2002 Kia Optima Consumer Reviews
Most Helpful Reviews
Positive Review
Bought with 30k, now has 250k on original engine and original transmission. Cars dont last forever but this one is pretty close. Been burning oil for a while now. Have replaced most everything but how many others cars will go 250k and everything else still be original? Styling is a bit bland. But it drives nice and rides nice and is good on gas.
VS
Critical Review
From the moment we bought the Kia Optima, small things began failing on it. The quick response from the engine and the manageability of this car was a great selling point, but it is NOT DURABLE AT ALL. Every time I turned around something small and plastic broke on this car. The starter was replaced on this car 3 times in 3 years. It was less than 24 months old when the windshield SPONTANEOUSLY (no chips in the glass) broke all the way across from one side to the other on a hot summer day. I sat in the car and watched the crack travel across the glass. Then the latches on things broke-- the center console storage, the fold down middle armrest in the back seat, the glove box latch, and the trunk release latch-- all malfunctioned or broke off. Then the door locks began to fail-- they are all plastic gears inside the doors and will suddenly stop locking and unlocking. I can't count how many times we would have to "work" with the doors to unlock. I got "locked" in this car more than once and had to crawl out the opposite side because neither the key lock or the door handle would open the door. We fixed one door and another door did the same thing. The side moulding on the exterior this car also became lose and would come off. The clips that hold it on break off, causing it to peel off the car while driving. During the time we had this car, we replaced the headlight bulbs numerous times (my husband started carrying extras in the car)-- and I have never had a headlight "burn out" in any other car. The final straw was when the sensors for the air bags began malfunctioning. You cannot get it inspected with lights blinking that the airbags had failed, and it was only the sensors giving false readings that needed to be replaced (repeatedly). This car felt "cheap" and plastic and was not worth the money that we continuously poured into it to keep it running and looking good. The only good thing I can say about this car was that it got good gas milage.
2002 Optima Reviews
Showing 8 of 342 reviews.
Good running and comfortable
Gets poor gas mileage
It’s been a good car for me, very reliable. Except for a few problems. I have had to replace the A/C pump.
Extremely comfortable, looks good, drives great
Must keep up with the maintenance, as with any car
I'm the 3rd owner of this vehicle. I have paperwork showing that the car was well taken care of (oil changes, maintenance, etc). I've had it for about 5 years and I love how it drives. I've had no bad experiences with it. Of course it's an older vehicle, so there has been minor issues (tune up, tires, etc). Since I've had it, I have missed some of the oil changes and the car now needs some work. I have to replace the valve cover gasket and do another tune up. I need to replace the brakes but again the car is 17 years old. I would definitely recommend this car to anyone but as with any car, you have to keep up with the maintenance. I feel like when I get it back to excellent condition, it will continue to run for the next 100,000 miles.
Fun to drive
Seat is too low.
Need new headlight for the standard headlights my clear plastic is half missing. And starter issue have to pop hood and bypass starter often with (our option) torque wrench for lugnuts! Tap the starter then with that in sync with 2nd person depressing the brake pedal and turng key from 'acc' full start / also key wont release from ignition, we cover steering and column appear its for heat protection not the concealment of key in ignition. Assanger door does not lock. So tie door frame to ohShit handle to "secure" to be able to walk away.
Nothing
Everything A-Z
116,000 miles. Never been on long trips except 2. Drove it easy, local. Had problems after it was 8-10 yrs. #1 electrical, windows, radio, cd..Sensor s go bad..Never buy this unless you are Super Mechanic and have nothing to do. # 2 alernators(yes 3). Evap, etc. Avoid it
comfort and safety
Very comfortable car and enough specs, good acceleration and safety i love it from Turkey
1 New Shock absorber is needed
My Grandmother gave me this car right before she passed away. I had an older Subaru (I wish now that I kept it). She only drove it to the grocery store and barely used it. My cousin borrowed it a few times to go down the street to the gym. Anyways, the car drove fine at first. At 92,000 miles, it was leaking power steering fluid. Eventually it was pouring it out the point I had to stop every couple miles to fill it with power steering. Luckily I had a friend who works on cars and was able to fix it for cheaper than a dealer. I understand that things go, especially with higher mileage. However, fast forward another 1,000 miles. I keep up on my oil changes always and I make sure that all the fluids are topped off and everything is in check. I was driving down a road and all of a sudden there was this foul burning smell and my car started smoking bad. I had to pull over but was practically in the middle of the road and in a dangerous spot. I didn't want to keep driving it because I was afraid I would do more damage. I literally turned the car right off. We could see the belt literally melted through the plastic engine cover. We brought to a mechanic and he let us know the engine blew and the belt among other things had melted to the engine and it was not worth fixing. This car didn't even have 100,000 miles on it yet!! And it wasn't even driven that often. It was my daily commuter to work (20 min away) and back. And it was taken care of. My Subaru would have never done this!! I never write reviews, but this is ridiculous. I was warned about Kias and should have listened. They are cheap made.
I have been very happy with this vehicle. The reliability has impressed me. The car drives great and is very good on gas mileage. The paint job is failing on the hood and the inside top is beginning to sag. I have been very pleased with this cars performance for the last 15 years.
