Ok or Walk away

[Boosh]

Why is there multiple posts for the same thing?

These posts should be merged
Original post

I felt like it should have been a new one in here after having 3rd party check it out and potentially moving into buying.

 

[Boosh]

Clearly you want this car and are just looking at some validation. I haven't bought a used car in decades and there is a reason for that. 1. I like a car that I know everything about. 2. I keep it new so I am always driving a new car.

People rarely change cars because there is nothing wrong with them. Remember the guy in here some time back who had the best Mazda something you ever saw. Wanted a premium price then complained the trade in was low for the new Stinger he wanted. He mentioned afterwards that the seat warmer was busted and would cost $1000 to fix and the brakes were stuffed but hey he showed that dealer didn't he....

If this car was at a Kia dealership, certified, and you had the Kia warranty on the engine and everything else was immaculate I would say yes, but now you are talking about bent rims......

The fixation is the new engine. A pin prick hole where? Manufacturers sell every part of an engine and a rebuild is still always cheaper........

I think you are going to be in a world of pain with this car but if you really want it...........

Yea this advice is fully noted, and most times I agree, I just want to make sure I wasn’t passing up something that would turn out to be fine and have new tires, brakes, etc.

 

[David Mullenix]

Yea this advice is fully noted, and most times I agree, I just want to make sure I wasn’t passing up something that would turn out to be fine and have new tires, brakes, etc.

Look into Autotrader, there are 28 GTS trim cars for sale in the US, I found an example with 45k miles for $29k. Shipping is considerably less than the $5k you’d save, take your time. I wish I would’ve shopped around more instead of buying the easy to access local sale.

 

[D.J.]

Sorry, had a long better response but wouldn't let me share. Question is, will this car be a good choice to hold up or should I walk away not trusting the previous owner? Engine was replaced under warranty but 3rd party mechanic gave it his approval for trans and everything else.

Without knowing significantly more about the "why" - literally everyone here can only guess. We are all only guessing at why the engine was replaced under warranty.

Engine was replaced by factory trained technicians, at the dealership, under warranty. This is not a common occurrence, but also, shouldn't be a significant cause for alarm. It is a notable item, which warrants closer inspection, which you already did.

You had a 3rd party mechanic inspected it top to bottom knowing the status, and the 3rd party gave it a full pass, with no observations

What more could you possibly want?

 

[Boosh]

Without knowing significantly more about the "why" - literally everyone here can only guess. We are all only guessing at why the engine was replaced under warranty.

Engine was replaced by factory trained technicians, at the dealership, under warranty. This is not a common occurrence, but also, shouldn't be a significant cause for alarm. It is a notable item, which warrants closer inspection, which you already did.

You had a 3rd party mechanic inspected it top to bottom knowing the status, and the 3rd party gave it a full pass, with no observations

What more could you possibly want?

You know that’s a valid point all the major stuff seems to check out, only easily fixable stuff left at dealer expense. I’m just trying to cross all my T’s as theirs so much hate for used stingers and Kia dealerships.

 

[Boosh]

Look into Autotrader, there are 28 GTS trim cars for sale in the US, I found an example with 45k miles for $29k. Shipping is considerably less than the $5k you’d save, take your time. I wish I would’ve shopped around more instead of buying the easy to access local sale.

Interesting I only saw 9 and none were near the deal you pointed out. What’s the best way to do a long distance sale though by making sure it checks out when you can’t travel?

 

[David Mullenix]

Interesting I only saw 9 and none were near the deal you pointed out. What’s the best way to do a long distance sale though by making sure it checks out when you can’t travel?

It looks like a few are duplicates but several options between $29-$40k on my end. There are dealers that will document every scratch, dent, detail of the car as well as in depth video all over and underneath the car. They will also give a time frame to reverse the deal if anything not disclosed is found after delivery. Not ideal but an option, if they won’t agree to all of the above it’s not worth the risk.

 

[Buzzman12]

People rarely change cars because there is nothing wrong with them. Remember the guy in here some time back who had the best Mazda something you ever saw. Wanted a premium price then complained the trade in was low for the new Stinger he wanted. He mentioned afterwards that the seat warmer was busted and would cost $1000 to fix and the brakes were stuffed but hey he showed that dealer didn't he....

Hey man. How are ya? I'm the guy with the Mazda, and I have been here the whole time. I've had the Stinger for a few months now, and have a whopping 550 miles on it. It's my garage queen.
I went for the Stinger not because I wanted a replacement for the Mazda, but I wanted the Stinger as an additional vehicle, and as my dream "halo" car. I was finally in a position to be able to afford to treat myself, so the Stinger was it.
I dangled the Mazda in front of the dealer, just to see what he would offer. As an aside, if I had traded the Mazda, I would have bought another car as my winter DD. (I had a 2002 Nissan Pathfinder for that purpose, and it served me until 2021). The Mazda has yet to see a full winter because of that Pathy (great vehicle btw).
You are right about the heated seat cushion, and I'll give you that one. I have not fixed it. The brakes however were done last month on all four corners, even though the car only has 26,000 miles on it (it's a 2017). I also had it buffed and ceramic coated as well as Krown rustproofed at the same time.
The cosmetics of the car are flawless still. No scratches, dings or parking lot stuff. That part is true. I can post pictures if you don't believe me.
The more interesting part (again, you'll have to take my word for it, but you don't have to), but two weeks ago I received a cash offer for it, for $4k more than what the Kia dealer was offering when I bought the Stinger. I turned it down.
At the end of the day, the Mazda is still in my driveway and will be my DD unless something unexpected happens.
Hope that clears things up somewhat.
As for the Stinger, I have zero regrets so far. It is an awesome car and I plan to keep it until I'm no longer around. My kids can deal with it then. lol

 

[Boosh]

Without knowing significantly more about the "why" - literally everyone here can only guess. We are all only guessing at why the engine was replaced under warranty.

