Kia Stinger

The engines split at the 2021 facelift and the split is abrupt. Before it, both markets have the 2.0 turbo with 255 hp and the 3.3 twin-turbo V6 with 365, and Europe also has the 2.2 CRDi diesel with 200 hp, which was never sold in America — our diesel count is zero. After the facelift America introduces a new 2.5 turbo base with 300 hp and lifts the V6 to 368. Europe does the opposite: it stops everything else and keeps only the 3.3 V6 at 370. So the last European Stingers were sold only in their most highly-strung form.

The drivetrain diverges too. In continental Europe every V6 came with all-wheel drive as standard. In America almost every trim, the V6 included, could be rear-drive or AWD — and in our stock the rear-drive cars outnumber the AWD ones. The gearbox is the same everywhere: an eight-speed automatic developed in house by Hyundai and Kia.

The headlights are the expensive trap. European GTs came with dynamic adaptive LED units that steer with the wheel. Many American versions, GT and GT1 included, have static LEDs that do not steer. If you buy a damaged American car and try to fit European headlights, or the reverse, the car's computer throws a fault and the lights do not work properly. That gets checked before the purchase, not after.

Two more safety differences, one for each market. European cars have an active bonnet with pyrotechnic actuators under the hinges that lifts it in a pedestrian impact — American cars largely do not have it. The reverse: in 2019 America got a limited run of 800 cars, the Stinger GTS in orange, with a D-AWD system and a factory Drift Mode that sends all the power rearwards and holds the gear. That system was never offered in Europe.

Practical, for an import: check whether the rear bumper has a fog lamp, which is mandatory in Europe, and how the indicators have been converted. The Stinger holds a high used value because it is treated as a future classic — it was built only from 2017 to 2023, and ours start at 2018.