I USED to change cars frequently, then this thing called life happened and that was the end of it.
My current 4 vehicles are 10+ years old on average and have combined 500k+++ miles on them. Unless the car is an utter pile of crap, I can easily see myself driving it for at least 5 years (should get me to close to 100k miles).

 

It's a hatch rattle. I have seen videos of a good amount of cars with it. Some pronounced, others not. It becomes present on my car in under freezing temps and when I hit larger potholes only. Mine was a may 2018 build, when it was announced that issue and a radio issue were addressed at the factory. However it seems like the issue is still present for some. The latest diy fix I have seen online is adding some felt padding around two screws in the hatchback.

Hasn't been a super cold winter here, so this has pretty much been a non-issue for my car.

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As much as I like the look of the S5, I couldn't recommend it unless you must have a luxury brand or a really nice interior. It's just far too expensive in comparison. The Stinger's interior is nice enough, and it is fun to drive. Yeah the Stinger's rear suspension is a bit loose at times, but that could probably be fixed aftermarket.

 

Plot thickens 😁. Went to actually test drive the car for the first time. Overall impression - nice! Nicely put together, good interior quality, 2.0T engine has plenty of power for me (I can only imagine what the 3.3TT feels like).

Did the whole dance with sales, but in the end walked out (which is not to say I won’t buy the car).
This particular one is the Base model with lower MSRP (by $3000), but the lease cash is not as good ($9300 vs $10500), so the overall selling price would only be $1800 less than the original deal.


Having said that, $25,200 + boatload of fees/taxes seems like a really solid deal on a brand spanking new car.

 

Nice. Thanks for sharing. Sometimes walking away now leads to good things later...

The 3.3T has a nice shove to it, even at mid-range RPM. It's a lot of fun. I think it felt a tad heavy, but totally precise and responsive at the same time. I could see myself driving one every day.

 

So was this deal changed at the last minute?

 

Not really - although I didn’t get to the finance manager. Of course, this dealer had an $1800 “protection package” full of snake oil and blinker fluid, but I told the salesman straight up that I wasn’t interested. Waiting to hear from couple more dealers and if all goes well, I should be able to pick something up in the next day or two.

 

So what is the $10.5K lease cash for?

 

The “Premium” trim has $10500 lease cash vs $9300 for the “Base”.
The biggest difference between the two cars is the lack of ventilated seats, forward collision warning w/ auto breaking, lane keep assistance, adaptive cruise control, and wireless phone charge in the base model. All of that for a “measly” $1800...

 

+1 with the RS5 recommendation, that car is amazing. I sat in a Kia Stinger when we had one at the shop, I can't get in or out without smashing my head and once inside, can't see squat, easily the worst visibility of any vehicle I've ever been in, worse than current Camaro or Mustang. I am only 6'. If you like confined areas, don't have claustrophobia, and are okay with horrendous depreciation, then yes get a Stinger.

 

S5/RS5 are obviously fantastic cars, but @ twice the price - they should be. As mentioned above, I sure as heck wouldn’t want to own one without warranty. My friend bought a brand new A7 and couple thousand miles past warranty both super chargers broke down. Dealer’s estimate? $14k.... Luckily he convinced Audi corporate to do a little goodwill repair and they obliged. As soon as the car was fixed, he got rid of it and leased a Tesla Model S 100D.

Regarding depreciation, I’m far from defending Kia, since they drop like a rock, but so do almost all luxury cars. Getting a Stinger at 38% off retail sure lessens the blow.

 

The S5 is more of a competitor to the Stinger and the build quality is amazing. The car is also fast. That would have been my next choice of car if I hadn't bought the Tesla. The only issue is the maintenance is expensive on Audi's.

 

Glad you liked it. I really liked mine (GT Limited AWD ~ GT2 AWD) and would recommend it in a heartbeat. It's an incredibly solid value, especially what you're being offered (even if it's "only" the 2.0T). You get performance looks, features, quality, and versatility in one car.

It's not to say it's a perfect car and I've had several minor issues, though most can be attributed to the fact that it was an early build. See here:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...p-updates.html

Happy shopping!

 

Overall they are reliable (Car and Driver detailed the rattle & brake pedal vibration issues here as a summary of their thoughts on reliability) and in this field you'd have an Alfa, a 3 Series and Audi that would cost $20k more.

I find it personally humorous that they put "sunroof" as the sticker on that car, out of all the features of the Stinger...
@stasek you should test drive a GT with the 3.3 (even a 2020) just to see the difference....

 

Im afraid to drive the V6, since I know I would like it enough to try and justify buying one 😁.