That might've been true at one point in time, but they've come a *long* way - I've previously owned several Nissan Maximas - great performance, comfortable, reasonably priced... Checked out the new maximas and was quite disappointed. Looked at the Hyundai Sonata/Kia Optima twins (same car) and came away *very* impressed. The Kia Optima's got a very driver-focused interior, it looks great, and drove amazingly well, even with the base engine (though we're looking at the 2.0 turbo, of course!). 5 years ago? Wouldn't have bothered looking - they've really turned a corner and most of the newer cars are great! Saw one of the new optimas with satin finished five spoke wheels, black with dark tint and it was really good looking. 10 year 100k mile warranty! (I'm not shopping only Kia, it's being cross-shopped with many other cars - my wife is 6'2" and all legs, so we're looking at sedans with lots of legroom. So far, for her bad back, the Optima has been the most comfortable)
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04:22 PM
NEPTUNE Member
Posts: 10199 From: Ticlaw FL, and some other places. Registered: Aug 2001
That might've been true at one point in time, but they've come a *long* way - I've previously owned several Nissan Maximas - great performance, comfortable, reasonably priced... Checked out the new maximas and was quite disappointed. Looked at the Hyundai Sonata/Kia Optima twins (same car) and came away *very* impressed. The Kia Optima's got a very driver-focused interior, it looks great, and drove amazingly well, even with the base engine (though we're looking at the 2.0 turbo, of course!). 5 years ago? Wouldn't have bothered looking - they've really turned a corner and most of the newer cars are great! Saw one of the new optimas with satin finished five spoke wheels, black with dark tint and it was really good looking. 10 year 100k mile warranty! (I'm not shopping only Kia, it's being cross-shopped with many other cars - my wife is 6'2" and all legs, so we're looking at sedans with lots of legroom. So far, for her bad back, the Optima has been the most comfortable)
Shacquille Oneal likes Buicks. He's very tall. Maybe you could consider an AMERICAN brand. I don't know you, maybe you're Korean. Then perhaps it would make sense to send your money to one of the government subsidized overseas manufacturers.
Shacquille Oneal likes Buicks. He's very tall. Maybe you could consider an AMERICAN brand. I don't know you, maybe you're Korean. Then perhaps it would make sense to send your money to one of the government subsidized overseas manufacturers.
Oh I've tested a few. Did not like any of the GM's I drove, the Ford Fusion was... ok. I don't really care where a car was made - I've owned lots of American cars, and I've owned lots of Japanese ones. The cost to satisfaction ratio of all the American cars I've owned was pretty low (except for a 1973 Mercury Monterey we got for 500 bucks. That was way more fun than $500 should've been!). I've owned several Nissan Maximas because, for the money, they were some of the most satisfying cars I've ever owned for a long commute. Every single one's gone over 250k miles without any major issues. The vq30de engine is amazing - it's not a good idea to pick a car based solely on country of origin, really, all factors should be considered. I also buy exclusively non-american motorcycles, because there is no american manufacturer of motorcycles that makes anything I want - and I've got 7 bikes of all types. 6 months of test drives and the Kia SUV and Kia Optima are the 2 top contenders. If they'd put the SUV's AWD into the Optima I'd have it in my driveway already
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03:09 PM
PFF
System Bot
spark1 Member
Posts: 11159 From: Benton County, OR Registered: Dec 2002
Shacquille Oneal likes Buicks. He's very tall. Maybe you could consider an AMERICAN brand. I don't know you, maybe you're Korean. Then perhaps it would make sense to send your money to one of the government subsidized overseas manufacturers.
I bought the wife a 2011 Kia Sorrento after she had researched SUV's for about 3 months and this one came out on top. With 276 hp and awd its kinda fun to zip around in. We liked it so much this spring we traded up to a 2013....