Kia cars

[Jim Creech]

Kia Spectra 5, 2008, 150K miles. Only thing I have had to do is routine maintenance. Biggest single expense was clutch replacement.

[Larry Browning]

I had a 2006 Kia Rio for a few years. It was pretty plain, but it worked great as a work commuter. I really didn't have a bit of trouble out of it. I now have a 2012 Hyndui Elantra and it is one of the best cars I have ever owned. It now has 95,000 miles on it and has never had a single issue. I think it runs and drives just as good as the day it was new. We have taken it on trips to Chicago, St Louis, San Antonio, and countless trips to Dallas. It drives and rides like a much bigger car, all the while getting a solid 36mpg day in and day out. If I drive it carefully, I can get 40 or 41. The only thing that was almost a deal breaker at the time I bought was that I does not have a spare tire, just a can of fix-a-flat. I have never had a flat in it, but it would be a major pita if I had a blowout or something that the fix-a-flat couldn't "fix".

[Dan Mages]

I rented a Kia Optima for a few days while in Dallas a couple years ago and found the road manners to be horrid. Probably the worst handling car I have ever driven, except for the Camry. It was a rental, so anything is possible, but it felt like nobody bothered to fine tune the suspension. If you are looking at the compact car segment, I recommend looking at the Dodge Dart. My wife and I have one and it has been very reliable and much more interesting to drive than a Civic or Carolla, aka the dishwashers with wheels.

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

I bought a used 2007 Kia optmia a couple of years ago for a work car. I've put about 60,000 miles on it so far. I had to replace the brakes & tires and that's all. Just normal maintenance items. I gets 28 mile's per gallon, it's very peppy. My only real complaint is the insurance cost, it is more expensive to insure than the other 2 more expensive vehicles I have.

[Rich Engelhardt]

If I had a car that I got 16 years out of it I'd be looking to get another.

Kia/Hyundai is right now, at the point Honda was 16 years ago.
I drove nothing but a steady stream of Honda products from 1996 to 2010. I traded them in about every 2 to 3 years - depending on the miles. I traded at 90K miles regardless of age. I drove a ton of miles.
Anyhow, I saw a steady decline of both quality and value in Honda products over that time. I'd never buy another one. Their product is vastly overrated and their customer service grew worse and worse and worse.

OTOH - my wife bought a 2011 Kia Forte and I was very impressed with everything about that car. It rode well, got great mileage, had a good deal of "pep" and we did ok on a trade in last Fall. My wife had her heart set on an Elantra so, we went Hyundai. I'm impressed with the Elantra also so far.

One nice trait about the Asian manufacturers. They seem to listen to feedback about the quality (or lack thereof) and rise to meet the challenge.
Domestic manufactures all seemed to beat their chests and point fingers at someone else...@ least they did do that for a few decades.

[ken masoumi]

I bought my Civic in 2007 new,all I have done so far is change oil regularly,manual transmission fluid change, one new battery,that's all in 8 years,I don't know where the " a steady decline of both quality and value in Honda products over that time." comes from,I guess it depends on how hard the car is used,I only put 10.000 miles per year but so far it has worked flawlessly.

My son's 2002 Hyundai Accent was also a workhorse.

[John Sanford]

Unfortunately the Hondas built today are nowhere near what they were 16 years ago. I'd buy a Hyundai (or a Kia) before a Honda today.

Yes, and no. They are generally built as well or better than they were when Honda was eating everybody's lunch, BUT...

Everybody else has stepped up their engineering/build quality game. Most quite a bit, some, well, not so much. (Yeah, I'm looking at you Chrysler) Where Honda is really, really hurting is style and value. They have taken the "toaster" approach to such an extreme that even the most ardent Honda fanboys are yawning. With the exception of the upcoming new NSX, there is nothing inspiring in Honda's lineup. On the value front, they still are coasting on their past laurels, and getting a premium for it. Thus, a new car buyer will pay a bit more for a well engineered and executed car (but not so much better than other makes) that's got all the soul of a toaster. IF you're one of those people who want an absolute minimum of fuss from your car, and desperately look forward to the day of autonomous cars that ferry you about with no more involvement on your part than getting into the car, telling it where you want to go, and getting out of it, then a Honda may be for you.

