Kia Optima

Hiope the quality is up to scratch

Well, if they want to have any chance of competing with the big-boys in this class, they'll need to have found a way of rectifying the cacophony of rattles, squeaks, creaks and clicks coming from their interiors. Although seemingly great at first, from about 10,000 miles, my Cee'd SW has been getting progressively worse, to the stage that it's now the rattliest, most unrefined car I've owned since my first, a ten-year old C-reg Austin Maestro, with the early airfix-kit dashboard design. It seems to develop a new creak every couple of weeks, and judging by the owners' forums, it's a common fault, but one which Kia are unwilling to address under warranty

Sad to say, what could be a top-of-the-class product is badly let down by this underlying cheapness - I won't be buying Kia again, even if they offer a 20 year warranty

By GTRoyale431 on 24 January, 2012, 11:17am

Cuke...

Hi, not in the same league as the Mondeo at all, what a messy plasticky dash it has and the front end is too fussy. Sorry but just another pale copy..

By cuke2u on 24 January, 2012, 11:33am

Hiope the quality is up to scratch

Well, if they want to have any chance of competing with the big-boys in this class, they'll need to have found a way of rectifying the cacophony of rattles, squeaks, creaks and clicks coming from their interiors. Although seemingly great at first, from about 10,000 miles, my Cee'd SW has been getting progressively worse, to the stage that it's now the rattliest, most unrefined car I've owned since my first, a ten-year old C-reg Austin Maestro, with the early airfix-kit dashboard design. It seems to develop a new creak every couple of weeks, and judging by the owners' forums, it's a common fault, but one which Kia are unwilling to address under warranty

Sad to say, what could be a top-of-the-class product is badly let down by this underlying cheapness - I won't be buying Kia again, even if they offer a 20 year warranty

By GTRoyale431 on 24 January, 2012, 11:44am

funny you can say that cuke2u. The front and rear end of a mondeo are the complete opposite. Bland. As for the interior it looks exactly the same in the dull forcus and fiesta. The optima doesn't even compare to the mondeo in terms of looks. You must be a mondeo driver.

By NeilR on 24 January, 2012, 1:08pm

Ignorant fools

This fool has clearly never even driven a Jaguar. If he had he would clearly realise that the XF is a superior car in every way, and yet is costs a mere £15,000 more! I mean, who wouldn't spend the extra over this feast of banality!!! In addition, the Optima isn't refined or frugal, as you wrongly state in your review. Did your tester even bother to look at the sort of mpg and CO2 figures that rivals such as the Passat are capable of these days!? It isn't even that cheap. What the hell kind of Mondeo are you comparing it too!? Fools!

By dicksplash on 24 January, 2012, 5:54pm

Jaguar a superior car? That is for laughs. Last of its class, shouldn't even be there. Ford understood it, bye bye.

By giorikas81 on 25 January, 2012, 10:13am

Not bad

It look OK and with a long warranty and decent build they will sell some but I can't see many Mondeo/ Passat buyers switching to one

By yellowbear on 26 January, 2012, 7:55am

Great Looker in high demand

Well it's not fair to compare this with the Ceed wich like most brit ' cars is made in Europe,the Optima is all ready the best seller in it's own country and over in the US they have had to build a new factory to keep up demand for this model alone,that alone speaks for itself,i'd rather have this headturner anyday than a Mundano.

By armac31 on 26 January, 2012, 9:57am

to GTRoyale431 which forum have you read about ceed dash rattles/squeaks,i'm a member of the Kia owners club and there's no mention of any?,only 'No squeaks or rattles' found.

