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[cryptoadam]

I see a lot of hate for KIA's and I was wondering why? I understand that they had a bad name in the 80's and 90's, but now they make some very good and sexy cars. I drive an Optima SX and the thing has more options and gadgets than many fully loaded luxury cars.

I think they are 6th on JD power rankings, but whenever KIA comes up I always here people saying to stay away from them.

Here are some KIA's that are beastly







and if you don't like the KIA logo, then South Korea has you covered

I guess its hard to shake a stigma but a KIA gives you a good car that will have a ton of tech and features at a cheaper price then most competitors.

 

[EviLore]

I've driven them as rentals when necessary. They're functional, but between the two you're way better off with an equivalent Hyundai. I've heard several horror stories now directly from KIA owners though, like catastrophic mechanical failure that I haven't even heard of happening on other makes. Transmission reversals, steering wheel failure, that sort of thing.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

We called KIAs "100,000 mile cars" at the quick-lube because that's when they fell apart. That was awhile ago, though. Their quality has shot through the roof in the past 3-4 years. Don't take my word for it, but I think they're secretly fulfilling the same "cheap but incredibly reliable" role that Toyota did in the 70s-90s.

 

[cryptoadam]

I've driven them as rentals when necessary. They're functional, but between the two you're way better off with an equivalent Hyundai. I've heard several horror stories now directly from KIA owners though, like catastrophic mechanical failure that I haven't even heard of happening on other makes. Transmission reversals, steering wheel failure, that sort of thing.

Hyundai owns KIA, or the other way around. Either way they are pretty much the same.

I have to give KIA the edge in looks over a Hyundai. Optima looks better than Sonata for me, and same with Forte vs Elentra. Genisis vs Stinger/K900 is a toss up but the k900 is a sexy beast.

 

[Gander]

I can explain, KIA is a Korean car company and basically Japan owns the car market. Japan as part of their nationlist attitude look down upon Korean cars but my Hyundai was pretty much maintenance free and had an awesome warranty.

Both KIA and Hyundai have come into their own but still aren't viewed as quality as Japanese cars.

 

[hecatomb]

They sound like the modern version of the pinto

 

[lil puff]

I think they are ugly and over stylized, but from what I've read, the latest models are scoring high performance. I think Motorweek rated the Stinger best in class?

I think they do a good job with marketing.

 

[HarryKS]

Who says that?

 

[EscapeArtist]

Definitely thought this topic was about r/kotakuinaction

 

[Cybrwzrd]

I work in the automotive industry. I've had the fortune of taking apart competitor's components to look for cost down ideas.

Kia and Hyundai parts that I have looked at are built as cheaply as possible to survive their warranty. Glass filled nylon components in place of metal parts that other automakers would use, etc.

I wouldn't buy one, but they aren't bad cars.

 

[PonyStation4]

Every manufacturer makes good and bad cars. People should stop looking at brands and look at each car individually

 

[Sakura Doritos]

I have two Kia's, latest one is a 2017 SUV. Like it a lot. I've owned a variety of vehicles from a variety of manufacturers. One of my favorite so far. The no interest no money down was nice too.

 

[Mohonky]

They said the same shit about Japanese vehicles, no one would touch Jap-crap. Now if you want reliable, you go Japanese.

Korean cars were crap at one point, but they are really getting there now, same with the Chinese, I wouldnt buy Chinese right now, but you will be in the future.

The American way has always been to just throw lumps of metal at it, the German way is to over engineer it the Japanese way was to keep it simple and efficient.

American and Australian cars are much the same, my Aussie Ford build quality is quite rough, but because the engines are big lazy things they tend to last alright, but its the little things that go wrong and you look at what it is they went wrong and think to yourself seriously if they spent 50c insteas of fucking 20c this wouldnt have been an issue. Its never anything that'll stop it from doing what it does, go A to B but just annoying shit.

 

[SoulUnison]

Years ago the Kia dealership in my town had a "buy one get one free deal." On cars.

It was such an obvious "too good to be true" that it reinforced an already negative brand perception, at least in my mind, and forever cemented them as "that company that builds 'disposable' cars."

 

[lil puff]

Hahahaa... Buy one get one one free got me a true belly laugh

 

[recma12]

KIA and Hyundai have a pretty bad rep here in Germany, but so does every non-German automaker.
I currently own a VW but I'm sick and tired of the insane prices (both purchase and annual maintenance).

For my next car I'm torn between the KIA Sportage and Hyundai Tucson, they start at 23k€ and you can get a nice one for 30k€.
That money gets me nothing but a hatchback at VW, BMW etc.
Since I only do 10.000 to 15.000 km a year, I don't really need cars to last for more than 100.000km.