For cryin' out loud, Toyota's got more exciting cars than Honda right now!

[Chuck Wintle]

Yes, and no. They are generally built as well or better than they were when Honda was eating everybody's lunch, BUT...

Everybody else has stepped up their engineering/build quality game. Most quite a bit, some, well, not so much. (Yeah, I'm looking at you Chrysler) Where Honda is really, really hurting is style and value. They have taken the "toaster" approach to such an extreme that even the most ardent Honda fanboys are yawning. With the exception of the upcoming new NSX, there is nothing inspiring in Honda's lineup. On the value front, they still are coasting on their past laurels, and getting a premium for it. Thus, a new car buyer will pay a bit more for a well engineered and executed car (but not so much better than other makes) that's got all the soul of a toaster. IF you're one of those people who want an absolute minimum of fuss from your car, and desperately look forward to the day of autonomous cars that ferry you about with no more involvement on your part than getting into the car, telling it where you want to go, and getting out of it, then a Honda may be for you.

For cryin' out loud, Toyota's got more exciting cars than Honda right now!

I like your Honda is a toaster analogy. You are bang on with that. They (honda) make the most boring looking cars and are riding on their laurels. Toyota still make bland cars..its their trademark. i went to see the Kia Rio after work tonight and it is a very impressive little car for the princely sum of $17000 for the automatic/AC model. I like the styling and how it sits since I ma fairly tall but the headroom is adequate. but a on the bulletin board at work someone is selling a used nissan versa 2009 manual shift. This may be a possibility if a price can be agreed to.

[ken masoumi]

This a new Honda Civic in Europe ,far from boring if you ask me:

[Chuck Wintle]

This a new Honda Civic in Europe ,far from boring if you ask me:

absolutely right.. a fine looking automobile.

[john davey]

I have a '13 Optima and am very happy with it. They seem to be adding a lot of creature features inside of it. Nothing new or cutting edge mind you. But anything that was considered premium a few years ago and is now cheap they throw in to make them look more luxurious. Heated front and rear seats, rear camera, heated steering wheel, pano sunroof, navigation and quality sound system. Plus nice leather and trim in some option levels. It's no Mercedes but it is much nicer than I was expecting for the price. The motor is a dog but I got this for fuel economy so it is what it is. They have a turbo if you want better performance. My only complaint is the ride is not as smooth as I would like for a car of it's size. I think the optima is more in line with the accord that the civic. But then again I live in MD inside the DC Beltway and our roads are friggin horrible.

[Jon Shank]

I has a Rio for a rental a couple of years ago and couldn't stand it, by the end of the week when I gave it back to the rental place I was not quite angry enough to chew the rental guy out but not short by much. That said, as a rental it was probably the lowest level spec of their lowest level car and it was at least a couple of years ago, so take that with a grain of salt and check it out. If you can take it for a ten minute test drive and like it well enough, that's longer than it took me to hate the thing. Since then if the rental place tries to give me a Rio I just say no, find me another car. Fortunately I rent alot so they just go find me another car.

That said, I've had a multitude of other KIA sedans and SUVs, in different sizes and trims, and except for that Rio they have all been at least acceptable cars and a few really pretty exceptional. I've got a couple of friends, a couple who are friends? However you want to say it, who are devotees to the brand, haven't bought anything else since they bought the first ones only a couple of years after they started selling in the states. They've had good service from them, and from the dealership they bought them from. It started out as a thoroughly thought out decision to buy one for each of them based on price and features and warranty, and evolved over the years into a real love for the brand and the cars. That's a pretty big recomendation to me. Would I buy a KIA personally? A Rio, No. And probably not another model either, but that's more based on the fact that I know I'd never hear the end of it from my very US made car family, not really anything against the brand. Overall, except for that Rio, I've had a pretty good experience from their cars and SUVs.

