I researched this car heavily before purchasing. Consumer Reports gave it a 74 out of a 100 and gave high marks for reliability. I went on KIA forums and asked owners many questions before deciding to purchase this car.
I got a fantastic deal. I bought the 6 speed manual transmission for $14,750 Base price and $1250 in taxes for a total of $16,950. I have been working dilligently to pay it off and am just $3200 from contract end.
Overall, I would say I love this car. I am on the road quite a bit and I am most pleased with the gas mileage. I tend to get 32 mpg in the city and 34-35 on the highway. If I run the air conditioner, I tend to get approximately 30 mpg.
The only negatives I see have to do with the headrests and lack of a spare tire. The driver's headrest pushes one's head too far forward, even pushed all the way back. The back seat headrests can cause blind spots, so I removed those and stored them in a plastic bag. I do not like that there isn't a spare tire. The spare tire well will not accomodate a full sized tire, so I am going to have to buy a "donut".
I hope to get at least 8 -10 years (or 250,000 miles) out of this car.
Update: I paid off my car May 23rd, 2016 - have 27000 miles on the odometer.
