I bought a.... KIA

Takumi · Post by **Takumi** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:21 pm

Just thought I'd throw that out there so you can all get over the shock first. Won't say which model but I pick it up next week

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:25 pm

The new Kias look great. Cerato Koup?

Post by **Bauer** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:35 pm

When our Taku, when our Taku buys a car, he buys a Rio, Kia Rio.

VTRacing · Post by **VTRacing** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:39 pm

bengatta · Post by **bengatta** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:43 pm

Post by **Cutter** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 7:25 am

You've let me down, you've let yourself down, you've let the school down, but most importantly

, you've let your ARSE down..........

Takumi · Post by **Takumi** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 7:37 am

Cutter wrote:You've let me down, you've let yourself down, you've let the school down, but most importantly , you've let your ARSE down..........

And you'll be eating your words soon

Exar Kun · Post by **Exar Kun** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 8:22 am

Rio, Optima and Sportage are all pretty good cars. They may not be the best when it comes to ride/handling but the engines are strong, there's a lot of features and the styling is fantastic in my opinion. Peter Schreyer has worked wonders with the brand. The Optima Platinum is dead sexy I reckon.

ysu · Post by **ysu** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:01 am

they may not be the best where it comes to ride, handling, reliability, quality of build,

...but they look good!

( ok this is from experience in a friend's car years back, so things may have progressed in leaps and bounds, I was just having a jab )

VTRacing · Post by **VTRacing** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:16 am

They used to be really bad in those departments, now they're ok. They share oily bits with Hyundai, and those Koreans are getting closer to Japanese levels of engineering integrity, reliability and quality.

Japan is the new Europe, Korea is the new Japan, and China is the old Korea with a bit of Malaysia thrown in.

Vilante · Post by **Vilante** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:22 am

VTRacing wrote:Japan is the new Europe, Korea is the new Japan, and China is the old Korea with a bit of Malaysia thrown in.

lol I like that

Exar Kun · Post by **Exar Kun** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:25 am

VTRacing wrote: Japan is the new Europe, Korea is the new Japan, and China is the old Korea with a bit of Malaysia thrown in.

This! Although I don't know where that leaves Europe... perhaps in South Africa?

ysu · Post by **ysu** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:02 am

Exar Kun wrote:
VTRacing wrote: Japan is the new Europe, Korea is the new Japan, and China is the old Korea with a bit of Malaysia thrown in.
This! Although I don't know where that leaves Europe... perhaps in South Africa?

nah Europe is the new thing; the Money Pit

Rots · Post by **Rots** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 7:26 pm

We had a Kia Rio up until last year. The bugger was cheap to run, 5 year unlimited kilometer warranty and loaded with features that only cost 15k.

petey · Post by **petey** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:05 pm

Takumi · Post by **Takumi** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:35 pm

Lol, I knew there'd be at least one hater. I pick it up on Friday

dvestate · Post by **dvestate** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:19 am

I am looking at a car update in the next 12 months and everytime i see the latest KIA's i could see myself buying one if they drive ok

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

SE1Z · Post by **SE1Z** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:26 am

dvestate wrote:I am looking at a car update in the next 12 months and everytime i see the latest KIA's i could see myself buying one if they drive ok

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

I know you're upset right now, but that is NOT something to admit on a public forum.

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:39 am

lol!

Sent from Han Solo using TK-421's phone.

Takumi · Post by **Takumi** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:51 am

Alright I can hold it in no more - it's an Optima Platinum. The platinum comes loaded with everything - dual sunroofs, leather interior, heated & airconditioned seats etc - a list of options as long as your arm really. I did however get the dealer to throw in the premium Snow White Pearl paint and darker window tinting - The entire roof is made of glass and I like the whole black on white look.

It'll look something like this:

I'll have pics of mine up on the weekend. If anyone still wants to slam KIA, go take one for a test drive THEN slam them.

Vilante · Post by **Vilante** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:54 am

Wicked mate, looks awesome. Does it come with those wheels? Loving the whole white and black thing.

How do they drive, have never been in one?

