Why not a family car? Tough market because most of the grocery haulers are going away from sedans to UV's (that's Utility Vehicles, NOT "sport" utility vehicles 'cuz there ain't no sport in any of them outside of the Cayenne turbo and Lambo Uris). My dilemma, until I found the Stinger, is that "touring" sedans or coupes with a bit of power and handling, were all very expensive. And while I am able to buy an "M" or "AMG" my wife would have me sleeping in the backyard for "wasting" money. She hauls groceries, I haul a$$. Stinger goes both ways.
So while the price near $50,000 is not cheap, and you can buy a couple of Kia UV's for what a Stinger costs, they are no fun for a car lover. Oh sure, you can "have fun" playing Nintendo on the LCD screen while you let the automatic cruise control drive for you. Or you can wait for the self-driving cars and let someone else drive. I'll be dead before that happens -- unless the self-driving cars can be made to drift on command.
But I digress.... I looked at a dozen potential replacements for my venerable Pontiac G8 GT. That and my GTO have lots of front
seat leg room to the side. All cars can shove the
seat back far enough for Shaquille O'Neal, but almost all of the newer cars have widened the center dash and console area and taken side knee room away from us 6'4"'ers. The Honda Accord came close and at my age I almost bought one, but the starter button housing has a bulge that hits me in the right knee in my preferred seating position which is a deal-breaker on long trips. And only a 2.0L turbo 255HP which is marginal, no handling package, just boring and ubiquitous.
So I looked at the Stinger. Gas mileage is not great at 25mpg highway. It requires premium fuel as all turbocharged engines. Lots of bells and whistles means risky electronic failures past warranty unless you buy thousand of dollars of extended insurance, so I always self-insure and take care of my stuff. But it's a slick ride, mid-priced above the UV's and below the AMG's, Audi's, BMW's. Kia quality control and J.D. Powers scores are at the top of the chart. It's worth one last crazy fun car before I get too old to get in and out of one.
