Why to buy the Forte Turbo!

For various reasons I ended up in a position of not having a car. I take the train to work and live within walking distance of the station, so for the most part I didn't need a car. I did have access to a car if I really did need it for something, say picking up larger items and such. I wanted to wait a month or so, or at least until winter decided to release us from it's vice like grip (it's the worst winter I remember in Canada since I arrived 11 years ago). I started looking around at what was out there. I had been driving a 2010 Santa Fe, so I started looking there, but thought that I would not need something that size. So I started smaller, ie; the smallest cars various companies did (Mazda, Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, etc...), too small I thought, thus I went up a level or two and got to the Forte and equiv level (Elantra GT, Mazda 3 hb, Golf, Forte, etc...). I didn't want a sedan, the practicality of a hatchback really appealed.
Golf was, as to be expected, stupidly expensive for what it was. Mazda 3 seemed like a good deal, as did the Forte5 and Elantra GT.

As I got a bit more serious, I started looking into pricing and saw the 15yr deals going for Kia, this appealed and the pricing seemed very good. What trim level? Ah, well, I started looking at the LX and then EX, and found I could likely go for an LX. A fortunate turn of events led me to be able to start considering the SX, and from there, the SX Premium / Luxury. The thought being, if you're going to get it, why not get the top spec model if you can.

At this point I'd got it in my mind that an SX was what I wanted. I did not know it was a turbo either, until I looked at the specs when trying to work out why LX and EX had a 2.0 and the top line model had only a 1.6. Then I saw the mention of the T word, ah, explained it perfectly.
I still had not test driven any of my selections, but the SX was still my top choice, I'd even decided what colours to go for; Corsa Blue or Aurora Black. I used canadacarcost.ca and unhaggle.com to get model reports, so I could see the wholesale price of the car. I'm not really good at haggling, but going in with paperwork showing the dealer you know what they get the car for and what they are selling it for does seem to make it easier. Plus they had sent the dealer a message about me getting a report and within about 10 minutes I'd had a call from the local dealer who had a copy of my request, so that's where my relationship with the dealer started.

I finally got my lazy arse down to a dealership and they had an EX in Corsa Blue, well, that sold me on the colour if nothing else. One box ticked. I reminded myself I'd not driven ANY model of the 5, so it might be crappy. I was also concerned about fitting in it, I'm 6ft 4in and so getting comfortable in a smaller car might be tricky. Seemed not to be a problem, had to pull seat forward from it's most rearward position, and did not need to drop the height of the seat, but did so and got very comfortable.

Test drive went well, ok it wasn't an SX, but the EX responded well, felt very solid indeed and I was happy. So much so that when we got back the dealer and I sat down to talk figures. He looked up the info Unhaggle had given me and simply said that it would give me a percentage off (I think it was around 2 - 2.2%), which equated to about CAD$900, which I think is pretty good for using a free quote from the internet. I could likely have pushed things further, but the rest of the pricing / financing fitted well with what I'd budgeted, was actually about 15 - 20 bucks under what I had worked out, so I was happy and we placed an order for a 2014 Forte5 SX AT Premium in Corsa Blue.

I got a message a day later to say that the car should be ready for me by the end of the month, so next week in other words. I'm somewhat excited about it.

I know it's a bit of a leap of faith, having not test driven the exact model of car I'm getting, but I cannot see how it'd be any worse than a lesser specified model, I would expect the reverse to be true if anything.

I'll say one thing, Kia has come a long way. My mum had a Kia Pride (rebadged Mazda 121) in the UK back in the mid to late 90's. I was ok, but back then Kia was seen very much as a cheap brand, not so now, they have seriously upped their game (hyundai too - even the 2010 Santa Fe I had was great) and can really take on GM and Ford (sorry, have to snigger when saying that, brands not exactly known for quality) let alone taking on VW, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda.

Markus said:

Ah the power folding mirrors. Can you STOP them from folding automatically? I had power mirrors on my '94 Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon (Grey import from Japan, the UK spec models didn't have the folding mirrors) and they were great for tight spaces, but they were manually operated. I know you CAN manually operate the SX's ones, but wondered if that could be disabled.

