The Kia Stinger has been on sale for a few months now but it looks like a couple of American Kia dealerships are screwing up the buyer experience.
To say that Kia really came out of its shell and gave us Americans a car that really tugs at our enthusiast heart-strings would be an understatement. Kia put a lot of work making the 2018 Kia Stinger and, according to the few reviews I’ve read and watched, it show. But according to a Reddit thread on /r/cars that popped up earlier today (May 21, 2018) although the Stinger is selling OK, thanks to more than one American Kia dealership, a really bad dealership experience is turning off some prospective buyers directing them to drop the Stinger altogether in favor of the Stinger’s more established competition.
It’s understandable from a dealership’s perspective that they’re going to be wary about prospective customers dropping more than $50,000 on a Kia. Afterall, Kia’s buyer base isn’t exactly known for dropping major money on their products. Nevertheless, Kia dealerships shouldn’t be choosy in who they let test drive their showroom floor models.
This redditor tried to test drive one but had to jump through some major hoops just to get it out of the lot.
This Ferguson Kia dealership in Tulsa, OK really turned off this buyer when they reluctantly handed over the keys to a Stinger GT.
This Kia dealerships literally lowkey threatened a customer into committing into buying a Kia Stinger before they would even talk numbers. That’s plain ridiculous!
This redditor dropped his .02 on the matter, surmising that Kia dealerships aren’t used to selling high-dollar cars to otherwise regular Kia buyers.
If this is the case for just a couple of perspective Kia Stinger buyers, it’s probably a similar picture in a majority of dealerships with Stingers on their lots.
No one likes to be given the runaround and being treated like a liability when entering a showroom.
It looks like some training should be in order for Kia dealerships to implement some kind of directive on how to sell these 2018 Kia Stingers.
It looks like people want them but, as mentioned, a less than desirable dealership experience is screwing things up.
