OK, so my '93 Corsica is deciding to take a final crap, costing me more then it is worth to fix. A friend of my girlfriend has a '97 Ranger on sale for $5600, that bluebooks at $9000 retail, and $7000 Private. I think this is a good deal, but it is a bit more expensive then I am able to afford right now. Now, my mom said that she would be able to help me out with about $2K (loaned), and I can get $2K myself. The trouble comes with trying to convince my dad (They are divorced 15 years) to pitch in.
I would be able to put up for a loan, as I work for a bank, and have close contact with many lenders, but frankly, I would rather not have to deal with that. That will be the backup in case my Dad won’t donate to my worthy cause. Therein lies the problem, as he has always been partial to the idea of me owning a new car with a 10 year warrenty.
When I first got my Corsica, my Dad was real keen on the idea of getting a KIA. I didn’t want a KIA then, and I don’t want one now either. Fact is though, that he is going to thrust the “It’s only $7000!” and “10 year warrenty!” and “It would be NEW!” arguments at me again. This time though, I would like to be prepared…
Because the name is an acronym for Killed In Action.
Seriously, though, I dunno. But when we bought a car, the loan (from a second-party, not the dealer) was invalid for Kias and Daewoos, both Korean, IIRC. Try a Hyundai. 10 year warranty, and pretty cheap for the smaller models.
Because North Korea might nuke their manufactors, making spare parts hard to get? Other than that, with the 10year warranty the other main problem(poor reliablity) is largely negated, even though break-downs are still a pain.
I used to work at a NAPA store in a town where we had lots of Kias. I was often shocked at how expensive some of the parts were. I also wondered why I was selling so many Kia parts, since they have such a great warranty, and were brand new.
Based on my parts store experience, I would say they are the Yugos of the new millenium.
I drive a Proton. It’s not fantastic as a car, but it gets me from A to B in a modicum of comfort - important as I’m very tall and simply can’t fit in many cars. It’s cheap to run, low insurance, and very importantly, its predecessor passed the crunch test, saving my life (I was cut out of it).
Without a doubt it was the worst car I have ever driven, (bear in mind that, being British, I have driven some real lemons in my time).
It was about as charismatic as George W Bush; it handled like a spoilt piglet; it accelerated like an earthworm on mogadon; I felt as safe driving it as if I were smothered in anchovy paste and pushed naked into a room full of hungry cougars.
Their high-end cars might be OK, but their low end is really the lowest of the low.
I was going to buy a Kia too, until I test drove a huyandai. I bought the huynadai(OK, so I can’t spell it!).
It’s a good car, not like my honda, but it’s a good car for $10,000.
I’m not trying to push the Hyandai, I’m trying to push the process of the test drive. Nothing like a test drive. When they know you’ve test road lots of cars, they may come down in pice for you too.
The local Kia dealership got into trouble recently. They promised to pay off any outstanding loans on vehicles traded-in for new Kias (Basically, if you owed $2k on a vehicle worth $5K, they’d grant you $3k in trade-in value and promise to pay off the $2k you owed).
Well, they took the car at the discounted trade-in value, and then didn’t pay off the car loan, sticking the customers with two car payments. I realize that this has little to do with the company as a whole, as it was the action of the dealership owner, but IMHO, KIA should have stepped in and helped these people that got screwed by their dealer. And they did nothing, and now, nobody is ever going to buy another KIA from that dealership, no matter who ownes it now, and it’s the only KIA dealership in the county.
I saw a Kia Sephia on our college board, it seemed real cheap for it’s year but I read on the net about them & decided not to buy it. Whew.
“'97 Ranger on sale for $5600,”
That seems a lot. You better read up about those Rangers too. Especially recall notices, if any. I remember seeing in 2001 someone selling a 99 Ranger for $5,900 locally. That seemed pretty low but once I read about them it made sense.
Back in 1998 I bought a KIA because my escort was getting long in the tooth. It was Sephia, pretty cheap and drove good. Eightteen months later I sued the the company to buy it back from me as a lemon. It was crap. It was in the shop 16 times in the first 12 months, 4 of those times was for the same problem. My cousin had to do the same thing four months after I did. Not sure if the quality has improved since then but I personally wouldn’t buy another one.
Hyundai now owns Kia, that’s the real reason Kia offers that ten year warranty. several of the models are basically the same car, like Mercurys are often Fords etc. Kias are fine cars, it’d be new and it has a ten year warranty. Seems like a good deal to me.
I know a tow truck operator that wouldn’t drive a Kia if you paid him. He’s allegedly seen two incidents where Kia’s were in collisions and one where it actually rolled over, and in all instances the airbags failed to deploy.
He sees accidents and breakdowns every day and if he says Kia’s are no good, I’m content to take his word on it.
I test drove 3 year old a KIA Mentor once, and it felt the same to drive as my 16 year old Peugeot, with the inside very similar looking too. As big perm says, you get what you pay for. If you want to pay moeny for a cheap car and don’t mind a vintage interior, if you want a car to do more than go from A to B, don’t get one.
My mom has a '01 Sportage, and has had a lot of trouble with it. Granted, it was in a pretty serious wreck (she was rear-ended at high-speeds) but even before then, things were going to crud. The only reason she’s kept it is because she can’t get into a different car, with her credit the way it is.
If you decide you get one, YMMV, hopefully it will!
