Test driving a 2012 kia optima tommorow....

[stamar]

ya nothing in the price range can compete with the 276 hp 2.0 liter turbo 4.


We test drove and sat in 20 cars today but they were all optimas, accords,camrys,scions,hyundais and nissans.

first off the only ones available with double moonroof were the optima and the scion tc. I am not sure why scion has one and toyota does not, if it did it would crush kias.

All, meaning ALL of these cars with base cloth have atrocious interior quality. WAY worse than the old days. Worse than 91 base honda civics or geo metros. Straight plastic and the seats are made of cheap back pack material.

THE BEST INTERIOR BY FAR!!!!! In my opinion, which she did agree with, is the nissan altima. That one is a cut above all of this level, it has bmw level quality seats. And a coupe version. It is also the most attractive.

The worst interiors in all trims were the kia hyunadai interiors. They are the same, they bring a new level of cheap shaming even american cars. What they call leather still is fake and half clothe. On the opposite end, their cloth interiors are so terrible I would not even invest in something to clean them id throw them out when they got dirty, so I dont think anyone buys a kia with those seats......


The best handling car, the ONLY one I would buy for its asking price was a scion tc, it had the dual moonroof for 21k. It is actually cheaper than the kia optima, and of the whole group has the best sounding stereo with 6-1 surround. Something thats not even in toyotas bottom level lexus the is250 and yes checked that out too.

the problem is, the optima is soooo much more powerful and it has the full 4 doors the ex says are necessary.

If the scion tc was a 4 door booom it would be a camry.... but then it suddenly is MORE expensive.
The camry base interior is much nicer than its related scion. The scion is based on the OLDER camry. which means, it actually is smaller and gets worse gas mileage. But as far as MSRP, its priced right. its interior is a step below toyota, it is terrible. Worse than a geo metro Im serious. New cars have trended away from luxury interiors again back to 70s level plastic.


there were no passats in the neighborhood. Its the only one of these that comes as a wagon.

So I went away saying if it were my money Id get a scion tc, or a camry. If you were going BASE!!!! no options... I think the camry is a lot better than the optima msrp vs msrp. Because the optima is made of crap and its worse.

IF you tried to have (NICE) leather in a camry and alloys and moonroof and crap a camry costs too much. So its all about how much you value all the bells. Me? Not as much as my ex the person who has to decide.

Shes got her top 2 based on what she values, the optima, and then the altima.

And really the altima has the best interior, it puts all of these cars to shame. The trend has suddenly become plastic that looks like plastic in this level of car

Also, she HATES plastic wood. will not tolerate plastic wood so she doesnt want to hear about the accord or the camry again.

[jasonbk]

I've never sat or drive North American kia optima or new hyundai sonata. Every sonata or k5 that I sat in/drove had leather everything, although I hated plastic material on centre console. But why does she need big sedan anyways? What about compact 4-door sedans?

[stamar]

Well we also looked at fusion and taurus.

She actually like the apearance of the altima coupe the best but it didnt have a window sticker so were comparing the price by hand.

ya as far as vehicle size some of these cars are smaller some larger so theirs a blend. A big plus or minus was just how much room and comfort is in the front seats. Big altima win. Those are infiniti level sport seats.

she looked at corrollas and civics for comparison but they just dont cut it. even though her top pics were two of the smaller cars we looked at the optima and the altima coupe.

we both agreed that the new civic is an ugly car and didnt even take a step towards it.

the corrolla probably deserved more look than it got though.


What kia and hyundai call leather is half clothe seats and pleather. But... its cheap. When you try and make an accord with leather they mean acura leather and suddenly it costs as much as an acura. They dont want to compete with themselves you see.

Oh ya and all optimas have heated seats beside the base grade. thats something new too. They just throw it all together. The one we drove had paddle shifters, 276 hp and sport suspension. IF that is what you want you cant get it anywhere else. For those features all the other car companies want a lot of CASH even ford.

[stamar]

I haven't had a lot of experience in the new car market, but why has no one suggested a 1 or 3 series? Not necessarily the newest car on the lot but something like CPO 3 series will go a little over 20 grand. Does anybody on here DD a newer bimmer or other brand cars?

she has bought 2 5 year old used cars and she wants her first new car. theres nothing that makes sense about getting a new car so dont worry about it.

[KenC]

Wait for the 2013 Fusion.



It's a good thing Ford owns Aston...

[Chaz]

^ Looks like it's trying to hard to be something it isn't.
It's not your money just tell her to get whatever she wants. I agree that buying new seems like it hardly makes any sense.

[Fusion]

^ An Aston Martin.

Wha de fuk is a double moonroof and why do people need it?
Car companies invest so much time and money in stupid useless shit like parking cameras, glass roofs, and making cars idiot-proof that they can't even make a reasonable interior anymore.

Why doesn't she just go for a slightly used or demo BMW 1 with an entry level engine?
Don't go thinking that 276hp engine is some S54. If it's made as well as the rest of those cars, it's going to be a neverending headache.
And why does she need 276hp when she's going to be looking up at the moonroof all the time?

[stamar]

its a glass roof. Im not sure what its called.

Other cars have them but not in this class.

Its a large front moonroof, and the back is not actually a moonroof, just a glass roof they can see out of. I could not tell you why but the two cheapest cars i looked at today had them and all the name brand cars did not.

In the scion tc it seemed weird even becuase its a coupe and only kids could sit in the back anyway. but its a power glass roof. 21k too with 3 way component speakers.

And Im glad I learned this because on paper scions seem like so much better than toyotas. In reality, toyotas are much nicer. Even the paint seems nicer and all body panels. scion is kind of the playskool my first car brand.

[tonerrrr]

I own a 2010 Kia Forte Koup, not a bad car. I actually let my g/f just takeover payments to pursue my e30 addiction. She's actually mad I didn't get the Optima...

You'll find that compared to Honda and others, Kia will give you a lot for you money. Radio/Bluetooth controls on the steering wheel is one thing you just get with them. Honda, you get a bunch of cup holders (Fit) haha.

[VANOS714]

kias are coming up with some good looking cars.

[Dj Buttchug]

genesis coupe. end thread

[stamar]

Genesis coupe is extremely attractive and i did look at that.

Youre just entering a whole new category of cash and category. If you get that, why not get a bmw 128? I think ive heard theres a new rx7 coming out.... etc...

believe it or not, she loved the paddle shifters on the optima. And they are cheap cheap paddle shifters but they are really awesome. not available on competitors for any price.

Anyhow... she decided she didnt need to test the passat. It looks very plain and generic. It was very comfortable inside, definitely the best cloth seats available in this class apart from an altima.

Overall it was very exciting seeing so many new cars. None of them are my style except the scion. And thats just for the cost. Im sure id rather spend 2k more and get a miata if I had to.

its exciting to see the retail differences etc.

[u3b3rg33k]

kias are coming up with some good looking cars.

That's because hyundai took over. I've driven a few older kias, and they suck donkey butt.

Speaking of Hyundai, as much as I thought I loved hating on them, my brother picked up an elantra touring. I hate to admit it, but not only is it practical (you can stuff a bicycle in the back), but it gets decent mileage, has legroom for those that are 6'4" tall, and the seats don't suck.

He did get mad at me when I was DDing, and treated it like an e30 on an onramp with S'd 90˚ curves...

I'd take one over a PT Snoozer any day.