Takumi · Post by **Takumi** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:01 am

Vilante wrote:Wicked mate, looks awesome. Does it come with those wheels? Loving the whole white and black thing.

How do they drive, have never been in one?

Yeah those are the standard 18's that come on the platinum. It drove extremely well - I was blown away by it. I know there are plenty of better cars out there, but as far as how much car you get for the $$$ it blows the rest of them out of the water. The suspension setup was very good - comfortable but still handled well with little body roll. I was preparing to be underwhelmed by the engine (2.4L / 148kw) but it was actually pretty decent - coupled with a conventional 6sp auto. No dual clutch but I am not a fan of how they go in stop start traffic anyway. The interior is huge and is loaded with gadgets, reversing camera screen built into the rear vision mirror, very comfortable electric seats with 2-person memory - which are also heated / air-conditioned, chilled glovebox, plus a 7speaker infiniti sound system (it was pretty bass'y so I am pretty sure there is a sub woofer in the rear parcel shelf?). Xenon headlights, daytime LED running lights etc.

The Optima shares it's mechanicals and chassis with the Hyundai i40 - but the Optima gets much better reviews because the Australian delivered models have suspension tuned especially for Australia, while the i40 doesn't. It also doesn't look like a dead fish.

I'd recommend it to anyone. Kia seem to be in an interesting position at the moment - they have a few older cars in their range which are not so awesome, but then they have a few newer ones like the Optima, Soul, new Rio etc which are fantastic.

Exar Kun · Post by **Exar Kun** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:23 am

Nice! You definitely got the one I'd be going for in the range. A pity they're not available in manual. They share their underpinnings with the i45 actually - the i40 is the new one that just dropped here and is a bit smaller (and looks much better than the i45). i45 was highly criticised for its ride/handling when it first came here and Hyundai actually responded by making local changes but it doesn't seem to have improved too much. Optima actually tends to languish around the mid pack with the revised i45 in group tests when it comes to ride and handling but I think its looks and equipment sell it way above the i45. They just look awesome. Shows what a decent design boss can do! (Peter Schreyer used to be a lead Audi designer - the TT is his). Only thing Optima misses out on is integrated sat nav which I think is coming soon. The rest of the equipment list is amazing. If you want the best price/driving combo in the class, the Accord Euro at $29,990 is pretty hard to go past but I reckon the Optima looks the best.

Takumi · Post by **Takumi** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:46 am

Exar Kun wrote:Nice! You definitely got the one I'd be going for in the range. A pity they're not available in manual. They share their underpinnings with the i45 actually - the i40 is the new one that just dropped here and is a bit smaller (and looks much better than the i45). i45 was highly criticised for its ride/handling when it first came here and Hyundai actually responded by making local changes but it doesn't seem to have improved too much. Optima actually tends to languish around the mid pack with the revised i45 in group tests when it comes to ride and handling but I think its looks and equipment sell it way above the i45. They just look awesome. Shows what a decent design boss can do! (Peter Schreyer used to be a lead Audi designer - the TT is his). Only thing Optima misses out on is integrated sat nav which I think is coming soon. The rest of the equipment list is amazing. If you want the best price/driving combo in the class, the Accord Euro at $29,990 is pretty hard to go past but I reckon the Optima looks the best.

The Optima is available with satnav now but you pay $42,000 for it. i45? My bad. The reviews of the Optima are very interesting - most of the ones I read said the ride is fantastic, but then a recent Wheels test said it was horrid and ordinary at best? I took it for a test drive and found it to be a fantastic car to drive. Methinks there are too many car reviewers still out there with negative thoughts of any car with a KIA badge on it.

by the way I got my Optima for $36k with all on road costs included. If you wanted a similar specced Accord Euro or Mazda 6 you'd be in the 40's and probably hit 45k once the onroad costs are added on

ysu · Post by **ysu** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 10:00 am

That looks good indeed, since it drives good, too, if it does not break down/fall apart then this was a great buy indeed !

Well, the only question remaining then; how well will it hold its value?

But for now, have fun with it.

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