Jon

[Rich Engelhardt]

I don't know where the " a steady decline of both quality and value in Honda products over that time." comes from,I guess it depends on how hard the car is used,I only put 10.000 miles per year but so far it has worked flawlessly.

1.) 1967 Honda CB 160 - had it two months and it blew a mainseal and was in the shop for 6 months waiting on parts.

2.) 1968 Honda CB 350 - had it two and a half years & the chain snapped and wrapped around the frame and seized the engine up tight. It ended up being stolen out of the garage as I was waiting to save money for repairs.

(That was during Honda's early years of coming into the US market. The Civic they imported then was little more than a $1,000.00 Tinker Toy....
Their early motorcycles weren't much better. JMO though.
I do confess, I loved my 350 Scrambler.)
3.) 1984 Accura - put on 120K miles, gas, oil, tires. Took a blood bath on a trade in. Worst car ever as far as holding value. We only got a decent trade on it by stepping down to a Civic.(1998 Civic -see below)

*4.) 1996 Honda Accord (LX model) - gas, oil, tires - traded @ ~ 90K miles for another Accord. Good retained value.
*5.) 1998 Honda Civic - gas, oil, tires. At 80k miles the car began to wander around on the road a lot. Developed an oil leak also. Traded it and took a bit of a hit.
Fell short of my 90k mile expectations.
*6.) 1999 Honda Accord (LX model)- gas, oil, tires - traded @ ~ 90K ,miles for another Accord
*7.) 2002 Honda Accord (LX model)-gas oil, tires- traded @ ~ 90K miles for - - - a Honda Odyssey.
*8.) 2004 Honda Odyssey (EX model) , gas, oil, tires - battery twice under warranty once outside of warranty, sliding door mechanisms, both sides, replaced twice under warrnty, paid to have replaced twice - once on each side @ $1,2000.00 each time, keyed locks quit working on driver and passenger side and Honda wanted $800.00 per side to replace locks.

I put 96k miles on that van - the three year warranty ran out when it hit 36,000 miles after about 18 months of use. All the non warranty repair items were required in LESS THAN 36 months.
I asked the dealership for some help going to Honda America about the sliding doors and they as much as told me kiss off.
That was after buyin 5 (the ones marked with a * above) different Honda's from that same dealership, having 100% of the maintenance done at that dealership and being a loyal customer for 10 years.
Traded on a 2007 Honda Accord.

9.) 2007 Honda Accord (LX model)- gas. oil tires - brakes had to be redone at 13k miles under warranty. The whole car had been "downgraded" greatly from the original 1996 Accord LX I'd bought. Small creature comforts and "perks" the LX model had had over the base model had been mostly eliminated.
Sorry - it's been 8 years and I can't be specific as to exactly what. If you sat in both cars from each year though, you'd be able to tell immediately.

Ok - why did I get the 2007 Accord when I had "sworn off" Honda?

It was only because my $30,000.00 Odyssey with 97k miles on it, with goregous leather interior, EX (high end model) trim level and spotless interior/exterior would only fetch $9,000.00 on a trade in.
That Odyssey was by far, the worst of the bunch for repairs, value, gas mileage.

I had over 40 years of Honda History first hand, drove Honda products nearly 3/4 of a million miles.
That's where I'm coming from...

You already said you had one Honda and one model year (w/noting to compare it to) and put fewer miles on it than I put on my least driven Honda.

[Larry Edgerton]

Mazda.

Cheap, dependable, and most importantly for me, FUN!

I have had a string of Miata's that I did terrible things to and they loved it. Our current grown up car is a Mazda Speed3, and that is the most fun cheap car I have ever owned. Mostly my wife drives it but every once in a while I get to beat the daylights out of it. It now has 145,000 miles and has never broken, knock on wood. Handles like a Miata. My wife get 35MPG, I get 25 MPG for whatever reason?

Brakes, tires, and shocks, that's it!

Kia's have come a long way, but as their quality came up so have their prices to the point that they no longer have that advantage. At this point you should look at options.

PS: I think Hondas are boring too....

[Ole Anderson]

Glad to see at least one is supporting a North American company.