Sunset Yellow's Out, and the Dealers will KILL the Stinger.....

[Mach_Tuck]

I hate to tell you, but no, the dealers do NOT have to honor the Costco pricing. There are a few on here even of dealers not honoring the Costco price. It's just like 'TrueCar' with those useless quotes. Unless the dealer sends it to you, from them, with every single thing listed then it's not a quote from them. I had 2 not honor quotes.

I wish everyone the best in getting the Stinger they want. I think everyone should go to those good dealers who help us and let the others ones keep their inventory.

I just got extremely lucky with getting my Sunset Yellow, as I was prepared to do without a Stinger.

Put me down for "Costco quote not honored..." Until it hits the actual contract, talk is cheap.

 

[Joseph Cahn]

I got mine for 1,000 under sticker.

 

[gilthanis1]

I got mine for 1,000 under sticker.

Awesome deal! Congrats on your purchase! I know you'll enjoy it.

 

[mikeceli]

I got mine for 1,000 under sticker.

cOSTCO program, or did you negotiate yourself? Any dealer added items, you had to buy? Enjoy your car!

 

[davebo]

I just got mine to knock off the $900 delivery charge, but I was happy enough with that.

 

[GTmike]

Garden Grove Kia in Southern California is selling a GT limited sunset yellow for 37,000 with no mark ups as of 3/28/2018.. it’s a base GT but you still get the LSD and can’t beat the 37,000. I was going to buy it but wife didn’t approve of the color. I ended up getting a white one.

 

[Leftlane]

I've been to 3 different Kia dealerships in Upstate South Carolina..... Spartanburg, Greer, and Greenville. If Kia does not force these dealers to change and make them quit charging $3-6k or more over MSRP, the Stinger will suffer the same fate as the likes of the GTO, and Chevy SS. You cannot treat a customer like an idiot and flat out lie when you are trying to sell a $50,000+ car. That just doesn't work.....

Greenville got a Sunset Yellow GT2 RWD in today and called me to come see it as I was the first person to ask so they gave me the call when it came in on the truck, and thats where the nice for this stealership ends..... I go, test drive the car, and then they hit me with a $55,000 price tag..... For a car with an MSRP of $50,100.

$4900 OVER MSRP.... I want some of what they are smoking. They flat out lied and told me they 'have to charge a certain price b/c Kia told them to'.... What a load of bullshit when they have the factory sticker sitting there on the desk with the $50,100 MSRP on it. They are trying some really shady shit like $1200 for 'mudflaps' and $1500 for 'Nitrogen in the tires' and they would NOT budge on the price.

The best part is they now have the car listed on their website at $50,100 MSRP with a $47,xxx Invoice price...... I have tried 3 separate times to get a Stinger and the dam stealerships have killed it every time because I refuse to pay over MSRP for anything. I had very high hopes for this car and wanted one for the past 3 years.

Until Kia changes their dam stealerships and treats customers with respect, especially when you are asking $50k for a car I will find a different brand. Anyone want a good used Optima? I am finished with this brand, but I truly wish anyone who got a Stinger the best and I hope you enjoy your car.

That is exactly my fear too when it is time to buy. Have heard really bad things about Kia Dealers. I am not paying MSRP let alone over MSRP!
May have to wait for one on the used market so I can avoid the price gouging hassle and the immediate new car depreciation.

 

[Leftlane]

Galeana(SP?) Kia in Columbia, SC has one and they worked with me on my Stinger. I got them down 3k below their sticker price which was already 2k below the other dealership in Columbia, SC.

I am also from Chapin, SC
Moved to Florida over a year ago, but would gladly drive back to the Palmetto state if that is the best deal on the GT2 I plan to purchase.

 

[Helo58]

The dealership lot was cramped with no place to park, the showroom was noisy and cluttered, I heard "title loan" more than once, the car I wanted wasn't present when I came to look at it because the owner of the dealership was driving it for personal use, they pulled the "monthly payment" thing, low-balled me on my trade, and had a $900 documentation fee that they would not budge on. Needless to say, I didn't buy the car on that trip to the dealer. I was polite and kind, as much as you can be buying a car and not ending up a doormat, and after leaving the dealership they have not followed up on a legitimate sales opportunity in a week and a half. I guess their approach is that they think someone else will buy it because it is awesome and they don't have to do anything. That doesn't fly with luxury car owners.

In any event, I refuse to buy the car from this dealer and have contemplated driving 3.5 hours to the next nearest dealer with one like it. I shouldn't have to do this for a multitude of reasons. The Trim Level/Color/Options availability thing is a whole other thread I could get started on...

