Kia.

When I was a kid, "Made In Japan" on the bottom of something meant it was crap.

Now Lexus (Toyota) is as highly regarded as BMW and Mercedes. Clearly, the Japanese came a long way in some 25 year span.

The Koreans at first made CRAP. Utter trash. The first Kia cars were little tin death traps, wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

Cut to today:

Kia (Now owned by Hyundai), and other Korean manufacturers are making cars on par with the Japanese. They even offer a TEN YEAR/100,000 mile warranty.

All in the span of about 10 years.

Now, listen up: The Chinese are about to enter the car market in full force. Expect them to take even less time to get to where the Japanese and Koreans are now, in terms of automobile construction quality.

The new Kias look really nice, the Coupe looks awesome.

Previously, I wouldn't have been caught dead in one, now, I'd even consider getting one.

Is it a Lexus? No. is it comparable to a Civic? Yeah.

Your friend sounds like an idiot.


KIA's are fine.
Way back when they were crap.

Nowadays they are fine as long as you stick to the maintenance schedule.
Kia and Hyundai are mainly guilty of using the occasional low quality sensor. It's not like they are unreliable...its just that you may get a check engine light and have to have it checked out.

When you look at the design of em, you can see where decision were made to keep costs down, HOWEVER those decisions seem to be more touch and feel type stuff than longevity.

I would rate KIA\Hyundai from as good solid cars. the big issue with KIA and Hyundai seems to be owners who treat them as disposable tissues and dealerships who suck.

This.

I bought my 02 Hyundai in 06 with 60,000 miles on it. It now has over 100,000 miles, and I do not do alot of preventative maintenance on it, and have never seen the check engine light. You are more likely to see it on a new VW.

Kia is now where Hyundai was 5 years ago, and they are catching up fast. They will both be directly comparable to Honda very soon(if they have not gotten there already)

Agree with post #11...#12...and #13.

I don't own either but would. Both Hyundai and Kia used to be junk but aren't now.

As stated Hyundai > Kia but both are decent for the $$.

As I stated I own neither so I don't care if anyone bashes them but junk these days...they are not. :idk:

My '07 Optima now has around 53,000 miles on it

http://www.cycleforums.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=280233

(Apparently my pic links are no longer good)

Either way, it's been a fairly solid car and I beat the hell out of it.

Kia crash-worthiness was brought up.

If memory serves, a few years back some cars fared miserably in insurance industry tests, but were quickly redesigned, and re-submitted for testing, where they performed "average".

Kia's current model lineup, however, includes 5-star rated models for crash-worthiness, if memory serves. It's probably best to look them up individually, however, but I believe they "crash well" now...

I have a 2001 Kia Sportage. It's paid for, gets 20mpg and has 4wd. Aside from regular maintenance, and swapping out their TERRIBLE vacuum locking hubs for Warn manual hubs, it has been rock solid.

I has very few creature comforts and feels cheaply made (because it is cheaply made). But, it works for me. I don't need a fancy car; I have a bike that can darn near crack 100 mph in 1st gear.

Ya she's being an idiot about this. :lol:

I really want a Soul. I think they are good looking cars and would love to get rid of my current car. But it's not going to happen for a while....so was just curious.

I think I'm gonna agree with everyone else that they arent bad cars, but they have a cheap feel about them.

The only thing I will add is that from what I hear the re-sale market is crappy for them, KBB and nada say one thing, but dealership you go to will offer you 1/2 of the trade in value, and selling one person to person isnt too much better because the name isnt associated with quality and the interior backs it up

I know 4 people that work for Kia Motors America in Costa Mesa (I think). They are pretty decent cars IMO, minus the transmission to engine shifting. Interior materials have come along way since its early introduction to this country, on par with a Civic interior or Cobalt, but not near VW's.

I rented a Kia Soul the last time I was in Chicago. Actually was impressed with the vehicle overall and very well built. Engine speed on the freeway was kinda high and the fuel mileage was only in the upper 20s.