Kia?
 

I rode in a Kia for the first time in my life.... Are these cars considered good? I always thought they were the laughing stock of the auto industry - this car seemed nice.

welcome to 1998

I had a KIA once. A friend of mine had the same one. When they both reached 220.000km the engines exploded... His car first... mine a few weeks later... coincedence?

When i check car-sites i see a lot of kia's:

-engine broke
-engine broke
-engine broke

they give a 7 year warranty nowadays, so they are pretty confident about their products :)

Been in a few, not bad for the price.

100% owned by Hyundai btw.

Kia and Hyundai sell a ton of cars in the US. They're all usually made here too.

The Kia Cadenza and Hyundai Genesis and Equiis are all great looking cars that have been rated very highly in the way of Quality and Value.

Years ago my wife had a Kia Spectra. It was actually a great car. 4 doors, plenty of space, great on gas, and affordable. It also had a better warranty than most other car makers at that time (it was when Kia and Hyundai both started the 10 year, 100,000 mile powertrain warranty).

My dad has sworn by Chevrolet for the past 30 years. He's owned 4 or 5 different Suburbans, and now an Avalanche. He also now purchased a Malibu since gas for the Avalanche costs a fortune (he needs the Avalanche to pull his boat, though). I remember nearly every single one of those vehicles has had issues with them that caused him to spend normally unnecessary time in the shop.

My wife and I currently have a Hyundai, and we considered Kia's when we were looking. When I first got out on my own, I was instilled with the Chevy brand loyalty thing. But from my experience, their cars are often overpriced and not as reliable as others. I doubt I'll ever purchase a new Chevrolet. I've been very satisfied with my experiences with Hyundai and Kia, and I'll probably continue to look at those until I have a negative experience.

you can't compare a KIA/Hyundai from 2013 to one from 2000 or 2005. they improve their cars at rates the US car industry is not even dreaming of

BINGO! They're changing things up almost yearly, while companies like GM sell the same car with slight changes for 5+ years before a real upgrade.

There are still people asking these questions? They have 7 year warranty. It is same situations as before many decades when people were sceptic toward Japanese cars.

I did not know this.... The Hyundai Genesis seems nice too, although I've never rode in one.

I don't pay any attention to the Japanese cars. At all.

Well, my wife's Kia was probably early 2000's. We also had a Hyundai Elantra after that. We have a Hyundai Elantra now (not a baller, and I couldn't care less about turning heads with the car I drive; I have a family, and it's a great car to get us where we need to go). Anyway, like you're saying Stefan, comparing the older Elantra to even the new Elantra is like comparing apples to oranges. They're completely different vehicles. When I reference the older Kia, I was comparing it to vehicles of it's time period, plus trying to relate my current experience with our 2013 Hyundai versus other cars we checked out currently/family experience with other brands.

If I had to buy a new car today, it would be a Hyundai or Kia.

My new girlfriend is about to buy a turbo Veloster. Great little car, but not my style.

Hyundai is a Korean car...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Motor_Company


And according to Wikipedia, they only own a portion of Kia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kia_Motors_Corporation

The new Hyundai Santa Fe is a great SUV. The Automatic gearbox is not a dualclutch model, but its still smooth and the TurboDiesel model goes 35-38mpg

my gf has one. Not something to turn heads but lifetime warranty on parts and has lasted for a tonne of road trips over the years. They seem to build them right at least--especially for the price.

was basically what he was saying :2 cents:

My head turns each time I see one of these:

http://www.dieselstation.com/wallpap...pe-2012-01.jpg

The new Kia optima is pretty dang nice for the price. My buddy has one fully loaded, has great pickup, 27MPG highway, and and amazing stereo. Cant beat it for the price.

Thats good then cause they are Korean

That's right... I forgot that.

We own two Kias - the wife drives a Kia Forte and I have a Kia Sedona for business.

We've been looking at the new Kia Optima lately - thinking of getting one. Already took one for a testdrive a while back and I was quite impressed with it.

