2001 Kia Optima LX Four

Summary:

A Troubled Car

Faults:

Rear window trim piece fell off like everyone else's has.

The timing belt snapped right at 61,000. I know that it was supposed to be replaced at 60,000, but come on; did it have to break right on the mark? This incident destroyed the engine beyond repair of course. Fortunately, one of my best friends is a foreign car mechanic and is known for helping us college students out on things like this. I told my friend to have the car taken there and he set her up with a used engine with LESS mileage on it, a new timing belt just for good measure, all for less than $2,000.

General Comments:

This is my friend's car. Neither of her parents lives nearby; her father is stationed in Korea of all places! He picked the car out because he wanted her to have a good car for school and he had had a good experience with a KIA in Korea. Needless to say, she was very upset when the car let her down like that, but very relieved that the repair did not cost more.

It's too bad really that such a cute car that is comfortable and reasonably safe should have so many problems. Her parents bought the car for her when it was one year old, so KIA sliced the warranty in half. Even so, I'm sure that they would not have covered her repair because KIA is famous for loopholes in their warranties. My cousin has had two Hyundai automobiles that have been fantastic and Hyundai never tried to avoid responsibility on warranty items, meaning everything. Parent company Hyundai needs to have speaks with KIA.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 14th November, 2004

17th Mar 2005, 22:13

I am very surprised with your problems. I have had my Optima since 2002 and had zero problems -- everything works fine. A family friend owns a 2002 like mine and also the new Amanti. We can't be happier considering we have owned Japanese and a couple of domestic cars in the past few years. We really like the Kia Optima and Amanti for quality build and pricing. I'll buy Kia over anything else in its class range. Period.

2001 Kia Optima LX 2.4 4 cylinder

Summary:

Got my moneys worth, Thank you KIA

Faults:

Not A single thing!

General Comments:

This is a well crafted automobile.

The American consumer will benefit from this middle weight, economical car.

Far better than my Nissan, or my wife's Mitsubishi Diamante. This has both luxury features on a working class price tag. Highly recommend this auto to anyone who knows what true value is anymore.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 31st January, 2004

2001 Kia Optima LX 1.7

Faults:

My clutch blew after 30,000 miles.

This cost me over a thousand dollars to replace.

Since I've been driving manual vehicles for the past decade with no experience of a clutch keeling over in such a premature manner.

The driver side power window is inoperable.

The ABS light is constantly coming on.

General Comments:

The car runs smoothly on the highway.

However, it leaves a lot to desire in the line of performance and emergency performance.

The driver side window had a mind of its own when the weather started to heat up.

It refused to seal properly, perhaps because of the heat, but if so that is unusual.

This left an annoying whistling sound when in transition.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 24th October, 2003

6th Nov 2003, 07:55

I also have a 2002 KIA Optima with a standard transmission. Mine clutch went out as well right at 32,000 miles. I am currently disputing it with KIA as they say its not a warranty issue. The problem wasn't just the clutch lining (a wearable part not covered under warranty), but that failure was 'catastrophic', i.e., the pressure plate and flywheel had to be replaced as well, as there was 'heat stress fractures' in the flywheel.