Anybody here own a Tucson or Sportage?

 

[Vicetrailia]

What "new" company doesn't start out as crap? Kia has been rapidly getting better. Don't we all remember hyundai not too long ago.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

There are better alternatives for around the same price. I guess that is why.

 

[Patrick S.]

Isn't KIA the only car manufacturer that gives their cars a seven year warranty?

 

[guggnichso]

Are the KIAs we get in Europe any different than the US ones? Because here, they were known as quite reliable, cheap to service, semi-cheap cars for a while. Nowadays, everyone in that price segment drives Skoda however.

 

[Straight Edge]

The sheet metal on kias is cheap and often requires replacement where you could repair on other vehicles.

 

[guggnichso]

KIA and Hyundai have a pretty bad rep here in Germany, but so does every non-German automaker.
I currently own a VW but I'm sick and tired of the insane prices (both purchase and annual maintenance).

For my next car I'm torn between the KIA Sportage and Hyundai Tucson, they start at 23k€ and you can get a nice one for 30k€.
That money gets me nothing but a hatchback at VW, BMW etc.
Since I only do 10.000 to 15.000 km a year, I don't really need cars to last for more than 100.000km.

Anybody here own a Tucson or Sportage?

Ever looked at a Skoda? They're quite reliable and for 30k you get a real nice Octavia, which is overkill for your km stats.

My company car is a Skoda Octavia Combi from this year, has quite some nice extras like apple car and Android Auto and is around 30k. It's the Diesel Version however.

Last company car I had was a 2007 model Octavia with over 200.000 km on it and still ran fine. Hell, it's still in use for new people in our company.

 

[recma12]

Ever looked at a Skoda? They're quite reliable and for 30k you get a real nice Octavia, which is overkill for your km stats.

My company car is a Skoda Octavia Combi from this year, has quite some nice extras like apple car and Android Auto and is around 30k. It's the Diesel Version however.

Last company car I had was a 2007 model Octavia with over 200.000 km on it and still ran fine. Hell, it's still in use for new people in our company.

Yeah, Skodas are amazing. Much better deal than the OG Volkswagen cars (unless you need to have the newest shit).
Thing is, Skoda's mid size SUV is a little too expensive for me. The Karoq starts at 27k€, that money gets you a fully loaded Korean SUV.

But you are right, I would get a Skoda if I was looking for any other car model. I guess, I just want to be one of those assholes that drives an SUV in the city LOL

 

[5secondrulesucks]

i dont know much about kias but i bet theyre fine and people who hate them are people who probably have shitty cars. my auto teach back in high school taught me to respect your car even if its a piece of shit because its a reflection of the type of person you are. if you are someone who think your car is trash and you treat it like trash thats probably how youll always see things for the rest of your life. if you understand that you dont have much and can afford to buy maybe something that isnt the best but its yours and you clean it and treat it right it will do the same.

 

[Denton]

I saw Kia Stringer couple days back in town and god damn I was like WTF car is that, looks awesome?! And then I saw Kia logo and was even more dumbfounded. Had no idea Kia was capable of making such nice car.

As for Škodovkas, I like the new Superb

 

[lil puff]

i dont know much about kias but i bet theyre fine and people who hate them are people who probably have shitty cars. my auto teach back in high school taught me to respect your car even if its a piece of shit because its a reflection of the type of person you are. if you are someone who think your car is trash and you treat it like trash thats probably how youll always see things for the rest of your life. if you understand that you dont have much and can afford to buy maybe something that isnt the best but its yours and you clean it and treat it right it will do the same.

Awesome post

 

[Catphish]

Years ago the Kia dealership in my town had a "buy one get one free deal." On cars.

 

[Durask]

We called KIAs "100,000 mile cars" at the quick-lube because that's when they fell apart.

I think that current BMW product would fit this description very well.

 

[Durask]

Ever looked at a Skoda? They're quite reliable and for 30k you get a real nice Octavia, which is overkill for your km stats.

My company car is a Skoda Octavia Combi from this year, has quite some nice extras like apple car and Android Auto and is around 30k. It's the Diesel Version however.

Last company car I had was a 2007 model Octavia with over 200.000 km on it and still ran fine. Hell, it's still in use for new people in our company.

Is there any major difference between Skoda/VW/Audi/Porsche etc? My understanding is that they are all made from VW lego blocks.

 

[captainraincoat]

My first Kia....a 2005 cerrato spent its first 7 months pulled apart at the dealership as they could not figure out an engine issue(loss of power and cut outs).....they ended up replacing the engine without giving an explanation and this had flow on affects to the rego as they didn't update the engine ID to the car.