Oh great! My problems are solved. There are now two Ceramic Silver GT1s in Charlotte. Oh wait... they are at the same dealer.

 

[AustinAJ]

I'd say its the dealership. Here in Austin we have 2 Kia lots. The first one (Southwest Kia) were a bunch of pushy slime balls.
Then I went to Kia of South Austin (owned by Group1), so much nicer and willing to negotiate.
So anyways, its all about the people!

 

[Leftlane]

I'd say its the dealership. Here in Austin we have 2 Kia lots. The first one (Southwest Kia) were a bunch of pushy slime balls.
Then I went to Kia of South Austin (owned by Group1), so much nicer and willing to negotiate.
So anyways, its all about the people!

Absolutely agree
With Kia selling cars of this price range now, they will need to hire better and train differently.
There are slime ball salesman in Lexus dealers but not nearly as many and the overall dealer experience keeps them in check.
Kia will need to change tactics.
Can’t treat someone with the ability to buy a $50k car the same as someone with bad credit trying to buy a mass produced $15k budget car. Although everyone shone treated with respect.... auto industry has always had that scary shady experience which ruins the buying experience of the second most expensive asset most people will buy. Ok... now I will get off my soapbox

 

[Legendsk]

Kia has the same problem that Chevrolet had when I ordered a new 1966 Corvette (with all but 1 option). Actually, 5 of us who worked together all got a 1966 Corvette within a couple of weeks. It was a surprise to each of us as we had not discussed the purchases, until suddenly there we were with each of us having one. Chevrolet service was so bad (and used to dealing with "normal" Chevy customers), that nobody who would buy a Corvette would take it to a Chevrolet dealer for service. The result was that factory defects were never reported to the factory and solved at the factory level. Not all 5 cars had every single defect, but every time one of us found a defect and reported it to the other 4, we would all run out to the parking lot to see if ours was so afflicted. Usually 2 or 3 would have a specific defect, an occasionally all 5 would have the same defect. For instance, the ash tray in the center console had to be vacuumed out, because it could not be removed to empty. Until one of us had the console out to replace light bulbs in it and discovered that the tub had been set in 180º rotated. If it were removed, rotated 180º and replaced before the console was reassembled, then it could be easily lifted out and emptied (5). Three of them had the upper radiator hose installed upside down, so it angled up from the radiator and then down to the block. When one guy discovered a water leak where the hose had rubbed on the hood until it wore a hole in the hose, every one went and checked theirs and only two more were installed upside down at the factory. Lots of these kind of things, stitching on the lower left corner of the soft convertible top window coming loose (3), the driver seat track installed backwards (5) limiting the driver leg room, etc.

The point all this is Kia has done a magnificent job so far of starting up designing and manufacturing cars. The initial ones were not total crap and the company has steadily and rather quickly improved their reputation. Kia owners are currently well satisfied generally and give high ratings. But as evidenced by the posts here, the usual Stinger buyer is a car maven and will refuse to take their Stinger in for service if the Kia service departments are not expertly trained on both the car and dealing with mavens. Failure to meet expectations will quickly result in Stinger owners not allowing Kia service to touch their cars and will cut off all feedback to Kia, so many factory defects will never be detected and solved.

 

[MarkyMark]

I've been to 3 different Kia dealerships in Upstate South Carolina..... Spartanburg, Greer, and Greenville. If Kia does not force these dealers to change and make them quit charging $3-6k or more over MSRP, the Stinger will suffer the same fate as the likes of the GTO, and Chevy SS. You cannot treat a customer like an idiot and flat out lie when you are trying to sell a $50,000+ car. That just doesn't work.....

Greenville got a Sunset Yellow GT2 RWD in today and called me to come see it as I was the first person to ask so they gave me the call when it came in on the truck, and thats where the nice for this stealership ends..... I go, test drive the car, and then they hit me with a $55,000 price tag..... For a car with an MSRP of $50,100.

$4900 OVER MSRP.... I want some of what they are smoking. They flat out lied and told me they 'have to charge a certain price b/c Kia told them to'.... What a load of bullshit when they have the factory sticker sitting there on the desk with the $50,100 MSRP on it. They are trying some really shady shit like $1200 for 'mudflaps' and $1500 for 'Nitrogen in the tires' and they would NOT budge on the price.

The best part is they now have the car listed on their website at $50,100 MSRP with a $47,xxx Invoice price...... I have tried 3 separate times to get a Stinger and the dam stealerships have killed it every time because I refuse to pay over MSRP for anything. I had very high hopes for this car and wanted one for the past 3 years.

Until Kia changes their dam stealerships and treats customers with respect, especially when you are asking $50k for a car I will find a different brand. Anyone want a good used Optima? I am finished with this brand, but I truly wish anyone who got a Stinger the best and I hope you enjoy your car.

