[Redturbo]

Has anyone ever questioned what kind of car you have? It's seeming more common now a days that people are surprised when they see a car they like and realize...IT'S A KIA??!

Tell us your experiences you have with shocking people and telling them that IT'S A KIA when they ask WTF is that?

Here's mine...

Sitting outside of starbucks (my daily routine lol) a couple came outside and walked past my car, then started walking back. They took a walk around the whole car and the woman asked "What is this...?" and the man walks to the back (assuming to look at the badges) and just says..."I have no idea".

Well, i start laughing and he asks if it's my car. Once I confirmed it was, and told him IT'S A KIA....He said "No s**t??" with the most puzzled look on his face. He compliments my car and told me he is becoming more fond of the Kia's than years back.

Made me smile. I love the looks I get in my koup!

 

[stirider]

The first time I saw a koup with the broken K's badge I though it was a lexus. LOL

To be honest, the current president of Kia that used to design audi's cars and SUV, is probably the best thing that happened to Kia. Their cars looks incredible from the exterior and interior, the quality is good too.

To answer your question, yes people don't even believe it's a KIA when I tell them it is....

 

[Redturbo]

Tonight i went to Wal-Mart to get a movie, and after i parked there was two guys that had walked past my car that turned around and came up to me. They asked.."What kind of car is that?"
and I said.........

It's a KIA.

They said i had the best looking car in the parking lot

 

[Norrie]

With K badges and the Cerato badge switched out for a K3, no one knows what the hell I'm driving. I decided not to change the badge on my steering wheel though.

 

[Redturbo]

With K badges and the Cerato badge switched out for a K3, no one knows what the hell I'm driving. I decided not to change the badge on my steering wheel though.

I didn't change my steering wheel badge either

 

[MikeyB]

My steering wheel is naked right now... I took the emblem off and the new one didn't fit right and looked like total crap. Then, my dogs modified both of the badges for me while I was looking for one that would fit.

I ordered the carbon/stainless one from Korean Auto Imports. It's supposed to be larger and made for 2014+ so hopefully it fits when it gets here.

 

[Markus]

Not had anyone ask about the car yet Got to say I've not seen another Forte5 around, I did see a Forte sedan the other night as it went past me, did look nice.
I haven't removed any badges, probably won't, so I'm sure people can work out it's a Kia. I'm also sure there will be some sniggers when I do mention to some it's a Kia, and I'm sure we all know it'll be the whole "Oh, a Korean car, yeah, cheap and nasty" thing, which these days is just BS in the extreme. My mum and dad had a Kia Pride back in the day (mid 90's), it was a basically a rebranded Mazda 121, but still not a bad car. Cheap and cheerful to be sure, but things have come a bloody long way, and the quality and equipment level we have is on a par with other premium brands. I'd like to see how much you'd have to spend above base spec in a BMW 1, Audi A3, or Merc A class to match the levels of equipment we have. Even a Golf is getting a bit limited in it's base specifications these days.

I'm happy with what I've got and proud to defend my choice.

 

[Norrie]

I read somewhere a few weeks back that Kia's business strategy is to move the brand closer to BMW, etc.

 

[Markus]

I read somewhere a few weeks back that Kia's business strategy is to move the brand closer to BMW, etc.

Makes sense, their chief of design came from Audi, think he was responsible for the design of the TT, and also for the new look 'tiger nose' design. I think they can certainly move closer to the premium sector. One big hurdle is of course convincing people that a Kia is just as a good as a BMW. People are badge snobs, and it'll be a hard sell, but some will make the move and be happy. Others will refuse, much like I'd rather not drive a BMW (possibly excepting M5 and Alpina based cars) as I just don't like the, stereotypical as it may be, "image" that is given to most BMW owners.

 

[Norrie]

3-5 years from now people will have a very different pigeonhole for Kia.

