We took possession of my wife's new 2024 Kia SX Prestige last week and have so far have put 300 miles on it. I am in amazement as we are getting 36 mpg on regular gas!! I saw the read out yesterday while on the highway and it even went past the read out to 36.4 mpg after this picture was taken! Sure, that was mostly highway driving, but still about 1/3 around town.

We never owned Kia or Korean car before and I can't get over what they actually put into the car for the relatively low price we paid. We normally buy larger American and European luxury cars but I did not see the need or sense in spending huge money to go to Costco, Publix and out to dinner locally. I still have a huge Yukon all loaded up with plenty of accessories for longer trips, although my longest trip in 3 years has been to the local shooting Club 50 minutes away - lol. Kia seemed to have pull themselves up from the very bottom of the barrel 15 or so years ago to now beat out even Toyota and Honda and much more expensive cars in many models. Some of their models are rated #1 in their class. The car drives itself on the highway although I am still a bit weirded out by that. My Yukon also has those features however the technology over the last few years really shown as the new vehicle is better at it than mu Yukon. Oh - and BTW, the car is made in GA! Ok, most parts are probably Korean, but most cars these days have Chinesium parts.

So far we could not be happier! The SUV came with many more options than we actually wanted but my Wife had to have her creature comforts (powered moonroof, powered lift-gate and integral GPS and as we all know, you can't get exactly and only what you want without buying "packages" of clustered options.
They had a fully loaded Sportage on the lot with the red air conditioned and heated leather interior she wanted - so I made the best deal I could. Anyway, we are very pleased so far. If anyone is looking for a mid sized SUV, you truly should look at the Sportage! The only downside is that the higher end trim levels only come in certain and fewer colors. Makes little sense to spend more money and get less of an interior and exterior color choice - but it is what it is!

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My daughter bought a new Hyundai Tuscon last year(which is about the same as a Kia Sportage) and she loves it and I'm glad she got something with a great warranty for what car repairs cost nowadays. The car has about every safety feature and bell and whistle you could think of and it was reasonably priced and she loves controlling everything from her I phone. She got on a plane at the OKC airport and was about ready to take off recently and her car in the parking lot sent her a text saying she forgot to lock it and asked if she would like it locked!

I bought a new Kia Soul a few months ago. I had driven Toyotas for the past 15 years but it got to the point that Toyota just got too proud of their cars and wouldn’t deal at all. I had been dealing with the same dealer the whole time and once they were great to deal with but no more. Found that I like the Kia better than any Toyota I had owned.

Did Kia/Hyundai ever change whatever it was that made them so easy to steal ?

Guess a steering wheel lock is/ was the solution. I’d like to know as I’m thinking about looking for a newer vehicle. Have a 2013 Highlander that has been flat out perfect. Cv joints, shocks, couple tune ups, AC compressor and tires. Over 200K on it and my auto service business says I’ll get over 300K as long as I keep the maintenance up.

From 2023 and on that problem has been solved

Be sure and read the fine print on the warranty. I have heard that the warranty is void if you don’t service it at the dealer.

My daughter had a Sportage for almost 15 years without any problems.

It was last year, I'm pretty sure, I bought my youngest daughter a Kia Sportage. (Although she's supposed to be making the payments.) It's actually a decent vehicle for what it is. I would buy a new one. Lots of power and lots of toys.
This year we're gonna be trading in my wife's Chevy...lease. It's about 99% all Korean, so whatever, it's gone. I hate it anyways. Kia will be one of our first stops.
Sounds like OP made a happy wife! The day I retired I was due for a new car anyway so I bought a Malibu, that night I ordered a new revolver, which is no longer here, and I was happy. Chief38 deserves a new knife or revolver or SOMEthing.

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There's a Monster on the loose

Wife wanted an Audi, picked it up last week.

What model Audi? I had a Q5 rental on vacation a couple of years ago, put about 1000 miles on it. nice vehicle.

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Super Snooper

My wife and I are on our 3rd Hyundai. The last 2 went over 250,000 miles before we sold them. I think they are the best bang-for-the-buck vehicles out there.

Yes and no,
They went to a proprietary plug so they can't just use an off the shelf piece of USB hardware to boost these cars.
But the core circuitry and firmware remains

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it just needs more voltage

... And a hand saw is the bypass to the steering wheel lock unfortunately.
The steering wheel is just plastic

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it just needs more voltage

Q5….she really wanted to downsize from her Grand Cherokee to the Q3 but I prevailed that the Q5 was both smaller than the Grand Cherokee but more comfortable than the Q3.

The interior is a step above the Jeep, but I preferred the Jeeps capabilities. Oh well, passed the Jeep to the middle daughter.




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There was an act passed many years ago (Magnuson - Moss) that prohibits the voiding of new car warranty's by any Dealer if you don't use their service dept. brand of oil, or their parts! As long as you use equal or better parts, oil and service regiments they can NOT void any warranty!

This was because the Ford Motor Company was illegally voiding customers warranty for not using their service departments and brands of oil, plugs, filters, etc. As long as a customer can show proof (receipts, pictures, etc) that the work was done within the specified time frame, the warranty is still in effect - on ALL brands of cars.

Still driving my 2012 Sportage Turbo. It only has 35,000 miles on it right now. It is by far my favorite car I have owned. It still gets almost 30mpg on the highway. Only about 24mpg in the city but hey, it's a turbo and I have trouble controlling my right foot at times.

My wife went the opposite way. She’s had an Audi Q7 Premium Prestige for the last 3 yrs. Great car. Luxurious, comfortable, great performance etc….. She fell in love with the Broncos so we got a new one last week. One thing I will not miss is the cost of maintenance on the Audi. She had a BMW before the Audi and it cost 1/3 what the Audi cost for things like brakes battery etc

My old MO was to lease expensive luxury cars when I was the owner of my business. I only had them 3 years or less and if and when they broke down, the Dealer would give us a loaner. The cost of repair did not concern me as they were always under warranty. We got a new one at the end of the lease.

Now that I own them and tend to keep them a long time, I have no interest in high cost maintenance and repairs. After leasing Mercedes, Audi, Volvo and others, I do know the reality of the costs. Yea, nice cars, but big bucks to work on.

Bald 1, First experience with Audi was buying our Daughter a Dealer Service Loaner that came with Audicare for Four Years…That covers all Service/ Maintenance except Tires.. Just bought the Wife a new Q5 S line Premium Plus with 4.5 Engine and after negotiating, they added Audicare @ N/C…It has Pirelli Scorpion Plus with Treadwear rating of 600….

Last Vehicle that came with Pirelli Scorpions was Ford Lariat with the wonderful 6.0 Diesel….Treadwear was rated 400….lemon- lawed it for leaky injectors and Rear Main seal.

We bought our daughter, the now RN, a Hyundai Elantra in 2012 when she opted for junior college instead of a university to complete her first two years of study. 130,000 miles later she still has it with no major issues. She's looking at replacing the Elantra with a Tucson when it hits 150K.