By armac31 on 26 January, 2012, 10:25am

Kia Dash Rattles

@armac31 - have a look at any one of the following:

www.kia-forums.com/kia-forte-cerato-td-koup-discussion/55708-dash-rattle-driving-me-nuts.html

www.kia-forums.com/kia-ceed-forum/68252-time-say-goodbye-my-ceed.html

www.kia-forums.com/kia-ceed-forum/57277-ceed-1-6crd-sw-annoying-rattle.html

www.kia-forums.com/kia-ceed-forum/57711-dashboard-rattle-3.html

www.kia-forums.com/kia-ceed-forum/69569-sw-woes.html

www.kia-forums.com/kia-ceed-forum/68770-creaking-driver-seat-noise-clutch-gearbox.html

www.kia-forums.com/kia-ceed-forum/64710-mirror-rattle.html

www.kia-forums.com/kia-ceed-forum/68890-steering-wheel-squeaks-fix.html

www.kia-forums.com/kia-ceed-forum/63532-dash-rattle-fixed.html

www.kia-forums.com/kia-ceed-forum/74218-2011-pro-ceed-rattles.html

These are lifted from the first ten pages of just one forum. Although none of these states that they won't look at it under warranty, that was stated to my partner in a telephone conversation with Kia UK. And for the record, none of the forum posts were submitted by me.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to love the car, it has so much potential. Since the Cee'd SW first came out, I wanted one, and having eventually got one, I couldn't have been happier for the firstr six months or so. But how can I praise a car I can only drive with the stereo volume set high???

By GTRoyale431 on 26 January, 2012, 7:55pm

@arnac31

I've attempted to reply to this twice, with links to numerous relevant postings on one of the forums, but it won't appear. Whether it's being blocked due to the urls or just getting caught in the system I don't know, but if you go to kia (dash) forums (dot) com, there are several examples. (replace (dash) with - and (dot) with . )

By GTRoyale431 on 26 January, 2012, 11:01pm

Kia's catching up

After seeing Optima one can safely say that Kia has certainly come a long way in the last half a decade.
Optima looks nice. And on the whole Kias are better equipped than most rivals. Seven-year guarantee is the icing on the cake and proves Kia's confidence in its products.
From personal experience I can say that Kias are well made, solid, honest cars.
Compared to Fords ride is slightly firmer but not uncomfortable. Handling however is more of an issue. Steering has an artificial feel.
Engines are not bad at all. But they could do with more torque.
It's strange that only one engine is on sale in the UK.
It would be interesting when Kia brings hybrids.
The Korean car-maker provides credible competition to more established European manufacturers and choice to buyers.

By fadyady on 26 January, 2012, 11:57pm

nice again Kia!

no doubt they are making nice cars lately, especially when it comes to design.
Definately nicer than the Mondeo, the side view is awsome, only if they could better a bit the front mask which still cryies out 'Korea'. Mondeo's is better in this respect.
Also the twin glass moon roof adds a touch of class to it.
Good engines/more than decent mpg, good handling characteristics, upmarket interior, top warranty, all of these combined with the best value for money and you surely have a winner.

By kirra1 on 27 January, 2012, 8:50am

@GTRoyale431

Hi @GTRoyale431 - thanks for your comments. They were indeed blocked - our system detected the comments as spam but all should be fine now.

Sorry about that!
Auto Express

By Rhian on 27 January, 2012, 12:06pm

@Rhian

Thanks - I had a feeling it would be something to do with the links

By GTRoyale431 on 27 January, 2012, 9:53pm

Kia has the highest loyalty on our side of the pond - Canada/US but a funny thing it seems folk are replacing them every 3 yrs or so here ???Everybody downgrades North American made cars and trucks but I've kept mine (maintained properly) for at least 5-7 yrs) and put a minimum of 275,000 miles on my cars and 350,000 to 500,000 miles on my diesel trucks.

By blinkster on 29 January, 2012, 5:29am

GTRoyale431

Ahh that's why i could'nt find any i'm not an american?

By armac31 on 29 January, 2012, 11:44pm

@arnac31

Neither am I - several of the posts were about UK cars.

By GTRoyale431 on 30 January, 2012, 5:50pm

At giorikas81

Clearly, you have never driven a Jaguar! They are a class above anything else sub 75k, in design, refinement, driving dynamics. Obviously that's what you are lacking; any class!

Ford made a massive error when they sold Jaguar/LR - and they know it. LR sales up 24% and Jaguar up 7% on last year. Both have new exciting models on the horizon and will only go from strength to strength. So you have no class or business sense. Stick with your Mondeo!

By exhibition on 3 April, 2012, 10:35am

Nice car

Nice car, shame about the badge.

By Drive71 on 27 April, 2012, 4:04pm