 

[stirider]

In order to have the brand getting close to BMW and etc, they have a lot of work to do....It's not just about what it looks like but also the engine, the suspension how the driver feels the car, etc. They need to build up their reputation up to BMW, Audi, mercedes, lexus and i know for sure it'll take them a while to reach that. I mean go ask those that have 70K to spend on a car they would never buy a KIA neither would I ....they should stay in the under 45k market, they do really well and I'm sure they can take control with hyundai of the market easily. Maza, Honda, Toyota, aren't even close to KIA.

 

[Markus]

Ah, but why will someone with 70k not buy a Kia, is it due to poor build quality and engineering (which current cars don't seem to have), or is it really just the image, it's not "posh" enough for them. I know people who have purchase merc's and beemers simply because of what they were, example; all the bloody 1 series cars around where I live. People think "I've got a BMW, I'm 'better' than you", even though it's a basement spec 1 series. If, and it's a bloody big if, I had to get a BMW, it would be, at the very least an M3/4, if not a 5 or above (Alpina B7 would be rather nice), they are what I would say are proper BMW's, the others are merely there to cater for the aforementioned people who think the brand of car you drive makes you superior to others. Other premium brands suffer the same kind of thing too.

 

[Norrie]

I don't know that they're looking to sell 70K cars and that it's about "status car". But rather building favourable perception regarding styling, reliability and creating brand loyalty through that.

 

[Redturbo]

So tonight driving up to Starbucks, there was a group of about 10 police officers standing outside drinking coffee. Immediately when I pulled in they stared at my car, and after I was parked 2 of them walked to the back. When I got out they asked me what kind of car it was, and i told them.....ITS A KIA! lol. They were SO surprised! They asked what kind of mileage it got, and i told them what i am averaging and they were even more surprised since right now i'm averaging around 28MPG.

After i grabbed my coffee and took a seat outside around the corner, a couple more cops pulled up and took a flash light to the front of my car looking at the Broken K emblems and were so confused. They kept saying it was a Scion (I guess because of the black roof, it looks like a Scion TC) and i started laughing, and the new cops asked if it was my car. I told them yes and again, its a kia. They said it was a great looking car.

 

[Norrie]

Funny one yesterday… A few days back, my wife and I drove past a female friend waiting out the front of a café. Because of the black tint, my wife dropped the window down and waved. Caught up with her yesterday and she said, "was that you in that beauuuuutiful Lexus?" I said, "yeah but it's actually a Kia". She looked at me strange and said, "very nice." Maybe she thought I was kidding her and wondered why I'd say that. Dunno.

 

[Redturbo]

Lol, love it @Norrie ! I had someone mistake my car for a lexus as well. (at least i'm assuming) They asked if Lexus changed their car emblem symbol and i said "Um i don't think so" Because obviously, i'm not keeping up with Lexus cars lol. and she asked about my emblems, and i said "Oh mine is a kia, not a lexus" and she apologized for mistaking it and complimented my car

 

[Norrie]

Yeah, the badges are confusing. When I first put them on I thought they looked a little like Mazda and that made me want to rip them off.

 

[Jazza]

I had my first "What kind of car is this?!" moment a few days ago. I was at a clients site and these two early morning joggers were jogging past. I was watching the whole thing out of the clients office and they immediately stopped and looked puzzled. I watched them circle around the car for a bit, talk to each other and they then went on their way looking even more confused haha. I think the Loden Broken K Badges definitely added to the confusion.

My client then came up to me and asked what car it was and when I told him he was gobsmacked. (This is a client that drives a 2013 BMW M3 as well haha). He had a sit in the car and said that the Korean car makers are seriously getting very very close to the quality of his German beast of a car. Obviously you can't really compare an M3 to our little beast but it was nice to get that kind of compliment.

 

[Markus]

The Lexus thing might be due to the ct200h, which does look a little like the Forte5, I've seen a couple and had to do a double-take.
Still not seen any other Forte5's around me though. couple of sedans.

 

[Norrie]

The Lexus thing might be due to the ct200h, which does look a little like the Forte5, I've seen a couple and had to do a double-take.
Still not seen any other Forte5's around me though. couple of sedans.

Mine's a Koup.