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You can't "Manually" operate these mirrors..that is if you mean manual by, pushing in and out the mirrors with your hand. They are completely electronic, so forcing it open or closed with your hand would only break it. But YES, you can turn off the automatic mirrors! if you have it on, they will fold in when you lock the car. and when you come up to it, they will fold out (but your car will not be unlocked automatically) you'll have to push the button on the door handle to unlock it. but when its turned off, nothing happens. they stay open, and you can also switch it all the way over to the right (the button of course) and they will fold in, say if you're driving up to an ATM and its a tight space, flip the switch and they go in. turn it back off, they will come back out and stay out.

I really like your detailed summary of your experience with the dealer, and your purchase. You should be a writer, haha. You put your words together very nicely.
The only thing, and i mean only thing i do not like about my car is that it doesn't have a sunroof, since i didn't purchase the premium package. If i could have paid extra for just the sunroof, and not the leather, i would have, but they come together.

A little summary about buying my car..I drove a 2009 honda civic coupe, manual transmission. It was almost paid off (owed $2,000USD). There was no reason for me to get another car, since there was nothing wrong with mine. But i wanted a BIGGER car (not an SUV or anything) so i started looking at 4 doors. And just like you, i am a coupe guy. Through the hundreds of cars i looked at online, the only car that i liked that was a sedan was the Optima. Test drove one, talked numbers and the numbers were where i wanted them to be. I went home and thought about it...talked to my mother to get some advice. I told her..."I like the optima. it's a nice 4 door but i do not love it" so she asked why i was wanting a sedan, and i said "well, i don't know really. just something bigger so that when people ride with me, they are not having to get in and out of a small coupe" and she said "so you're looking at a 4 door car that you like, but do not love, for your friends to be able to get in and out of easier...that doesn't make sense. get something YOU love".

So there it began...i went back to the dealer, told him i wanted to look at the forte koup. he had the EX, and just like you said, it drove very nicely. I asked about the SX model that i had heard of, and he said it would be a few months before they hit the lots. So, i looked online (cars.com) closest one was 300+ miles away, so a good 5 hour drive. The next day i went to another KIA dealer that was larger than the previous one i went to, and they had 2 sitting on the lot. I couldn't believe it.

I seen the red one, and it immediately caught my eye, I've never been a red car fan but the red on it was just so bright and i couldn't help but fall in love. The other color they had was the graphite, which i also love on the car. It had the premium package, all leather and sunroof, no NAV. They were asking $27,000USD (CAD$30264.30) I drove the Red SX, and said "i'm taking this home". The asking price of my car was $25,500USD (CAD$28582.95) i got a great deal and plus my trade in, i ended up getting exactly where i wanted to be.

I could have afforded the premium package on the other car, but i wanted the red. and they had it there, so that's what i went with. i'm an impatient person unfortunately. but i regret nothing about my car

Redturbo said:

You can't "Manually" operate these mirrors..that is if you mean manual by, pushing in and out the mirrors with your hand. They are completely electronic, so forcing it open or closed with your hand would only break it. But YES, you can turn off the automatic mirrors! if you have it on, they will fold in when you lock the car. and when you come up to it, they will fold out (but your car will not be unlocked automatically) you'll have to push the button on the door handle to unlock it. but when its turned off, nothing happens. they stay open, and you can also switch it all the way over to the right (the button of course) and they will fold in, say if you're driving up to an ATM and its a tight space, flip the switch and they go in. turn it back off, they will come back out and stay out.

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Thanks for the reply. No I did not mean manually pushing it in, as you'd do with non-power mirrors. I knew there was an interior switch to fold and unfold the mirrors, and that's what I meant by "manual" as in, you press the switch. I also knew that there was some kind of sensing system, tied into the locking of the car that would auto-fold them when you locked the car, and when you unlock it, unfold them. It's that automatic functionality that I wondered if you could turn off; ie; when you lock the car (or whenever the car decides to fold them automatically) it will NOT automatically fold them, and thus won't automatically unfold them when you unlock the car.
Why would I want to disable the functionality? Partly because I want to avoid wear and tear on the mirrors. I'd say 90% of the time I'd keep them unfolded and so would not need them to automatically folder.

