car and the thoughts of looking for another car to replace it with, go away completely. I've had it since 2018 and am inching towards 100K miles. Not a single, major issue has come about over these past several years with the car. It is truly a shame that they decided to discontinue it. Take away the brand completely - if this weren't a Kia, people would be all over it. It would definitely sell better if it had a logo for BMW, Jaguar, Maserati, or any other luxury brand it's commonly mistaken for. The combination of its appearance, inside and out, performance, utility, and reliability make it a better value than 99% of vehicles on the road today. Only us Stinger owners will truly understand - many others will continue to say, "well, it's still a Kia."

 

[Snicklefritz]

A few years ago, I was driving with my windows down in Long Beach, CA and pulled up to a red light, next to a gentleman in an Audi A4. He rolls his window down and asks, "Hey, can I ask you - is that a hypercar?" Unfortunately, I had to disappoint him by telling him what it actually was. Sure enough, he was surprised to hear that it was a Kia and was able to ask me a couple more questions about the car, before the light turned green. Although I was flattered, it definitely amazed me how my ~$40K GT sedan was mistaken for a $1M+ hypercar.

I absolutely love cars and like many auto enthusiasts, I am constantly researching for and on the lookout for my next vehicle. However, every time I drive my Stinger, I am reminded of how much I love this car and the thoughts of looking for another car to replace it with, go away completely. I've had it since 2018 and am inching towards 100K miles. Not a single, major issue has come about over these past several years with the car. It is truly a shame that they decided to discontinue it. Take away the brand completely - if this weren't a Kia, people would be all over it. It would definitely sell better if it had a logo for BMW, Jaguar, Maserati, or any other luxury brand it's commonly mistaken for. The combination of its appearance, inside and out, performance, utility, and reliability make it a better value than 99% of vehicles on the road today. Only us Stinger owners will truly understand - many others will continue to say, "well, it's still a Kia."

It is still a KIA. I sport the original "Ford" elliptical KIA badge on both of my Stingers. This will increase the attention the cars get as the years pass. The future is unwritten. If your sentiments evolve into a niche for enthusiasts, then the Stinger will have its place secured as a car that endures. And you know what means. It all depends on where KIA goes. If KIA grows so too will the desirability for the Stinger. And those 2018-2021 Stingers that came out with the original, "vintage" KIA badge will be best represented as-such, which is why I keep mine.