Not long ago, Korean cars were simply not taken seriously. Over the last few years this has changed. Their reliability still lags, but is better than it was, and long warranties close much of the remaining gap in people’s minds. More sophisticated styling than the typical Japanese sedan also helps. Recently I rented a Kia Optima for a few days, and it gave me additional insight into the recent surge in Korean car sales.

Kia Optima Reliability

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Styling and Accommodations

The Kia Optima is essentially the same car as the Hyundai Sonata, just with different sheetmetal. At one time the Sonata was loosely based on the Mitsubishi Galant. I do not know if this is still the case. DaimlerChrysler, Mitsubishi, and Hyundai grow closer with each passing year, though, so I have little doubt that in the future the Dodge Stratus, Chrysler Sebring, Mitsubishi Galant, Hyundai Sonata, and Kia Optima will share a great deal beneath the skin.

As for now, Hyundai actually does a fair job differentiating the styling of its two midsize cars. Compared to the Sonata, the Optima’s styling is more conservative, yet still sophisticated. A pleasant enough car. Is the Hyundai supposed to be the sportier of the two? The styling and availability of a manual transmission with the largest engine suggests this is the case, but neither is yet Korea’s answer to the Nissan Maxima.

Inside the Optima is very conservatively styled. Like the exterior, nothing here is going to offend anyone. (The base LX model I drove doesn’t have the yards of fake wood that are standard on the uplevel SE.) All of the materials are of higher quality than I would expect in such an inexpensive car, clearly superior to those in current Nissan and American sedans. This is not to say these materials are luxurious. Everything about the interior, styling and materials, clearly communicate that this was a rational, practical, good quality family sedan, no more, no less.

One interior styling feature sticks in my mind. The dash and doors are both very flat and meet at a right angle. In the past this would have been common. These days, however, the dash often curves into the doors in a continuous arc. Nothing that fancy here. But there is a payoff: This boxy styling makes the already roomy Optima interior feel even roomier.

Seats front and rear are very firm, yet fairly comfortable on long drives. That practical family car thing again: no luxury, no sport, just good solid car. The rear seat is nice and high, affording some thigh support, which is better than many competitors. There is plenty of leg room in the rear even for largish men.

The front seat is also high, and the dash and beltline fairly low, so visibility all around is excellent. Manually adjustable driver’s seat height and lumbar support are unexpected standard features, especially at this price.

The trunk is at least average in size for a family sedan, and usefully shaped. For even more cargo space a split folding rear seat is standard. Can someone please inform me why this feature is standard on every Korean sedan yet costs about $500 in a BMW?

On the Road

In motion it becomes more apparent why the Optima is so cheap. Nothing awful, mind you, but short of world class. The ride resembles that of a second tier Japanese mid-size sedan. The Mazda 626 comes to mind. It’s soft, perhaps overly soft, and thus not as composed as I’d like over rough patches. In turns lean is generous—like I said, this is no sports sedan. Perhaps the six is a bit stiffer, but it would have to be much firmer to lend a hint of sportiness to this chassis. The steering is moderately firm in effort, but provides little feedback. But these Koreans aren’t stupid. I imagine that all of these characteristics fall close to what the average family sedan buyer wants.

On the plus side, the Optima is fairly quiet on the highway—not as quiet as a Camry, but easily a match for that 626. It possesses just enough refinement on the road to make the four cylinder in my car sound and feel quite agricultural. The four, with 149 horsepower, doesn’t move the car too badly, especially given the family mission of the car, but the sound and feel kill it for me. I’d recommend finding the extra $1,200 or so for the six, as I suspect it’s much more in line with the fairly refined character of the rest of the car. Fuel economy with the four was mid-to-high-twenties in mostly highway driving, typical for this size sedan.

Pricing

For quick, up-to-date pricing, and especially user-specified price comparisons, check out the website I created: www.truedelta.com. Why yet another vehicle pricing website? Well, I personally lacked the patience to keep using the others. They were too slow and required too much effort, especially when trying to compare prices. So I taught myself some programming and created a site where there is no need to dig through option packages, prerequisites, and the like one by one -- the TrueDelta algorithm figures these out for you in one swift pass.

Last Words

For a car with a $16,500 sticker the Optima is a lot of car. Even better, go for the $17,700 base car with the six. A fully loaded SE V6 with ABS and leather stickers for $21,200, but even then there’s quite a bit of car for the money. (I wouldn’t mind a little less car: They can keep all that fake wood.) Even fully loaded the Optima isn’t really a sports sedan or luxury sedan, but as basic family transportation it offers above average styling, refinement, and amenities at a below average price. I’m giving the car I drove with the four cylinder three stars because I really disliked the sound and feel of the engine in this otherwise refined sedan. With the six, I’d give it a fourth star.

To learn more about my reliability research and sign up to participate in it, or to perform thorough, up-to-date new car price comparisons, visit www.truedelta.com. A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.
Amount Paid (US$): 16500
Model Year: 2002
Model and Options: LX four with cruise