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I just thought I say hi and once again say how happy I am with my '02 Optima LX-V6 sedan. I've owned many American and Japanese cars over the year. In the late 80's I owned 2 Hyundai Excels and a Sonata. Up until the Optima purchase, my Toyota Camry was my favorite although I did like the Sonata a lot. It just didn't have the overall feel of quality as the Toyota. I retired early but cost was not the issue when I got the Kia. Value for the buck was! :-)
With the Optima I realized from the start it wasn't your average Kia or Hyundai product. It had a lot of quality built-in from the ground up. Tight fitting body parts stood out. Smoothness of the V6 and the automatic with manual shift option. I have the updated Kia Radio/Cassette/CD player with changer. Everyone is very impressed with the sound quality and the fact I can play it at low volume while driving a very quiet car.
I like the attractive cloth interior very much and feel the quality is almost on par with the Camry although plastics can scratch easily if not cared for in the Optima. Controls are excellent. Seats are extremely comfortable for my large frame. Recently I ordered the SE Dash board wood grain update kit from the on-line parts firm at kia.autowebaccessories.com . It was the only thing I missed having vs. buying the SE to start with. At the time I purchased my Optima, the dealer only had 4 cylinders in the SE model and I had to have a V6!
I also had a keyless remote door opener and alarm installed since the LX doesn't come standard with these two items.
Since I am retired, I drive around town and on short trips. At the rate I drive, my Optima will have less than 50k for mileage at 10 years old. So, I don't plan to get rid of it and I don't worry about resale values. I do plan in 2 years on purchasing another Kia, perhaps the updated Optima model or the very nice Amanti.
My car has impressed my relatives and friends. When I said I purchased a Kia some people said was I out of my mind to buy junk. Others said Kia only makes little tin boxes. All have changed their minds (or at least to my face :-) and I have "converted" two friends -- one purchased an '05 Optima and the other an '05 Sorento. Another is looking into the new Sportage. Neighbors comment how pretty of a car I have. They own 2 Hondas. I let one drive my car. He said my Optima was faster, quieter and "sweeter" than his Accord. I must agree!!!
I do think Kia must continue with their quality commitments and build upon their past mistakes with customers. Give Kia another 5 years and any bad rap that the Kia brand carries in the U.S. will be less heard. Better dealerships and tech training will only help make Kia even a better choice. In my opinion Kia needs to continue to offer its 10 year/100k warranty, great pricing, improve gas mileage -- introduce more efficient engines (hyrids?), quality of build, and dealership network.
Btw, I found an excellent dealership and am on a first name basis with managers and service people. It is a key to have a great dealership. Kia is working to improve their dealer network worldwide. It is a wise investment for long term Kia satisfaction. We have all heard or read of Kia owners who felt they couldn't trust their dealer to fix a problem the first time. I actually have a dealer who will take the blame for a mistake!! If you are in the Rock Hill, SC area I recommend Good Kia to you. Great people there! They know how to treat people.
Thanks for reading this novel :-) and hope you all enjoy your Kia like I have.
Wow that was a long post! :P
Glad to hear you like your Optima. I too have an Optima. It is an 04 and its a LX. I agree with ya they are a great car. Its one of the best cars I have ever owned. (the other best car I own is my 04 Sorento LX). I also had people ask me "why?" when I told them I bought a Kia. Now they dont say why they say wow.
Nice to see others enjoying their cars as much as I am!!! Now I'm across the other side of the big pond to you guys but here in the UK my 4 Cyl 2Ltr makes driving around the lake district a breeze and I certainly don't intend on changing mine for a good while. Unless I go for the 6 Cyl version.
Surely many of us here are proud owners of Optima. Come to think of it, must thank those sceptics there who probably have benefited many of those who got a fanstastic deal from the used market.
Perhaps, those who think Kia represents bad quality might be people living in the past.
Glad to know that at least there are some people out there enjoying their Kia.
My experience and a group of Kia owners will never consider buying another Kia
after our experiences with the brand.I guess, most Kia models are disappointing
in terms of engine reliability and performance. I own a Kia Rio, bought brand new
and just into it's second year, already experiencing FREQUENT engine stalling problems. Lots of under carriage noises. Been to dealer's like I have been to food
outlets. Luckily was able to stop my brother and friends from buying the new Kia
models and settle for other more established Japanese. brands.
Hope we are not expecting a Jazz from a Rio. Or different people have differing encounters. I own 323, Lancer and Civic before. I decided to make a switch for this range of budget to Optima and now with no regret.
My next car will be Magentis for sure if Kia keeps to its honest pricing.
Kia can never be compared to Honda. They are not even there yet.
When you buy a car like Kia, you expect only the bare essentials, just point A to
B, period. But when, you cannot even start the car on most mornings and also
parking for more than an hour, and the dealer has no knowledge to solve the
problem, then something is very wrong, Imagine after repeated repairs, in a
span of 3 weeks(8 visits in all), surely, it does not speak very well for the brand.
I am sure I am not alone with this problem.
Thing is you could say that if you had a simlar experience with any car manufacturer... my dad gets a company car every 2-3 years, doing appx 80,000 miles per car... his most recent car was a renault laguna estate... he basically had everything replaced except the bodywork... seriously, he had oil pumps replaced, engine replaced, electric replaced...
you can't slate an entire manufacturer by one experience... as with all things you get what you pay for and you still may get a defunct product... thats what warranties are for, as they cannot guarantee all the cars they produce will be 100%, they have quality checking but how do they know after 20k some part may degrade sufficiently to stop working.
i'm happy with my kia, got it second hand and got alot for my money... its an A-B car for me, but its nice to have the little extras such as electric windows etc
I have no regret with my 2L 2004 Optima and happy with it..
If you ask me to get a Korean car in 10 years ago, I would say NO..NO...NO... Now a day, Korean car is a much better car in its class in term of performance over price = better value for money!!!!
What I hope that is KIA could advertise more in international evens to make it as international brand...
You might be correct if you think the logo makes the difference. Between Civic and Optima the choice is clear to me because I own both.
Quote:
Originally posted by richardlim8@May 11 2005, 08:22 PM Hi Hattee
Kia can never be compared to Honda. They are not even there yet.
When you buy a car like Kia, you expect only the bare essentials, just point A to
B, period. But when, you cannot even start the car on most mornings and also
parking for more than an hour, and the dealer has no knowledge to solve the
problem, then something is very wrong, Imagine after repeated repairs, in a
span of 3 weeks(8 visits in all), surely, it does not speak very well for the brand.
I am sure I am not alone with this problem.
nomore
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