I've owned many brands of cars including Mercs and Bimmers and Porsches. I've owned cars from GM, Ford, and Chrysler. I've owned Triumphs and Volvos and Renaults and Subaru and Mazda. And I've owned Hyundai's and this Kia. I buy all of my cars new. I've also owned a few track cars and have rebuilt engines and transmissions myself -- although not recently. The worst car I've ever owned in terms of reliability by far was my 7 series Bimmer. The transmission went after 2 months and the engine failed after two years -- and I did all of the factory maintenance at the dealer. The best built brands, for me, have been Porsche and Subaru. The moral of this story is that you can get a lemon from any brand no matter how much money you spend. I've had zero problems with my 2017 Sportage except for a leaking window washer pump which was replaced under warranty. My Bimmer had more rattles than my Sportage does, but I've got to admit that in terms of rattles, the Sportage does have more than most of the cars I've owned. You can't hear these rattles with the audio system and AC on, however. Again, we only own a couple of cars at a time and extrapolating our experience to an entire brand is not a wise thing to do. Lots of people rave about their Bimmers and many of you rave about your Sportage. So our experience with a specific car is very limited. We are all human. Which means once we've had a bad experience with a car, most likely we won't buy that brand again. I've never owned another Bimmer after my 7 series. Is that rational? Probably not, but it is human.
For the money in my opinion, the Sportage is an excellent buy. You get a lot of options and really nice style for a very reasonable price. When I bought this car, I drove a Macan and a CX-5, and in 2017 I thought this was the best value for what you got. I drove a newer CX-5, and to be honest, if it were today, I'd choose the CX-5 over the Sportage. It has better handling, is more responsive, and is quieter. The Kia still looks better. The Macan is the best car of the three, but it is just not worth the money. I won't buy another Sportage however in 2022 when I sell it. I just want a car that is quieter and will probably go for the Genesis GV70. I've driven a GV80 and G70, and I've got to say that it is as good or better than any Merc or Bimmer I've owned.
