18th Jan 2007, 21:54

I bought a new Kia Optima and I love it. No steering problems. Everything is just right. My wife and I believe we own the two best vehicles on the road, one of which is the Optima. It's the best deal out there for a mid-sized sedan. I'm sorry this other reviewer had such a bad experience. So far mine has been just the opposite.

11th Apr 2007, 13:10

Please answer the question, how do you like the car??? I don't want to hear opinions, Facts! Thanks.

12th Apr 2007, 09:31

Go back to the dealership and test drive another optima I love this car. maybe you got a lemon and let them know you want to drive another optima just like yours and drive it for a day. if you got a lemon contact kia or take it to a different dealership and have them look at it. I love this car mine is a V-6 and me and my wife love it.

2nd Sep 2007, 22:02

It seems to me that pulling and vibration issues would have been evident while test driving. It would have made perfect sense at that time to select another Optima. The scratch in the bumper most likely occurred in transit and is covered under your warranty for 60,000 miles. Any other issues are covered as well, and the drivetrain is covered for 10 years or 10,000 miles.

27th Sep 2007, 11:46

Looks like we have a lot of KIA employees posting on this forum. the company should be POS not KIA.

18th Nov 2007, 20:31

I have a Optima 2006.5 and I got it September 14th with 17,388 miles. Four days later my check engine light came on... the dealership said it was the gas cap. It wasnt when it started stalling at red lights and stop signs. Then it wasn't warming up. It ended up being the thermostat and temperature thing. It didn't get fixed right away because they forgot to order the parts. Then the parts they put in were faulty. Then they fixed that and the light came back on again. They don't know why.

I really like the car and just want it fixed.

I drove a Camry 07 and actually liked the inside of the optima way better.

Now I have a Focus for a rental...it is horrible...so loud.

Anyway that's my current problem.

1st Dec 2007, 08:42

I think the OP was clear: she hates the car and she hates the dealer. I don't blame her. A brand new car of ANY brand should not have alignment problems. It's a big inconvenience to have to take time off work to bring a car in time after time after time, whether it's under warranty or not. If you're going to do that, you may as well buy a Chrysler. That's a FACT. Thanks to the OP for bringing up the problems. It's very important, when researching your next vehicle, to get ALL sides, whether it's a fluke or not. You buy a car because you LIKE it; you KEEP a car because of the experience of owning and maintaining it. Therefore, pie-in-the-sky reviews from fan-boys who want people to always "root" for a particular car (what a juvenile concept THAT is) simply cannot be trusted. For MY money, I want BOTH sides, and the OP has done me a great service by giving her side. Thank you.

26th Dec 2007, 21:01

I have a 2000 Kia Shepia, 286,714 miles and just had my first major problem. Timing belt broke, never been replaced. Husband just got new Kia LOVES IT. NO PROBLEMS.

1st May 2008, 10:52

Bummer that you had the problem from the onset. If you haven't spoken with the Service Department Manager yet, please do so. KIA has a 10 point scale with their service departments and they only want "10's". I don't work for KIA, but have 2 new vehicles, an Optima and a Rondo - both 07's. The previous vehicle was a 2006 Optima and it trucked along for 45k miles before I traded it in on an 07. What you have to remember is this - unlike Hyundai (excellent vehicles), the KIA is totally manufactured in South Korea. Believe me, your problems with your vehicle have trickled back to the factory, and it shouldn't happen again. On the other hand, most factory trained techs are American - nothing wrong with that - but the South Koreans have BETTER pride in their work.

26th Apr 2009, 01:18

I've had my '06.5 Optima LX for about 5k miles, now at 35k miles. I love the car in so many ways, but it is far from perfect.

Both sun visors broke. The passenger's was replaced by the previous owner according to my local Kia service dept. They will be replacing the driver's next week for free, thank goodness. It's $94 for a new one. Outrageous! It's obviously a defective design.

The TPMS light is on, proper tire pressure or not. The service manager said if it's on the original tires (which it is), most likely a sensor went bad and it's $200 to replace one. They are footing the bill if this is the case.

The rear end of my Optima makes creaking and popping noises. The service manager listened to it and said they'd check it out when fixing the other problems. It seems like rather a lot to go wrong on a 3 year old car with 35k miles, but I won't complain since Kia is being so helpful in resolving the issues, not to mention I've heard much worse from owners of other cars of similar age. My father and step-mother have had many problems with their new Chevys in the past 3yrs. of owning them. More serious mechanical issues and quality deficiencies, like an oil leak and bad ignitions. As long as the big stuff holds up with time and nothing annoying goes wrong with my Optima, I'll be happy with it. I hope to get 200k miles out of her!