Sunset Yellow is rare. As such, supply is limited and demand high, thus it simply costs more. Much like many Ford Mustang versions, few are made, and prices are through the moon. This seems like it shocked you, but it is a very common event with rare products.

This marks a good time to educate some on the blog about supply v demand (I know you get it, it just seems you don't like it?).

Supply v Demand Econ 101:

A. The Dealer will only charge what they believe they can get. Having a rare bird Sunset Yellow they believe they have enough would-be buyers (like yourself) that someone will pay the high price to have it. This is Demand outstripping supply, thus pricing goes north until it meets demand/the car is sold.

B. However, if in 3 months the car has not moved, guess what? Yah, they'll back way off that mark up. Demand will have been shown to be weak and thus pricing will fall to meet supply.

C. Now suppose the dealer ends up with 2 Sunset Yellow's at the end of the year, and still no one wants them? Supply exceeds demand, and they'll push pricing to the floor to get them off the lot.

KIA Corporate can EASILY fix this - not by price fixing - but by producing more Sunset Yellow versions. But if a bunch of Sunset Yellow Stingers are on the road, it dilutes the "cool/rare" factor, while also reducing markup... A few flagship Stinger's in Sunset Yellow seen vary rarely is a good marketing deal for KIA. I highly doubt they want to change the low supply / high demand curve for them.

My guess is you want that rare diamond, but want a regular price for it and are upset that the rare diamond costs more?

QUESTION: If you owned a store and sold something that came in every so often, was rare, and certain buyers wanted it, and you could charge more for it, would you? Of course, you'd charge to the point where you could maximize the sale, while not stalling sales either. Does the company you work for do this? Absolutely. Trying to meet demand with the appropriate amount of supply, selling as much as you can while making as much as you can, not tipping too much in either direction.

If you say "No! I'd sell it the same price as the other products I have!" I would suggest you are still thinking like the would-be buyer, not the seller. If that's how you would actually run a business, well, those businesses are not in business very long. When lean economic times come they go out of business, because they didn't make money when the could have, but I digress...

Hope this helps some young guns out there understand how pricing works.

For you, I would be worried about saving up and paying more for the Sunset Yellow, only to see KIA Corporate make an odd move and pump out more of them in the coming years, thus, the price of yours would really take a dive! Ironically, you'd then be upset that KIA is making too many Sunset Yellows and they should be more rare!... Ironic.

On a personal note, I could not find what I wanted ANYWHERE on the West Coast - ANYWHERE! Thus, I found it in Denver, CO and took a hopper on Frontier Airlines ($58) in the middle of the night. Got to Denver in the AM, the dealer picket me up, we got back to the dealership, got the car, and had a really fun 2-day road trip home! I'd buy from them again for sure!

By choosing to be flexible, I finally found my White GT, Red on Black Interior, AWD, w/DriveWise package in Colorado, and got $9,500 off MRSP for it!!!

Good luck in your Sunset Yellow quest. I'd hunt all over the place, several states away and find one if you can. Once you do, you may find a dealer that wants to move it much more so than your local guy, and suddenly you have leverage (AKA more supply), and now you have negotiating power - more so than you have now at least...

 

[Never thought]

FYI you’re replying to a very old post. Sunset yellows are long gone and have all been since recalled for paint issues.

 

[MerlintheMad]

@Legendsk the "necromancer".

I read this whole thread for entertainment value. And the new posts are like frosting. That's why all three of you get a "like" from me.

 

[davebo]

Since the thread is getting bumped I'll add that I thought my respray looked great but I've since gotten a big rock chip. But it was on a part that's not metal so not part of the respray, so I guess I can't complain. Don't care, I'm happy with the $5k back they gave. Between now being a one-car guy so this is a daily driver, and having a baby in a few months, I'm not even trying to keep this thing in pristine condition. I'll ride out my 10 year warranty with this thing looking like some Mad Max rust bucket by the end of it so long as it still runs great!

 

[MerlintheMad]

I'll ride out my 10 year warranty with this thing looking like some Mad Max rust bucket by the end of it so long as it still runs great!

Heresy! Oh Dave, how could you even say such things.

I think Kia did great with the three choices on the Yellow. Although I don't have anything to do with it, just reading about what they did impressed me a lot. Compared to any other car manufacturer, I think that Kia took the high ground to prove the point: that they are raising the bar in customer expectations and following through. I know that dealerships lag behind the agenda of Kia Corporate; and, "It's so hard to find good help these days", will always vitiate a good agenda (the best of intentions): but I recognize what Kia has done and is doing and it is impressively good.

