Anyone own a KIA?

[Sylvanfan]

After reading all this, I'm glad I went with the Toyota myself. My only complaint on the Toyota is the windshield not being bullet proof. Other than that it's been a fantastic vehichle.

[peter12]

What Toyota did you go with, Sylvanfan?

[jam26]

It's really hard to beat Toyota. I want to buy a new vehicle but it's hard to justify it when my 97 Corolla just keeps going strong at 200,000 km. My fiance has a Hyundai Accent and even though it has less than 80,000 km, we've had it in the shop for some very costly repairs several times this year.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by peter12

What Toyota did you go with, Sylvanfan?

We bought the Rav4 Sport with the V6. For like an extra 2k I think that V6 is worth the money in that vehichle. My only complaint with Toyota was that to get the best safety features you had to get the Rav4 Limited which was pushing 38k (although you can probably get it in the US for like 28) The fuel economy is nearly identical and you get like 100 extra horse power. I think come resale time the V6 will hold it's value much better. I also make a few trips through the mountains on our third world calibre highways and the V6 in that vehichle has great passing power which an impatient driver like myself absolutely loves. I don't drive it everyday, my wife does, but for what we need 95% of the time that vehichle suits our needs very well.

[CactusJack]

Wow, a 13 year bump for this thread! We’re seriously considering a 2021 Kia Sportage, but reading the original reviews on this thread it sounds like people weren’t too impressed with Kia vehicles overall. Does anybody have any more recent experiences with Kia they’d like to share? Most recent reviews online are actually quite favourable now but we don’t know many people with recent first hand experience. Thanks!

[Weitz]

An opinion on any car brand from 13 years ago isn’t relevant today.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by CactusJack

Wow, a 13 year bump for this thread! We’re seriously considering a 2021 Kia Sportage, but reading the original reviews on this thread it sounds like people weren’t too impressed with Kia vehicles overall. Does anybody have any more recent experiences with Kia they’d like to share? Most recent reviews online are actually quite favourable now but we don’t know many people with recent first hand experience. Thanks!

My kid has a 2013 turbo sportage with zero problems thru 100k, bullet proof IMO, far better than the junk 65k GMC pickup I have which has been nothing short of a nightmare the last 3 years.

[Rutuu]

Originally Posted by peter12

Yeah, that's true. I think the Sedona is a Hyundai clone with the KIA name stamped on it. Must be why it generally gets higher reviews than the other KIA models. I have to say, I took a look at their little POS Rio, at first it seems like a great deal. You get alot more options for less money than you would with say a Toyota. Plus they throw in that 120 000k warranty. In the end, terrible service at KIA City, as well as the knowledge that my re-sale value in 5 years would be next to nothing, pushed my decision to upgrading to a better car at Toyota.

It's definitely worth it in the long run. Superior quality with excellent future resale value.

I used to sell finance at a wholesale level. I love this answer.

Also I've got a RAV4, my next vehicle is an EV and I figure my ICE will be worth scrap prices. Good to know there are folks thinking otherwise.

[Cheese]

Consumer Reports has the Kia Telluride as the best vehicle to buy. They also have Kias in general rated high.
I have a friend who works at Toyota in QA.. He gets to take every vehicle apart from all manufacturers to see what makes them tick as well as racing them around the track. He has told me that Hyundai and Kia are top two followed by Subaru. He wouldn't buy a Toyota. Quality of build has fallen off a ledge for Toyota.

[btimbit]

Yeah this thread is over 10 years old so a lot of the sentiments shared were definitely true back then, but nowadays, Hyundai/Kia>Toyota for sure

They're boring soulless appliances, but they're cheap and reliable

[CrazyCaper]

I have a 2009 Kia Sorento that I purchased about 18 months ago in a private sale. Bought it with 82k on it. Now has 125k. No issues so far. Have done regular maintenance but nothing major so far(knock on wood). Really happy with my purchase.

[Regular_John]

We went through this same thing last month in our purchase.

We found a Hyundai Elantra GT with a trim level that we loved in our budget.

We tested it against a Toyota Corolla Hatchback which we didn't love.

"But don't Hyundai & Kia vehicles start falling apart the second they leave the dealership?"

There was two things sealed the deal, the 5 year/100k warranty and the fact that my mother in law only drives Hyundai SUVs for the past 15 years with no major issues.

We went with the Hyundai based on the warranty and family member's recommendation.

My hope is we get 5 good years out of it and find ourselves getting into a hybrid or electric at that time just as the warranty period is ending.

[gallione11]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

We went through this same thing last month in our purchase.

We found a Hyundai Elantra GT with a trim level that we loved in our budget.

We tested it against a Toyota Corolla Hatchback which we didn't love.

