The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Opinion's on Kia's
Disco11
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
The local Kia dealer is clearing out their Kia Forte's for a smoking good price.
Anyone have any experience with them? Or Kia in general? I hear they are better then they where.
Anyone have any experience with them? Or Kia in general? I hear they are better then they where.
PSN: Canadian_llama
Disco11 on
0
Posts
Check out my band, click the banner.
Give it a test drive, see what you think, compare it to a couple other cars in a similar price bracket (alot of companies are having their year end sale now, so you should be able to find others)
All the guts I need, and all the options I want.
I took all the badges off, and I get compliments on its look all the time... people think its a european car
...just look at all the reviews...
Probably one of the best features, however, was my dealership offered a walk-away plan standard. So as it turned out, when I lost my job 11 months after financing the car, I was able to return it to the dealership, and have the rest of the financing absolved with no fees.
So I would use Kia again.
In that price range, I would look at a Mazda, Nissan, or Honda and probably be much happier in the end for it.
This is so true. I believe there were even recalls about the internal electrical systems because they would short out with an alarming frequency.
My mother has a Kia Spectra. I think she likes the car, but she isn't a car person by any stretch. In addition, she was able to buy the car new for 8000 bucks. Myself, having driven "real cars", can't stand it. The seats are rediculously firm and uncomfortable, the car is slow as molasses, and the build quality is horrible. The plastic even feels cheap.
That's what you get for buying a cheap car though. You pay for quality.
What gets me is that for what that Kia Forte would cost, you could just about get a Mazda 3 and have an infinitely better car.
Ride around in a forte a bit, then go try out a Mazda 3 and a civic, if the difference doesn't seem that big to you then go ahead and buy the forte.
I will say the new Kia Forte is a nice looking car with some impressive stats, but the base Coupe is $16,500 and a new Civic is $15,600. Or, if you have a few extra bucks to spend you can get yourself a base Mazda 6. Hell, you could get yourself a Ford Fiesta for under $14,000. So yeah, I'm not sure how "smoking good" the Kia dealer prices are but you can get yourself a few different new cars if you shop around.
I would encourage you to sit in and compare it to some similarly priced vehicles from Ford or other foreign brands. Do not make the mistake of ignoring domestic automakers when their offerings have improved immensely in the past few years. Compare stats as well.
Personally, I was very disappointed with the Kia Sorento I drove at one time. Of course, it was a rental so that doesn't say much.
Some of the above is probably irrelevant due to my car's age, but that's my experience with it so far. What maintenance work I've had done was reasonable, as well.
Really though, just take it for a test drive, see what you think.
Other note, my Grandparents are rather well off, retired early, all that good stuff. They drive around the country all year and as such are really picky about cars. They went from a Lexus, to a Lincoln, and now they're on their third KIA because they love it so much. So (pun intended) YMMV, but I'd buy one.
Regular maintenance with a good mechanic, IMO, is just as important as general build quality in making sure your car keeps you moving. Knowing how to check all your fluids and when you can ignore a sound and when you need to get off the road RIGHT NOW are also important things.
It's also gonna be hard finding unbiased opinions on the car, because anyone who professionally reviews cars will have gone from Kia's to Beamers. Of course the Kia will lose alot of points for not being as good as other cars these guys have driven.
However, I also believe that for half the cost of any new car a person could pick up a generally nicer used car and save the other half to address the repairs it might need over the next few years.
You can get a Rio for 13.5k, taxes and freight/PDI included. The impreza base model starts at 17.5k USD (i cant get to the canadian page, but i think they start around 19k in canada). Thats a significant price difference.
The last time i was shopping for a new car, i could have gotten a leftover Rio for 8000CDN out the door. Its really really hard to beat their pricing. At the time base model civics were selling for like 22k in canada.
The warranty also beats the shit out of any other car company except maybe GM, at least here in canada. 5 year 100,000KM warranty? Honda offers 3 year 60k. Same with toyota. Subarus is fairly similar i think. But GM i think is doing 10 year 150,000 now. You can also get a Chevy Aveo for around the same price as a Rio so thats something to check out.
I mean yeah, ideally you should be buying a car with a better track record that feels better to drive, but sometimes price is a major issue. Its incredibly hard to beat hyundai and Kias pricing, other than the low end american cars, everything is going to be at least 4k dollars more, which is a lot of money when youre talking about a 8-14k dollar car.
Check out my band, click the banner.