They've come a long way in recent years - especially with the hiring of Peter Schreyer from Audi. Best design move they've made. You can see the Schreyer influence in the styling of the new models.

They seem pretty nice and budget friendly for the most part.

Kia and Hyundai are South Korean companies.

All I really care about with a daily commuter car is reliability and low cost. Kia hits the mark on both columns.

2 years ago I saw a black C-class Mercedes and a Hyundai Genesis side by side in a parking lot. After looking at both.. I'd be hard pressed not to take the Hyundai and pocket the extra cash.. it was that nice looking.

I own a Kia Optima and I love it, we went for the EX Luxury, the options it has as standard can't be beat anywhere for the price. I was looking at a BMW 328i when I decided to check out the Optima, after some research I went to the dealership and test drove one, one of the most comfortable cars I've had, it was also $17,000 cheaper than the BMW and came with everything you could imagine. Here is just some of the things it has;

Heated/Cooled front seats
Heated rear seats
Memory seating x 2
Moonroof
Full leather
Automatic wipers/lights
Power seats
Keyless entry
UVO entertainment system
Rearview camera
Heated mirrors
Remote start
Cruise control

The BMW only had 3 of those things on it, for $17k less no doubt! Defo one of the smarter choices I've made car wise. The gas consumption on it is great as well, especially highway. Only thing I did to it was get tinted windows to make it look better.

Go drive one and you won't be hard pressed, you'd be walking out with the Genesis. The Equus is even nicer.

http://www.listadecarros.com/wp-cont...uus-2012-6.jpg

One thing about Kia I can't figure out - my '04 Sedona has auto rain-sensing wipers as a standard feature...yet my wife's 2012 Kia Forte EX doesn't have them (they weren't even available as an optional upgrade).

Your evaluation of the Optima is exactly what I thought after test driving an EX. Damn nice car - especially in its price class. I love the European styling and the side vent grills are a great accent.

Maybe its a different car category wise, or maybe people aren't interested in that feature?

Odd that they don't have it as standard now, I figured they would. The Forte is a nice little car as well, especially the sport version. When I was looking for a new car, I was 95% sure I was picking up another BMW but the more research I done on Kia the more I thought I should at least give it a test drive just to rule it out, how wrong was I! The sales guy didn't even talk much during the test drive, he just let the car do the talking, no hard sell at all, we got back and I took off home but I knew from there I was going to get it. BMW salesman called me 4x per day, changing the price, each time telling me it was his best offer, I told him I was going for an Optima and he got so pissed off with me and hung up the phone.

Well there seems to be a lot of them on the roads and you hardley ever see them broken down like you do with Audi's and BMW lol

My ride is a Kia Forte Koup Sx.....great little sporty car with everything included except a dashboard GPS

Now the US has a love affair with S. Korea too? God damn Gangnam style :1orglaugh

lol

As I was posting earlier in the thread, I was starting to think my family does. My son is two belt tests away from earning his black belt in Tae Kwon Do, my wife works at the school he attends, and I've been doing their web shit and now am starting to work on print marketing for the school. We've currently own a Hyundai, and have previously owned a Hyundai and a Kia. And for some ungodly reason, my son likes Psy.

http://www.optimaforums.com/forum/at...615_112100.jpg



yeah, i would drive one.:pimp

Not in my experience. I live in Canada but only across the bridge/tunnel from Detroit, Michigan (The Motor City) you should see some of the looks I get when I go shopping in the States, they do not like my Korean car lol.

I used to have a Hyundai and it was a good reliable car

Hard to say - but I can vouch that the rain-sensing wipers are a great feature. I can't imagine people not wanting that option. I find they work flawless in light drizzle - activating the intermittent pulse settings...right through to the heavy rain on high speed. Set'em and forget'em.

Gagnam style. My uncle has a KIA and we always go finishing with it. The car has over 130k Miles and it still rides smooth. He bought it with 80k miles for like 6k or something. Don't ask for true model or the year lol

That's what people thought about Honda Accords back in the mid-1970's.
and so on, and so on...