Engine was replaced by factory trained technicians, at the dealership, under warranty. This is not a common occurrence, but also, shouldn't be a significant cause for alarm. It is a notable item, which warrants closer inspection, which you already did.

You had a 3rd party mechanic inspected it top to bottom knowing the status, and the 3rd party gave it a full pass, with no observations

What more could you possibly want?

Finally got the service doc from Kia, they have it labeled as ”knock at idle” and replaced under warranty for “Rod bearing failure”

 

[Boosh]

Here is the official reasoning for the engine replacement.

 

[D.J.]

Here is the official reasoning for the engine replacement.

Nothing there looks to be cause for concern - to me.

Wonder what the real story was - customer ran engine with low/no oil for a while, then added oil before being inspected by Kia? Hypothetical

 

[Boosh]

Nothing there looks to be cause for concern - to me.

Wonder what the real story was - customer ran engine with low/no oil for a while, then added oil before being inspected by Kia? Hypothetical

Well I will note the carfax report this guy going about 4k-8.5k miles between all his oil changes

 

[Snicklefritz]

Nothing there looks to be cause for concern - to me.

Wonder what the real story was - customer ran engine with low/no oil for a while, then added oil before being inspected by Kia? Hypothetical

Well I will note the carfax report this guy going about 4k-8.5k miles between all his oil changes

only an engine hemorrhaging oil could run dry, and that would either mean clueless while losing oil because of a botched oil change or some other leak. oil doesn't disappear into the ether. if the fault was loss of oil for any other reason than a botched oil change and it happened on a long enough drive to not leave time for parking and seeing the oil on the ground then the engine was defective and grenaded itself.

8.5 thousand miles between oil changes is not excessive for once in a while. I saw a video on here of mechanics sharing wild customer stories, about a woman who, as I recall, bought her bmw new and had over 60,000 miles on it and it wouldn't start, would turn over but die. they showed the removed drain plug with this black sludge hardly oozing from the hole at all. in all that time the driver had never changed the oil, only added to it. the mechanics said that they cleaned out the pan and ran some cleaner through the engine, topped the oil off fresh and she drove away no harm done! Ima sure her engine's lifespan is shot down the road, but in the meantime her car was okay. don't try this at home or anywhere else.

 

[stingerwanter]

There are other Stingers that people have taken care of. I say, pass on this one. Why risk it?

 

[JSolo]

Here is the official reasoning for the engine replacement.

No alignment when replacing an engine? Don't they drop the entire front engine cradle/assembly to remove?

Re oil loss - it's either leaking out, or burning. If oil level increases, fuel dilution (or some gasket is leaking and other fluids mixing in).

 

[Boosh]

There are other Stingers that people have taken care of. I say, pass on this one. Why risk it?

The things keeping me in this particular car are 0 mile engine, trans has checked out (best to our efforts of course) and everything else, new tires/brakes/rotors, GTS trim/AWD, and budget/time in life allows for this but may not in the relative future. Overall, I just want to make sure this one doesn't pan out to be perfectly normal and I pass on those things versus finding a well taken car of one later with say 30k miles, but so does the engine/tires/etc.

 

[D.J.]

Some say buy it
Some say stay away

Maybe start a poll - But do you care about the results?

We are just rando's on the internet - we will never agree.
If a 0 mile long block is important to you, this is the one - but all the engine peripherals (turbos, wastegates etc.) still have 44k miles on them.

 

[Boosh]

Some say buy it
Some say stay away

Maybe start a poll - But do you care about the results?

We are just rando's on the internet - we will never agree.
If a 0 mile long block is important to you, this is the one - but all the engine peripherals (turbos, wastegates etc.) still have 44k miles on them.

Yea I get what you are saying and I do care, maybe like 70/30 for impacting the decision lol but you are right, everybody I talk to or have said anything it's all don't or do, like 50 split.

In regards to the engine, I thought the service doc showed new everything such as turbos? Or was I reading that wrong, cause that would change things.

 

[D.J.]

Yea I get what you are saying and I do care, maybe like 70/30 for impacting the decision lol but you are right, everybody I talk to or have said anything it's all don't or do, like 50 split.

In regards to the engine, I thought the service doc showed new everything such as turbos? Or was I reading that wrong, cause that would change things.

New turbos?

Did you read the doc you posted?
They even re-used the old water pump.


1 new long block - and a bunch of gaskets - the gaskets are only needed to bolt on and re-use the existing components.

 

[Boosh]

New turbos?

Did you read the doc you posted?
They even re-used the old water pump.


1 new long block - and a bunch of gaskets - the gaskets are only needed to bolt on and re-use the existing components.

Ah you right, I glazed over the "gasket-turbocharger". Good catch, and yea that does make a big difference in the decision cause a whole new engine assembly was the main player keeping me in the game.