I know this may sound crazy but I like the looks of this car.
I saw one the other day and had no idea what it was. My head whipped around and I was shocked to see it was a Kia. I had no idea they had a design department.
Anyway. No clue how it performs but it's a nice looking little runabout.

 

A guy I occasionally see on the ferry boat drives one of those, and it looks a lot better in person than in those photos.

I think Kia/Hyundai has made great strides in styling recently. I am mostly a Honda fan (going back to 1980) and I feel Honda/Acura has for the most part phoned in their designs lately. Pathetic. If only Honda had 10% of Hyundai/Kia's current design chops.

OTOH, my mother-in-law had a Kia, and when its power steering hose blew out at 61K miles, I discovered the BIG disadvantage of buying a Kia/Hyundai: Aftermarket parts availability is still practically ZERO, and the dealer parts depts are far from stellar. So once you get a few miles on them, and/or get past that 100K warranty, they aren't easy to keep on the road, not like Toyota/Honda/Nissan...

 

I saw one of these for the first time yesterday and I thought the same thing, really nice, sporty looking car !!

 

I like them a whole lot more than the new civic

 

I really like the Koupe and the sedan version. There are a couple in my building. I am not a fan of imports but the Forte caught my eye when I saw it.

 

When I saw it i was standing next to a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder and the Kia drove by and completely turned my head. And for a jaded douche like myself to turn his head that says something

I really love how they did the rear quarter window/C-panel area... very stylish.

I agree on the parts but I expect that will change in time.

I think If Kia/Hyundia keep this up they will be a force in the future at least on the design standfront.
Now if the Koup only had a turbo 6 in it and rear wheel drive .....hmmmmmmmm conversion kit anyone?

 

Its what the newest civc should have looked like. Good looking car

 

I agree, it's a great looking car. Like pretty much every newer Kia.

 

It is what it is but I can't say I see anything terribly eyecatching about it. It's not ugly per se but I'd say it's pretty nondescript overall.

 

agreed.... their whole new line-up is better looking than any of the japanese co.'s, imo.
all they need to do is get that awesome new rio5 over quick, and discountinue the sedona mini van (or remodel it)

 

LMAO, Where have You Guys Been? I mean I know we all Love Mustangs here, but I was posting about this car almost a Year and a half ago. It's already in it's second year, with some upgrades for the 2011 including paddle shifters now. It's no rocket but quite respectable. Expect a 2.0 Turbo for 2012 from what I've heard. It was going to be my next Car for Fuel Economy Reasons, but I just got a 2003 Accord Coupe EX V-6, it was a deal that I couldn't Pass Up. Oddly enough, I compared all of the dimensions of the Forte' Koup against my Accord and Everything is within an inch of each other, with the exception of overall Length. The Accord is 10 in longer. But Literally Every other Dimension is So Close it's Ironic


What Do You Guys Think of My New Ride?

 

Didn't Accord (and pretty much every Honda/Acura) had a horrible automatic transmission issues back then? I think it was from 1998-2004, but I could be wrong.

 

Gee, Thanks Zoran Way to Burst My Bubble... It's a One Owner, had a Clean Car fax, and was Serviced at a Local Honda Dealer Only. I was thinking about going to ask for it's service history from the Dealer. Hopefully whatever the issues were have been resolved with mine. It seems to drive and shift just fine and the fluid is bright red and clear. Like I said it was a Deal I couldn't pass up. The car is Like New...

 

Yes the 2003-2004 Accord V6 automatics are really bad - Honda extended the warranty to 100K miles, which is good because they usually crap out at about 75k. An oiler kit plus an internal mod fixed the two main causes (I forget what they were exactly). By 2006 it was mostly fixed, but 2000 to 2005 was bad news for the V6 Honda 5-speed autos.

Good insurance is doing a 3.5 quart drain-and-fill of the Z-1 auto trans fluid at 1st 15k and every 30k thereafter. If your AV6 you just bought has more than 15K, definitely do the Z-1 changeout. P-M me if you want more info - I sold a 2006 Accord V6 EX-L 4-door so I could buy my Mustang last year...

 

Sorry man, I wish I told you that before you bought a car.

I don't know much about the issue. I just remember reading a while go that they had a lot of transmission issues and Honda had recalls to replace transmissions (which never really solved problems) and warranty was extended to 100,000 miles.

Hopefully, your Accord is not one of them with issues.

 

I traded my 03 Accord V6 in for my current Civic Si, I didn't have any issues with my Accord. Ran great just boring as hell. So I wanted a 6 speed and needed the fuel mileage. Thus the Si. Already had 3rd gear replaced. Not a big deal, it's a known issue.

Kia Forte Koup. Nice car, blatant 06-08 Civic rip off. Smart business move. Still like the car. Kia if you keep up the good work, you will be the import leader. Along with brother Hyundai. Oh yeah, keep the Genesis coup strong. And uhhh, put that 5.0 Rspec in there. Not for 46K though.

 

Thanks for all the help guys, I'm gonna be checking into this more and getting the service history on the car soon. Hopefully it's all been resolved. Eric, I PM'd you for that info about the Z-1 Fluid exchange. You guys are the greatest, I know I could always count on you guys when it comes to things like this.