haha, I know the feeling when the vast majority of the reviews are raving over the car.

But I'm starting to question the longer-term build and overall quality. Added to my list now, this week, the console cover seized.

And yes, people will say it's the first model year and to expect these issues... perhaps for mainstream cars, but I bought first model years of the CT, 3IS, and NX, and were as close to perfect as can be.

If you value Build quality above all else, the GS is superior as I'm sure everything operates as it did Day 1. Not the case with the Stinger, 10 months in now and only 12,400 km (~8000 miles). Not my intent to discourage, but merely to be transparent and hopefully helpful. Let me know, I can post a summary of the issues.

 

 

You're welcome!

1. Yes, very useful, especially if you like to park at the end (or beginning) of a parking lot by a curb. Front bumper is low without risk of scraping! Same for the wheels. The Stinger is a pretty wide car with mediocre visibility at the rear. In short a must-have option.

2. Yes, reverse-tilt and power-folding mirrors. Also very convenient as you very-well know.

3. Yes. And also comes with auto brake hold and auto start-stop which is pretty smooth.

 

You've also got a place you can recharge it. Not everyone has that option.....especially in condos, apartments, and high-rises. We don't have outdoor outlets on our small town-houses, either.

Rumor is that a new state law is coming, here in VA, where those outlets can be retrofitted to places that need them

 

Man if you don't put some WD40 on that damn lid!

Yes there has definitely been some first model year issues for sure. I've seen that lid issue before (actually came up in a YouTube review too), the fader on the radio defaulting to 100% rear, trunk hatch rattle, paint defects ( mainly on yellow and some blue) and a few other things that don't seem to be very widespread.

I picked up a May 2018 build in July to try to avoid some of those issues. Turns out most of them were addressed during that month at factory. I only have a little over 3k miles and haven't witnessed a thing.

As much of a stride that Kia/Hyundai has made recently, I don't care what anyone says. Lexus quality control to me will reign supreme here. As long as huge issues don't come up, I'm okay and can deal with the smaller ones. Thankfully I haven't had to deal with either so far.

And stay away from those reviews and extended testdrives. It'll get you in trouble. Just ask me how I know.

 

 

Yeah, my build is Nov 2017 and save for the seized console lid, the (minor) issues I got were experienced within the first few months. It's just that there are many added up...

P.S. I showed the video to my Kia Service Manager and he ordered a new lid. Impressed with him as I didn't even have to bring in the car. Getting it (and new radio heat unit) installed on Monday.

Recap of issues:
- Rear hatch rattle
- Squeaky/loose paddle shifters
- Dust specs under clearcoat
- Door misalignment
- Unglued rubber seals
- Door ticking B-pillar
- Burnt left adaptive headlamp
- Premature Nappa leather color wear
- Erratic FM radio volume
- Door panel rattle
- Jammed console sliding lid

So your May build has not a single one of these issues? If none, this is quite impressive on Kia's part fixing them in the manufacturing process.

 

?????....not sure what you mean by that.

Do you have an automatic volume-adjustment on the radio for road speed? Check your Owners' Manual. My Lacrosse, for example, has an on/off setting for that feature. What it does is raise and lower the radio volume to compensate for road/engine/wind noise....though a Lacrosse, of course, is a quiet car to start with.

See if there isn't a small coin or other object in the tracks/grooves that may be jamming it. That is very common, for example, in the seat-adjustment tracks, when coins fall out of one's pocket while you are siting in the seat.

 

Absolutely not!!! I couldn't be more happy with the build quality of my car. Those are definitely unfortunate issues you have. Hopefully Kia comes through to fix them.

The hatch rattle and radio issues are TSB fixes that they applied at factory with May builds. Word is that around same time paint process was also updated, but that's hard to confirm. I check my seats weekly when I clean my car. No wear at all on the Nappa (seen that on the forums on a few cars too). Seems to effect the bolsters?

Door misaligned and rubber seals most definitely not on mine.

What does door ticking mean?

 

Just went to the garage to check the other issues you brought up and can confirm I'm not experiencing those issues with my car. Hopefully QC did catch those issues and fix them mid year.

 

MM: Nothing jammed in the lid. Pre-mature wear of the tracks and hence friction...

The door ticking is a ticking sound while driving. Driver's door moves ever so slightly up/down vertically making the plastic door frame trim tick. I fixed it myself by 1. adding felt underneath the trim so the plastic doesn't tick against the metal door frame and 2. adjusting the door jamb to make the door latched on tighter. https://stingerforum.org/threads/doo...mination.3475/

Rubber seals popping out a bit at the base of the rear glass/trunk lid and around the gloss black corner piece on the front doors adjacent to the mirrors.

Anyway, apologies to JDR76, this has veered off a bit off topic to my Stinger's issues but hopefully if GFerg's flawless build is consistently representative of the newest builds, this is great news for future new Stinger owners!

 

 

No problem. Either way GS or Stinger, can't go wrong. Keep us posted!