On the flip side my Mrs bought a Mitsubishi lancer and this thing you could not kill....later in its life it ran on no oil....no water (because she didn't realize cars needed these things) and still performed flawlessly

Flip back to the Kia and any small issue turns out being a pain in the ass to fix...they have to take the engine apart to get to some areas which costs a whole lot more on labor.

This has stopped me from buying a Kia ever again

I would agree hyundai's are pretty nice cars also
But in terms of you cant kill it...mitsubishi's are hands down the marathon runners

 

[datsunzep]

I bought my Kia Forte Koup SX in 2010. It's been a great car. Got it loaded for several grand less than a base Civic Si and it's definitely the better looking of the two. Have a 6 speed MT and it's just as quick. Granted, I probably won't buy another Korean car again because I can afford more now. GTI or WRX will probably be the next two I'll be shopping. However, it certainly has served it's purpose as a daily that is still engaging enough to drive.

Love the new Stingers, but no MT on the big engine kills it for me.

 

[Liljagare]

Yeah, I am actually in the market for a Stinger. They are well priced, are getting good reviews and people are happy with them.

Have had a CEED SW GT for 3 years, and am extremely happy with that one.

 

[element]

I have a Kia Niro and it has been great so far. 51 avg MPG. Drives really nice. I would have paid another $3k or $4k more for a Honda or Toyota.

 

[138]

A few years ago, I was in the market for a compact SUV, so I looked at the Kia Sportage, which was cheaper than the comparable Hyundai models. It was OK, but I ended up going with a Subaru XV Crosstrek. Why? Because everything I wanted on my vehicle was already standard on the Crosstrek (AWD and Fog Lights) and once I added those extras in on the Kia, its price advantage quickly disappeared. I fucking love my Subaru.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

A few years ago, I was in the market for a compact SUV, so I looked at the Kia Sportage, which was cheaper than the comparable Hyundai models. It was OK, but I ended up going with a Subaru XV Crosstrek. Why? Because everything I wanted on my vehicle was already standard on the Crosstrek (AWD and Fog Lights) and once I added those extras in on the Kia, its price advantage quickly disappeared. I fucking love my Subaru.

 

[Dr.Guru of Peru]

Is there any major difference between Skoda/VW/Audi/Porsche etc? My understanding is that they are all made from VW lego blocks.

Of course there is.

 

[lil puff]

I bought my Kia Forte Koup SX in 2010. It's been a great car. Got it loaded for several grand less than a base Civic Si and it's definitely the better looking of the two. Have a 6 speed MT and it's just as quick. Granted, I probably won't buy another Korean car again because I can afford more now. GTI or WRX will probably be the next two I'll be shopping. However, it certainly has served it's purpose as a daily that is still engaging enough to drive.

Love the new Stingers, but no MT on the big engine kills it for me.

This is actually not a bad looking car. Looks clean for a Kia, none of the usual beveled edges in weird places, no odd fake aerodynamic creases.

 

[Geki-D]

According this a study done in the UK, KIAs are the third most reliable car brand.

 

[Warm Machine]

I've owned a KIA Soul since 2010. Completely reliable. Has about 85,000km on it. Replaced the factory tires due to wear and needed to replace the battery. Other than typical oil and filter business it has been pretty well rock solid. When KIA was bought by Hyundai in 2009 or whatever and they hired the new designer they turned the entire brand around. If KIA had an EV with 300mile range I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[Kacho]

I've recieved KIAs as rentals and beyond being functional automobiles they're ugly, undesirable and cheap looking/feeling. I'd buy an american car before even considering a KIA.

Says a lot about the perception of the brand when LeBron is sponsered and they feel the need to do a commercial where Bron Bron swears he drives a KIA.

Basically, KIA is the JNCO of cars.

 

[cryptoadam]

Interesting enough I was in an Audi A4(2017 or 2016) for the past few days and it isn't feature parity with my 2011 SX. This was base package A4, but no cooled seats, no touch screen, no back up camera, no navigation.

For a luxury car that probably cost close to 40K or more (don't know the base Audi price) its very feature light. And this is a pretty new car yet it doesn't have a ton of standard features.

 

[lil puff]

I've recieved KIAs as rentals and beyond being functional automobiles they're ugly, undesirable and cheap looking/feeling. I'd buy an american car before even considering a KIA.

Says a lot about the perception of the brand when LeBron is sponsered and they feel the need to do a commercial where Bron Bron swears he drives a KIA.

Basically, KIA is the JNCO of cars.

JNCO LOL cmon thats too far. Very funny though. Kia is like .... Diadora