Kia Anyone?

[mominwestlake]

We had been holding out buying a new car but today ds16 was in an accident. He was hit by another driver and our van was totaled. We need to get something relatively fast and we don't have a lot to spend.

We have been considering Kia. If you have Kia, what model, how many passengers does it hold, and what do you like about it/dislike about it? We want something with Cargo space. We have a newer Sienna van for our family of 7 but we can't decide if we want another van or a midsized car.

Oh yes, all this happened while dh is out of town on business. I am trying to get everything lined up before he comes home and we tell him what happened.

 

[JaimJaim76]

Hello! We just bought a 2005 Kia Sorento LS a couple months ago. I absolutely love it. It is VERY roomy, even more so than comparable SUVs. I love it because its really fun and easy to drive and it the perfect size...it is not too big and not too small. There is PLENTY of cargo space as well. It will hold 5 passengers comfortably, so I dont know if it would work perfectly for your family of 7 but I would definitely recommend checking one out or even a new model if that is what you're looking for. You can't beat the price of Kia's either. They have excellent reviews and crash ratings as well, so I really don't see how anyone could go wrong. The only dislike I can say that I have is that it doesn't handle wet roads well, however it does have a "snow" option that I turn on when it is raining and it makes a huge difference in the traction. I dont really understand how it works but it does, lol. I think after owning this one, we will stick with Kia's. Good luck and sorry to hear about your accident. I hope everything works out!!

 

[iggbees]

i bought a kia soul back in april. so far i love it. i get 29 mpg average, which is much better than i got in my vw beetle. the soul holds 5 people. i get a lot of mixed reviews on the look of it though. some people stop me and tell me how much they love it and others think it's ugly. my friend owns a 2009 kia sportage, which also seats 5, and she loves her car too. she was actually the reason i bought a kia, she's owned 3 kias, 2 of them had no problems even over 100,000 mi (the other one is her new one). when i was debating between the scion xB and the honda fit, she told me she wouldn't hesitate to buy a kia again. that's what sold me on the kia.

 

[maddmike]

I have a 2007 chevy Impala, 32 mpg. I have never had one problem with it. Only service it has had is oil change and tire rotation. Its a great car with lots of room, plenty of power and sold by an American company.

 

[Pembo]

We got our Kia Sedona last January. I LOVED my Pontiac Montana but they no longer make them. The Kia was the closest thing to the Pontiac. I also love that the back seats fold into the floor, that is nifty little feature. My kids love that the windows in the sliding doors roll down.

Love my Kia and they are now made in Georgia, I believe.

 

[Disneyliscious]

I have a 2007 chevy Impala, 32 mpg. I have never had one problem with it. Only service it has had is oil change and tire rotation. Its a great car with lots of room, plenty of power and sold by an American company.

The economy is rough, money is tight and jobs are being lost every day. I have bought American all my life (4 cars). I am now planning to buy my first 'foreign' make - a Kia.

If the American makers want to compete, they need to get a new pricing structure. As much as I'd love to buy American......my pocketbook matters more than theirs. Where else can you get a brand new car for $7000? Not from the "Good Ole USA" automakers.

I'll pay my kia off in one year or less and have a car thats new, good gas mileage, and a great warranty. No more of those 60 payments till its mine.

 

[iggbees]

Love my Kia and they are now made in Georgia, I believe.

this is true! they opened a plant here this past year. the great thing is that it not only made more jobs available, but it also boosted the economy of the neighboring towns because more people were eating and shopping at local businesses there.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/07/08/fortunate.town/index.html

 

[mominwestlake]

Which Kia is $7,000?

Does anyone else ever feel like they can't get ahead. The economy hit my dh's business very hard. We are finally starting to recover from that and then this happens. I know it could have been a lot worse and I am so grateful that my child is okay. Plus, the car totalled was 12 years old. I just wanted to go another year without a car payment. Sorry, we don't have the cash for this car and I know that is a no-no.

 

[Disneyliscious]

My local dealer just had the Kia Rio for $6777 - brand new. Granted, its a stripped down version....no air, no radio, etc,.....but its a new car. You can get them with options for around $8000.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

this is true! they opened a plant here this past year. the great thing is that it not only made more jobs available, but it also boosted the economy of the neighboring towns because more people were eating and shopping at local businesses there.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/07/08/fortunate.town/index.html

The plant has only been open a few weeks (so says DH) and a very few models have rolled off the production floor, as far as we can tell, they weren't slated to go into full production until Dec. I don't think they have opened to production yet, but HR began working months ago. They are making the Sorento. We passed the plant last week and it is huge, and if you are close by they have been having special open house events and I know special purchase options for new employees, but not sure if that offer is for the general public

Suzanne

 

[iggbees]

The plant has only been open a few weeks (so says DH) and a very few models have rolled off the production floor, as far as we can tell, they weren't slated to go into full production until Dec. I don't think they have opened to production yet, but HR began working months ago. They are making the Sorento. We passed the plant last week and it is huge, and if you are close by they have been having special open house events and I know special purchase options for new employees, but not sure if that offer is for the general public

Suzanne

haha whoops, i meant to write that it opened this year. it sounds like they had somewhere above 45,000 applicants for 2,000 positions at the new facility and there is room for up to 6,000 more jobs to be opening up in the future.

also, the opening of a plant in the US is a good thing because that means that less parts eventually will be imported and it will hopefully take less time for your car to be fixed should anything happen to it.