Redturbo said:

I really like your detailed summary of your experience with the dealer, and your purchase. You should be a writer, haha. You put your words together very nicely.

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Thanks for the kind words about, well, my words! Perhaps it's my quintessential Britishness spilling out (I'm originally from the UK, came to Canada in 2003, and haven't left, they even gone and let me become a citizen too! )). It's ironic as I actually twice failed the English language exam we had a school, though I seem to get by without many problems. I think it is probably to do with many, many years of writing technical documentation for software, and also having to simplify explaining such documentation and computer software to people.

Redturbo said:

I see what you mean about the mirrors. You'll be satisfied, since you can turn it off and on

I have no problem understanding you. You get your point across very well! Not sure how you would fail the exam then lol. I had a British guy come into my work today. I love the accent. Which I'm sure to you, it's not an accent. WE have the accent, right? Lol. But he did say some words I didn't understand but I knew what he was trying to get at. British words that we don't hear much in the states I guess

And I'm currently in school for computer programming/software design as well. Good to know there are other "nerds" like myself. I've been doing software and coding since I was 15, I could talk code all day. I love it. But, another thread for that type of talk

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Yeah, failing the exam, I think it's more to do with syntax; using correct punctuation in the right place, using there and their correctly, bought and brought and all that stuff. When I say I failed, I should qualify that by saying I got a D grade (think the lowest is E or F) and pass was considered C or higher, so I did not truly fail it, just didn't "pass". Whatever

Yes indeed, YOU have the accent What gets me is that I get asked if I'm Australian quite a lot. Got to be a Canadian thing as I never had that in the US when I visited. Really don't get that, as the Aussie accent really is quite different from the British one. As for the words being said, yeah, we'll use terms which are common place to us, but aren't to anyone else. Curious to know what words they were (feel free to PM me if this is taking the thread a bit too far off topic).

Ah a coder, I dabble now and then, mainly applescript, php, html, bash. I used to be tech manager for a computer software company (Network Administration and Control Software for Mac based computers), did that for 15 years, then switched to being a QA. I'm now Senior QA. Not a bad job, work with a great team of other QA's and developers. Always say I'm going to learn Objective C (I have a beginners book on it, co-written by one of my friends and ex co-workers - so I should read the thing!)

Why did i buy the Forte Turbo?
The main reason i bought the Forte was because i missed driving 6 speed manual. But it goes deeper than that.
Three cars back was my 07 civic SI 4 door. That car was like a second child to me. I had so much money, blood, sweat and tears wrapped up into that it was very hard to let go. I had to get out of the "honda game" as they call it. At that point in time, that gen civic was arguably one of the top most popular vehicles to buy and mod amongst all ages of people. So it got to the point where anything it you bought and installed on your car, either someone else that you knew had it, or as soon as you went public with your new mod everyone would want to do the same. I understand thats just life, but in this case there was no way to be unique.
So that being said, one day i woke up and went to work and that morning we received our first Optima 2.0T. As soon as i drove it, i knew i wanted it and there was nothing stopping me. This was my way out, and in a matter of a month i fully parted out the civic and i was a new owner of a 2012 turbo optima. It was hard to let the civic go, but it needed to be done. Not only was it hard to be unique, but the money spent and the time away from my family constantly working on my car was starting to take a toll on me.
So through the next few years i had that 12' optima, and June of 2014 i ended up trading into a remodeled 14' optima. Both were fully loaded and i l enjoyed the luxury you receive for a 30k vehicle.
Even further more since I have worked for Kia for about 6 years now, i support the brand 100%. My wife is on her second Sportage (1st was 2.4L , current is a 2.0t) My Parents are on there 3rd SX v6 Sorento
WE have a Kia family
As the years went buy, i started to get that itch here and there to have a car i can mod and enjoy working on. The Optimas were both auto, and i will never dump money into and auto vehicle even if i was given the car and all the parts for free.
And then one day something magical happened. A delivery truck rolled up to work and i saw this white white hatchback car on the back but i couldn't make out what it was. when they took it off the truck i walked up to it and realized it was the first 5 door boosted Forte we were receiving for the lot. From that moment fell in Love with this car and couldn't keep my eyes off of it. Once i drove it i knew even better that i needed this car!!!
Well, i think we all know where it goes from there. lol
and here i am!!!!!

