03 Optima

I bought a 03 Optima LX 4 cylinder new. I bought it expecting to get

100 thousand miles on it before buying a new car. I now have 45,000 miles on it and I have had some problems with it. The dealer fixed all of them but it is fixing to go out of warranty.

Has anyone had any experience with this model car??

Easy

Reply to
Easy
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"some" problems? Would depend upon the issues. Wife drives an 02 Optima, although a 6 cylinder, and had "some" problems with it when under warranty. We had to replace several window regulators, a fuel cap, a broken radiator hose fitting and a computer issue. All this under warranty. The amount & frequency of the problems were consistent with many other cars I've had over the past five decades regardless of the cost of the car - beater vs luxury. Our bumper to bumper expired at 70,000. A few weeks ago, we had the first ever out of pocket expense for the car (other than preventative maintenance) at 102,000 miles. Had a faulty sensor making the check engine light go on intermittently. All in all, we are very pleased with the car. Mile for mile and dollar for dollar, it has been the most economical car we have ever owned.

Rich

Reply to
mookie

How did you get the warrenty to 70,000 miles? Mine expires at 50,000. I have had to have locks replaced, cd player replaced, and problems with a sensor. also problems with gas cap. At what milage did you have problem with your computer? This sounds like major money if not under warrenty.

Easy

Reply to
Easy

When we bought the car, KIA had a 60,000 mile/6 years bumper-to bumper warranty. There was a class action lawsuit as to the stated horsepower of the engine. KIA offered a choice of one of three remedies with one being an additional year/10,000 miles on the warranty. Hence, 70,000.

The computer choked at about 25,000 miles.

Reply to
mookie

I can't help you with an older model.

But if you have any doubts, trade it. The Optima was re-designed for '06. Even if there were some initial teething problems (I haven't heard of any), by '08 they have this down.

And the '08 Optima is a seriously good automobile. The new 4-cylinder engine has power that makes the V6 virtually unnecessary. The new 4 also has a timing chain instead of a belt, getting rid of that occasional maintenance nuisance.

And with the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty, if is hard to go wrong. Add in the relatively low price of the Optima compared to other cars its size, and it is one of the best values on the road.

Finally, at least in my area, you can a $500 rebate, plus a $1500 loyalty bonus for going from a Kia to a Kia. If you can find and choose one of the few leftover '07's, the rebate goes up to $2500.

Hope this helps.

Reply to
Rev. Tom Wenndt

I forgot to tell you that the car also would not crank one morning when I was 200 miles away from home. When I finally got it to the Kia place it had something to do with the egr valve. Kia fixed it, but it was a very negative experience. The 30,000 mile thousand mantance was very costly. It is now coming up on 60,000 mile maintance and that will really cost me.

In the past I bought Nissan. Very good cars.

Easy

Reply to
Easy

We just Bought a New '07 Optima EX V6 fully loaded with all options available for $21,500.00 (After several substantial Rebates) at Dick Hanna Kia in Vancouver, Washington and absolutely love it. They had a few more two Saturdays ago.

Reply to
ASSBITE

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