Aveos are horrible cars. Describing them as reliable would be an outright lie and in my personal experience, Chevy dealerships will do just about anything to get of honoring the warranties on them. I hate the Kia and think the OP should be looking at Japanese compacts, but I'd still take it over an Aveo in a heartbeat.
They are better reliability-wise than they were, but still not as good as the new i series Hyundais like the i30. Which are much better (from a reliability perspective also) than Hyundais of old, but not yet as good to drive as the Japanese and European cars in the same size brackets.
A Kia will not have as nice an interior or be as comfortable and fun to drive as something like a Mazda3 or Golf, but then those cars are much more expensive for a reason. If your budget tops out at a brand new Kia and you don't want to buy used, then grab that Kia and drive it pretty much trouble-free for years and years.
Anyway, the price difference is $5K between the Rio and the Impreza (15K to 20K). The thing is, I've driven their $20K Rondo. There is still no comparison. If Kia is 'getting what you pay for', then Subaru, Honda, etc is giving something away. Having been through the whole buying a new car thing twice in the past year and a half, Kias just aren't worth the price they're asking. You can get a Civic for almost the same price as a Rio.
EDIT: Civics are $16K for the base model. If your dealer is starting you out at $18K for a Civic, they're taking you for a ride.
EDIT2: And dealerships will negotiate. It's one of the few places left where you can haggle for a way better price. I got Subaru to drop the price of the Impreza by $2K with 0.9% financing and no freight charges.
I agree with these comments. Honestly, driving a rented Kia Rondo felt like I was on a motorized rollerskate. I felt every bump and breeze. It was far and away the worst "new" car I've ever driven, which the possible exception of the Ford Taurus which is so named because it steers like a cow.
I'd rather buy a certified used two-year-old car with a manufacturer's warranty of a slightly higher quality than a lower quality new car, anyway. I don't know what your dealership is selling the Kias at, but I'd be very surprised if you can't find a 2007-2009 fully-warranted Mazda, Subaru, or Honda at a comparable price just by shopping around.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Limed for good advice.
Just wanted to mention that the warranty is actually beaten by both Hyundai and Mitsubishi (both of which offer 10year/100,000km.) The Accent/Elantra and Lancer could probably be had for near the same price (the lancer starts at $15k in Canada, so probably about $12 - 13k in the US)
I've looked at consumer reports and the Spectra is rated positively for the 2005 while the 2008 has an even better rating.
Drivetrain is typically the engine and transmission only. And very basic at that, like the alternator and starter wouldn't likely be covered under drivetrain.
And that crazy resale value will mean you spend the same on a 2 year old car as you'd spend on a brand new car.
Anything past $10k is "a lot of money" in my book so if the OP is looking at a Kia and thinking "well, I could actually afford this car at this price, new," then yeah, Kias are fine cars. I've had a pretty strong interest in a Kia Soul because the body type isn't available in other cars (yeah, I'm going to spend an extra $10k on a Honda Element olol).
The thing is, if money is tight it might be worthwhile to just buy an older, junkier car used from Craigslist. I have driven Acuras, sat in BMWs, ridden in an S2000, and to me they're all just cars. Rented a Nissan Spectra and an Aveo hatchback. I've done 19 hour road trips (straight through in one day) in a '98 Corolla. Unless you're a fatass or absolutely need to accelerate from 20mph to 65mph in 4 seconds when entering the expressway, I haven't noticed a difference that would cause me to drop an extra ten or fifteen thousand dollars on a car. They all depreciate, they all need repairs, and you could have a Kia that lives forever or a BMW that has a fluke and is in the shop twice a year.
Do test drives, sit in the car and then do your budget. You can't really get an idea for pricing until you talk to a dealer because they will often adjust the price or offer financing -- or they won't adjust the price and they won't offer financing deals so your hopes just disappeared.
That's kind of what I was trying to say. All these manufacturers advertise these super long warranties, but if you read the fine print, they tend not to cover very much a few years in. I'd rather have a car that's not known for electrical problems than have a million year drive train warranty. (I don't personally know that Kias are known for such problems, but some of the other cars mentioned over the course of the thread are.)
So far nice little car, nothing blows me away but the fit & finish is comparable or better than the '05 rolla so far, and the engine is decent as long as I'm not racing anyone (on foot).
Whatever you get, I wouldn't go older than 2008, and if you can find a certified Honda or Toyota within your price I'd go for that, but from what I've seen Hyundai has gotten better, so Kias may have as well.
PS. I just drove a brand new Fiesta and boy was it boring, And what is the deal with the electric window buttons in the driver door being placed so far back... boring car and questionable ergonomics.