"But don't Hyundai & Kia vehicles start falling apart the second they leave the dealership?"

There was two things sealed the deal, the 5 year/100k warranty and the fact that my mother in law only drives Hyundai SUVs for the past 15 years with no major issues.

We went with the Hyundai based on the warranty and family member's recommendation.

My hope is we get 5 good years out of it and find ourselves getting into a hybrid or electric at that time just as the warranty period is ending.

I was going to ask why only a 5 year warranty, but I checked the Canadian site and that's all they offer. I bought a mid-level trim Elantra two years ago, and it has the 5 year limited warranty but also a 10yr/100k mile powertrain warranty as well, but I'm in the US. It's mainly just used for town driving, but it's been great. Have had zero issues so far. Price was hard to beat as well at just a tick over $14k.

[Tiger]

Surprising kia is rated with high initial quality. They apparently poached a head BMW engineer and an Audi designer. I got one in 2017. It has actually been great and had it fully loaded for a lot less than most other cars. Air conditioned seats are a nice touch

[BsFaninCGY]

https://www.consumerreports.org/used...-avoid-buying/

I found this site very helpful when used car shopping recently.

[djsFlames]

I drive one. Got it fairly new with just 20k on it. Drove great, absolutely no issues until about 97k which I hit this spring and since then I've had strange engine "clicking" issues that they can't seem to diagnose. I drove the crap out of mine though, gunning it on a lot of highway trips with not the best maintenance habits in that time.

I will say this, the brand has improved tenfold in the last decade, especially the updates to their car designs and features in the past three years or so. I was once a guy that said I'd never buy that brand but here I am and I will also say the people at their dealerships are a treat to deal with. Easy, quick, efficient servicing. Don't feel pressured or BSed. And the costs seem more reasonable than they were for the same parts and services with GM. What a s###show that was. Night and day.

[calgarygringo]

I work out of town about 3 weeks a month and my company rents me cars for my trips so I get to try all kinds of cars for 1 or 2 weeks at a time. My last trip to Winnipeg and back was a 2 week and had a Kia Forte. It was really good and surprised me. It was really well equipped to which may have helped but based on that trips I would not hesitate to buy one similarly equipped. This trip I am in Vancouver and have a fully equipped Ford Escape Hybrid. Still getting used to the dial shifter and keep trying to grab the steering column Lol. Other than that I have been really impressed the first 4 days. By the end of the week I will be able to do a full critique. The guys at the car rental place always ask me as I do so muçh driving for so many days. Yes I have had some duds too.

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by BsFaninCGY

https://www.consumerreports.org/used...-avoid-buying/

I found this site very helpful when used car shopping recently.

Well you can go by a list but this list full of holes. Listing a 2015 Buick Verano but not a 2015 Chevy Cruze, they are the same car. This is the case for all the makes in the Chevy, GMC, Buick vehicles. For whatever reason the 2017 Silverado is listed, yet the 2015, and 2016 are the same truck, while the 2014 was the first year of that generation which has all the recalls. And omitting the Dodge Nitro? Perhaps the worst SUV ever made, these fell under the lemon law category for goodness sakes. Good to see no F150 or Escape anywhere.

When buying something used there is enormous risk, unless there is considerable warranty remaining or you choose to purchase warranty.

[McG]

We agonized over an Acura and a Kia Sorento in 2016. The Acura is obviously the superior vehicle but when it came time to stroke the cheque I just couldn’t pay the almost $25000 more. We got the top of the line sorento with adaptive cruise control and everything else on it. We are just under 100000 km and touch wood it’s been awesome. So many great features and it is just a great suv to drive. I’d buy another Kia.

While you wouldn’t mistake it for an Audi, there are plenty of design touches that are similar. There are lots of clever features too.

It’s funny on this thread about time. Around 2004 I was driving a lot of rental cars. I drove a new Hyundai and it was impressive. It had low km. I drove the exact same model and year a couple of weeks later but this one had many km on it and it was terrible. It was as if every bolt had been loosened just a little bit. The car was sloppy to drive.

With that lesson, I asked to drive a used Kia sorento that was about 150000 km to see how it felt. They looked at me like I was crazy when I was buying a new vehicle. It had held up well so we kept the new sorento on the list. It’s not scientific nor is it anything but random, but it worked out for us.

[CaptainCrunch]

I've owned two Hyundai's in a row. A Tuscon that I really liked, owned for a few years and had zero problems whatsoever.



I purchased a Elantra about 3 years back, love it, its mechanically flawless, its great on gas. The navigation system, Android Auto is great, it drives really well, especially in Sport mode.


I've had more problems with North American Cars then I have with Imports.