Ok I have never really noticed this thread so figured I would put my share in....

The first KIA that I bought was back in 06 and it was a Rio...yes a Rio. That was my commuter and got great mpg for me and treated me very well. Never had a issue with the car at all. Mind you it was a base model and they are stripped right down to crank windows! Well fast forward a few years and thats when I met my wife and we were looking at commuters. Well I ended up getting a 03 Corolla that I went all out on and even put a TRD supercharger on it. Well a year later and the motor blew at 84k miles. We kept debating to fix it or sell it and take the money and go find something else. Well that something else was a base 2011 soul 5 speed! I had a few issues with this car but nothing I was going to freak out on or blame KIA for because crap happens. I went crazy with this car and I was the first to have megan racing springs on the car. It was the prototype car for them. After that I did a crazy amount including full exhaust with only a 18" cherry bomb on it lol!

Well in 14 I saw so much on the net about KIA dropping a Koup and F5 turbo! We did check out the Koup before they came with the turbo and kept telling my wife it needs a turbo. Well the KIA gods answered and gave it to us. We set the goal to get a 15 Koup or F5 by then end of 14. We started looking at the cars in Oct and drove the Koup. Love the 2 door and all but my wife pointed out when I was sitting in the car with that my head was touching the sunroof. Well that was a deal breaker because I wanted a fully loaded car for the first time ever. I searched around and found 1 dealer with a F5 but didn't really have much information on it so I said we have to check it out. Rolled up to the dealer and there she was.....a 2015 F5 in snow pearl white. I think it was a match made in heaven or something because the sun was hitting the car just right and made the car stand out. I walk up to the car in a hurry and it was fully loaded. The salesman came out and I turned right to him and said grab the keys and he turned right around and did so. Once I drove her I was in love. I knew she was the car for me and that I found it just in time because the guy said someone else just drove it and went to go get their wife to try and get it. Well I told him lets do the paperwork now I want it.

So after 4hrs of haggling she was in my possession. Next day she got tinted and a week later she had the very first Tork Tune for the fortes on her. Ever since then I have been going crazy with this car. I have never loved a car so much and not car if it was the fastest or most expensive car out there. All I cared about was that she was mine!

So yeah long story leading up to getting it sorry lol!!!!

When I bought the forte, few months back now, it was somewhat on accident. Before this I owned a kia soul which was my first car. Bought brand new first owner. 6spd manual, that was the only excitement I got out of the car. But I need something at the time to get me to and from my new job and this car was well in the safe zone for affordability and reliability. Aside from never cunning with it. I hated the 1.6l engine that sounded like death at high rpms (from getting on the free way at 113 lbs of torque) and the clutch at above 4k rpms made this grinding sound from the plates being mashed together before one stopped to change gears. The only upside was my sound system I put in it. You know because it was made for music! Alright moving on. I parked that darn thing in the same spot everyday out of habit. So one day I parked it on ice and as I live on a good slanted Hill as soon as I broke traction I slid. First thought was... "well... This is happening" then I hear a loud screech. Yup hit the mail box. Good ol scratch done to mettle all the to the mirror.

That adventure brings me to the dealer a few days later for touch up paint to at least cover mettle before it rust. After I bought it I decided to leave before someone tried selling me another car. So happens my dad called me at that moment. I don't like to drive when I'm on the phone so I hung out there and talked to him. While talking I saw the forte koup. Thought to myself that I've never seen a 2 door kia before. When I got off the phone with my dad I asked about it and one thing led to another and my test drive was me talking it to work for something I had to do. A 30m drive. And I loved every second of the car and couldn't get enough. How's layer I go back to the dealer and we fight over pricing for an hour he hits the sweet spot and even threw in GAP insurance for free and I drove off with it. And still drive it as much as I can or at least keep an eye on it at all times. I love this car! Anything I'm not to fond of with it can be fixed with after market parts and I'm more than happy to spend a few grand on this baby of mine to do so!