2003 Kia Optima LX review from North America

Very reliable car overall.

The only time the vehicle was in the shop (outside of normal maintenance) was to replace an O2 sensor. The vehicle was in the shop twice in one week; however, that was because the dealer failed to replace the O2 sensor the first time.

Only other issue was with the tires and wheels. Two sets of tires on the vehicle and all lost air; however, the none of the tire shops we visited could find a source of the leak??? Suspected it was leaking air from bad seal where the tire and the wheel met???

When we purchased the car we were told by the dealer that we should get between 25 miles to the gallon in the city and 30 miles per gallon on the highway. Our average MPG was 23.5 (even on long highway trips) which was very disappointing considering I have a 1995 Ford Taurus with 173,000 miles on it and I still average 26 miles per gallon.

We were also VERY disappointed last month when we traded in the vehicle. We had kept the car in very good condition. When we went to trade in the vehicle, we owed $8000 dollars and the first dealership offered us $4000 and would not budge. Fortunately the second dealer was able to work out a deal and give us payoff for the vehicle.