Anonymous

Reviewed a 2014 Kia SX Turbo on Jul 5, 2014

In our search for a stylish but sporty looking sedan & importantly having safety in mind, we originally looked at the Ford Fusion and Hyundai Sonata. Expanding the search, just to see if there were any others to consider, brought us to include the Kia Optima in an eye opening experience after test driving it for comparison. After great consideration between all 3 models, the Kia Optima SX Turbo won hands down because of having the looks and premium option features that made it a no-brainer to purchase. Being a die-hard Ford owner for years made it a very difficult choice but the warranty especially became a tipping point in the decision making process. Ford needs to wake up because 3yrs/36,000 mi. warranties are stone age in my eyes now. That narrowed the choice between the Kia Optima and Hyundai Sonata, both of which had the 5yr/60,000 bumper to bumper and 10yr/100,000 drivetrain warranties. Although the Sonata was very comparable in many ways my daughter (college student) noticed a lot of older drivers in the Sonata. The Optima's were being predominantly driven by a younger crowd. Funny enough, I saw her observations were true and so that became the last nail in the Sonata coffin. The Kia Optima SX amazes one if you're not over-expecting this car to be something that it's not. It's not a sports car, but the 2.0L Turbo model we purchased has excellent get up & go. The handling is just right for a sedan, which is hard to believe. We decided on going the full monty and got both the premium and technology packages.This added greatly to the MSRP, but after doing so, I could see it was well worth it. While sitting inside, you just notice more & more & more conveniences. We cannot speak about reliability because the car is too new, but we're so glad that our month of homework and shopping has brought us to purchasing a vehicle that is leaving the others in our rear view mirror. UPDATE: We've just turned 16,000 miles and the car is better than imagined. We are pleased that we made the right decision in choosing the Optima SX Turbo over any of the other Manufacturers comparable models. We've had no problems except for water entering the tail light which was replaced under warranty during our recent 15K servicing. It was a sealed LED unit so that's why it was replaced completely - a $500+ part no less - crazy what lights go for on newer cars with these LED's. As typical with OEM tires (Hankook - Korean tire of course like the car), they were terrible in the rain and had signs of above normal wear for the low miles we had on them. I bought dedicated Michelin snow tires for the winter and the Optima handled snow with great assurance. In May ('15), I bought a set of Continental PureContact w/ecoplus technology and the car just handles like a whole new vehicle. Tire response around corners is really amazing and they go through rain like it wasn't even there. Will update again!