Faults:

Nothing so far; it seems that the sunroof might have a small leak but I'm not sure if its that, or if I didn't close it all the way shut.

General Comments:

This car has the smoothest ride I have ever been in for a car that is cheap. I drove around 3 or 4 of the new Nissan Altima, and this car owns as far as road noise. The Nissan had a lot of front end noise on the engine, and I was not sure about the front end suspension. I also drove around a few of the new Honda Accord, but Honda is feeling really proud of pricing them too high. I don't think Honda and Toyota quality are the same as it was back in the later '80s and early '90s.

I bought this car for 10.5K. It is a fully loaded EX with 6 CD/MP3 player, tinted windows, tape deck, 4 disc brakes, sunroof, traction control, leather interior, with a 2.7 liter V6. It is funny because the car looks like a cross between a Lexus and Benz which I think is really funny. It has some really big tires on it. After driving around 5 to 10 cars, I thought this one was the bomb as far as price and what I wanted in a car.

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

Excellent value. I had previously owned a used 2004 Optima EX (4-cyl) for only 6 months and was so impressed with the build quality that I turned around and bought a new 2006 (old body style) just for the warranty. I opted for the 4-cyl LX manual trans because of the torque. I swapped the wheels for similarly-sized 15" alloys and increased the tire size to 215/60-15 Kumho's that would accommodate 44psi. The car handles so much better than before. In light of putting 30,000 miles on it in under a year, it is still tight as day one. Mileage is better than advertised and I average 30-33 mpg.

Did I mention that I got this car for only $12,500 out the door? It was still new on the lot, as the dealer stated that it had 6000 miles because it was a "demo" (sure, 5 speed, no options, and hubcaps) - but I just couldn't pass up this bargain. It fits my job perfectly (I repair copiers and haul a lot of gear, need a large back seat, and travel so much).

Overall, a very comfortable car with a touch of sporty pretenses with a rock-solid powerplant that can stand up to countless miles of punishment.

Sad to say this, but in 5 years this car will have about 200,000 miles on it, and I wonder if I'll ever get this kind of deal again, considering that Kia and Hyundai (just picked up a 2007 Sonata) are improving substantially each year. One final note: buy them now while the prices are still cheap...