 

[gilthanis1]

Heresy! Oh Dave, how could you even say such things.I think Kia did great with the three choices on the Yellow. Although I don't have anything to do with it, just reading about what they did impressed me a lot. Compared to any other car manufacturer, I think that Kia took the high ground to prove the point: that they are raising the bar in customer expectations and following through. I know that dealerships lag behind the agenda of Kia Corporate; and, "It's so hard to find good help these days", will always vitiate a good agenda (the best of intentions): but I recognize what Kia has done and is doing and it is impressively good.

LOL, Merlin you always have such a great outlook on things, its rather refreshing. I will have to agree to disagree about part of the repaint, but you are correct about Kia going WAY above what they needed to do. Yes, Kia did offer 3 options that are completely unheard of and never done in the automotive manufacturing world. They did have the best intentions to keep the customer happy, but the execution of the repaint option was majorly flawed, I can't speak to buyback or replacement options but others who did have their tales documented here on the forums.

Kia could have done a much better job of standardizing the repaint so all customers were happy who chose that option. I was VERY fortunate that my local dealer's service department and their body shop held my satisfaction to #1, and they wanted their reputation and quality of work as such to stay #1. There are many horror stories of repaints gone wildly bad (that is trademarked ) on here and the interwebs. Had Kia standardized the repaint process it would have went WAY smoother.

But I digress that, unfortuantely, yellow is no more and I doubt Kia will ever do that color again as I still get multiple comments a week on how sharp the Stinger looks in yellow. PAINT THE WORLD WITH YELLOW STINGERS!!!! I am a bit biased though.....

In regards to my original post that started this thread, dealers are still Kia's Achilles heel to break into the more up-market segment. You don't start a conversation off with a customer who is willing to drop $40, 50, even 60k plus on a car with "So where do you need your monthly payment to be to drive off in this car today?" I know dam good and well what I can afford you simple shit, that's why I'm looking at a $50k Stinger...........

 

[MarkyMark]

Garden Grove Kia in Southern California is selling a GT limited sunset yellow for 37,000 with no mark ups as of 3/28/2018.. it’s a base GT but you still get the LSD (Limited Slip Differential) and can’t beat the 37,000. I was going to buy it but wife didn’t approve of the color. I ended up getting a white one.

Ha! I wanted a blue Stinger, but kids and wife said no way! "Looks like a cheap plastic car Dad!" Then my 12-year-old daughter said "Oh Dad, you've gotta get red on black leather!" Then the wife insisted on AWD, and I wanted the Drive Wise (safety tech) package...

How to find that combo heading into year-end?...

All told, White AWD GT, Red on Black, w/Drive Wise Package for $34,212. Sticker $43,655... Rebates really helped. $1000 off AWD, $3000 conquest cash (for simply showing proof of owning a Mazda6) and $2000 off for KIA financing. Dealer took off around $3400 on top.

So deals can be had. I flew out to CO from OR, so there you go. Or, just find what you want with the pricing and get it shipped for $700 or so.

 

[MerlintheMad]

There are many horror stories of repaints gone wildly bad (that is trademarked )

LOL! I know it. I've read all of them (as far as I can tell). Horror, or even "Oh! The Humanity!"

Had Kia standardized the repaint process it would have went WAY smoother.

… dealers are still Kia's Achilles heel to break into the more up-market segment.

I've thought the very same thing. But then, how could they standardize what is not already standardized? I.e. the dealerships themselves.

According to that customer derived rating of the 1,000 point scale in Consumer Reports, Kia rated in the low 700s and "the Germans" et al. the higher end manufacturers' service departments, rated in the high 700s with maybe a handful getting above 800 (going off memory here; do you remember reading this a few months ago?). The point being, that somebody has to finish dead last. And Kia was not dead last by a long shot; they were "in contention" if you look at the results as a percentage or fraction. Nearly all the service departments scored either side of two-thirds to three-quarters positive.

Taken as a proportion of dealerships, that means that c. two out of three Kia service departments are viewed favorably by customers. That leaves plenty of unsatisfied customers! One out of three stories of a repaint would, statistically, be a horror story. And there is not a damned thing Kia Corporation could do to prevent it. The best they could hope for is to subject each failed repaint to a second try. And statistically, Kia would never eradicate all unsatisfied customers. It is a fallen world. There will always be the "one third" of every group (no matter how small that group gets) that gets a crap job and crap treatment. The only way to minimize this is to increase customer satisfaction with dealerships.

If Kia can continue to hold their dealerships to a perfect standard, the proportion of good dealerships will rise from one in three, to one in four, then one in five, and finally top out at hypothetically 90% plus customer satisfaction.