After reading about the Stinger, seeing a million video reviews etc I decided I wanted to test drive one and see what all the hype was about.
Went to Kia of Streetsboro because previously my wife had a 2011 Optima and they helped with some issues she had with it, so I figured I'd return the favor and possibly purchase a Stinger from them...
Got there - pulled in with my 2014 Cadillac ATS, just about as soon as my feet hit the pavement the sales guy was talking to me. Asked me about my car, said he owned a DTS etc - we chatted about my wife's Cadillac XTS then moved on to me asking if I could test drive the Silver Stinger GT AWD they had on the lot.
He said sure no problem, lets get a copy of your license and I'll grab the keys...
We go inside and I sit there while he goes to get the key - he comes back and informs me that his manager said that if anyone wanted to drive the Stinger they needed to have a credit check run first...
I said "You're f*cking kidding right?" to which he replied "no..." to which I replied "No thanks, not going to run my credit just for a test drive, good luck selling the car to someone else..."
I got up and left, while driving home (30 min drive) pissed off I decided to call the store and speak to the sales manager and at least give him/her a piece of my mind. I got a "manager" on the phone and laid into them - but seemed like it was worthless, so I hung up and decided to find another dealership that had a Stinger for sale near me... it took me about a week (due to time constraints) but I found another one semi-close and went there and drove it and loved it.
Funny thing did happen though - the manager (or store manager?) called me from Kia of Streetsboro about 2 minutes after I had hung up after giving the other manager a piece of my mind - he informed me that the sales man was "mistaken" and that he did NOT need to run my credit - but that I needed to be "pre-approved" before I could drive it... and wanted me to come back and he would "personally work with me and take care of me..." to which I said "No thanks, I'll find another dealer..."
I did end up looking at the Stinger on their lot before all the shit went down with the credit check/pre-approval process and it looks like they do some pretty shady shit there as well - the window sticker said something like $41,500 for the Stinger and they had the 3m upholstery coating, and a few other worthless add-ons on a side sticker which brought the price to like $45,000...
Went to Kia of Streetsboro because previously my wife had a 2011 Optima and they helped with some issues she had with it, so I figured I'd return the favor and possibly purchase a Stinger from them...
Got there - pulled in with my 2014 Cadillac ATS, just about as soon as my feet hit the pavement the sales guy was talking to me. Asked me about my car, said he owned a DTS etc - we chatted about my wife's Cadillac XTS then moved on to me asking if I could test drive the Silver Stinger GT AWD they had on the lot.
He said sure no problem, lets get a copy of your license and I'll grab the keys...
We go inside and I sit there while he goes to get the key - he comes back and informs me that his manager said that if anyone wanted to drive the Stinger they needed to have a credit check run first...
I said "You're f*cking kidding right?" to which he replied "no..." to which I replied "No thanks, not going to run my credit just for a test drive, good luck selling the car to someone else..."
I got up and left, while driving home (30 min drive) pissed off I decided to call the store and speak to the sales manager and at least give him/her a piece of my mind. I got a "manager" on the phone and laid into them - but seemed like it was worthless, so I hung up and decided to find another dealership that had a Stinger for sale near me... it took me about a week (due to time constraints) but I found another one semi-close and went there and drove it and loved it.
Funny thing did happen though - the manager (or store manager?) called me from Kia of Streetsboro about 2 minutes after I had hung up after giving the other manager a piece of my mind - he informed me that the sales man was "mistaken" and that he did NOT need to run my credit - but that I needed to be "pre-approved" before I could drive it... and wanted me to come back and he would "personally work with me and take care of me..." to which I said "No thanks, I'll find another dealer..."
I did end up looking at the Stinger on their lot before all the shit went down with the credit check/pre-approval process and it looks like they do some pretty shady shit there as well - the window sticker said something like $41,500 for the Stinger and they had the 3m upholstery coating, and a few other worthless add-ons on a side sticker which brought the price to like $45,000...