 

[Mickey527]

I bought a Kia sportage two weeks before the President talked about the cash for clunkers. I sold my old car for $1200, could have gotten $4500 for trade in.
I bought a 2008 Kia sportage and LOVE IT!. I have already taken it to WDW once. I got a white one with black interior, Mickey colors, because I have a great set of Mickey seat covers that are black and white.
My brother loved my car and how it handled so much that he traded in his Pontiac and bought a Kia Sorento van. His has everything including a DVD player for each kid and headphones so they won't hear the other's video or game.
I definately will buy Kia again, and I got mine for $15,000 because I paid cash. the sticker price was $26,000.

 

[bakalorber]

We have a 2007 Kia Sedona minivan. Bought it in 08 but it was brand new so we had the whole warrently. It is pretty well souped up: sun roof,leather seats. We looked at the toyota sienna and honda oddesey (sp). The Kia was about 10,000 dollars cheaper with similiar options. It runs good and we have had no issues. I think the engine runs a bit rougher (louder) than the other two but still is a good vehicle. The one weird thing is the 07's sedona's have a tape deck (yes that is correct) and a CD player but no aux jack for an ipod. But we just got a tape dock for the ipod and it works ok. Overall I would say we are happy with the vehicle after almost 2 years.

 

[S. C.]

haha whoops, i meant to write that it opened this year. it sounds like they had somewhere above 45,000 applicants for 2,000 positions at the new facility and there is room for up to 6,000 more jobs to be opening up in the future.

also, the opening of a plant in the US is a good thing because that means that less parts eventually will be imported and it will hopefully take less time for your car to be fixed should anything happen to it.

I hope you are right... but, I wouldn't count on that happening. I would love to see new jobs come to the USA and jobs stay in the USA. I will believe it when I see it, especially from a foreign auto maker.

 

[JaimJaim76]

Which Kia is $7,000?

Does anyone else ever feel like they can't get ahead. The economy hit my dh's business very hard. We are finally starting to recover from that and then this happens. I know it could have been a lot worse and I am so grateful that my child is okay. Plus, the car totalled was 12 years old. I just wanted to go another year without a car payment. Sorry, we don't have the cash for this car and I know that is a no-no.

The 2005 Kia Sorento we bought 2 months ago was only $6200. We got an exceptional deal but the starting price was only $7400 which was still awesome, considering our only other options in our price range (under $7000) were 2001 Blazers and Durangos. I know how you are feeling though...our business has been slacking because of the economy and we were in desperate need for a car. We hated to get into a payment but we also didn't have $7000 cash laying around. We wanted something up to date in appearance and those older model Blazers and Durangos weren't cutting it, (no offense to anyone) but I was getting really disappointed in our selection until we found the Sorento. I felt like I was a millionaire when I pulled out of that car lot in my Kia!! )

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

haha whoops, i meant to write that it opened this year. it sounds like they had somewhere above 45,000 applicants for 2,000 positions at the new facility and there is room for up to 6,000 more jobs to be opening up in the future.

also, the opening of a plant in the US is a good thing because that means that less parts eventually will be imported and it will hopefully take less time for your car to be fixed should anything happen to it.

I hope you are right... but, I wouldn't count on that happening. I would love to see new jobs come to the USA and jobs stay in the USA. I will believe it when I see it, especially from a foreign auto maker.

They are building (or have been building) some parts plants on the same land as the KIA plant that will make the parts for the cars.

Suzanne

 

[noahcarter]

We have a Kia Rondo which seats 7. Now, I would not want to put two adults in the third row but for kids it's fine. If you do not use the third row there is a lot of cargo room. With the third row in use, there is very little room. I love this car and the way it drives, which is a lot like a small car.
The only negative I have is that I wish it had sliding doors like a van. The doors are big and I always worry my kids are going to hit the car next to me. Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

[iggbees]

They are building (or have been building) some parts plants on the same land as the KIA plant that will make the parts for the cars.

Suzanne

i thought i remember the kia dealer talking about something like that when i bought my car. i hope they follow through! the one thing i hated about my vw was that all the parts were made in mexico.

 

[bzkds]

My dd16 nearly totaled my Toyota in Aug. We rented a Kia Spectra for 7 weeks while the Toyota was being fixed. It was a really nice, basic car. Not fancy or huge on storage like a SUV, obviously. But we all really enjoyed driving it and wished we could have kept it. I'll definitely consider a Kia when we end up getting a 3rd family car.
Beth

 

[Va-bear]

Our Kia Soul = fun and fantastic!!