Kia Ceed/Optima from E46 discourse thread

easyrider

easyrider

easyrider

Caporegime
Joined
24 Dec 2005
Posts
40,207
Location
Autonomy
My E46 has started to look a bit tatty.I am torn between getting both of the front wings done and a full acid dip powder coat on my alloys.Or Part Exing it for a new car.

I am now at 140k in my 320D sport and have been looking at my options for a while.I like the idea of a new car with warranty.

I want something with the power :o and size of the E46 but with more of modern tech.:)

I like the look of the ceed/sportswagon and its seems good value for money but the optima caught my eye too.

http://www.kia.co.uk/new-cars/range/mid-sized-cars/new-ceed-sportswagon.aspx

http://www.kia.co.uk/new-cars/range/mid-sized-cars/optima.aspx

I just wondered what people thought of these. In my heart I am thinking (its a KIA :eek:) But my brain is telling me something else.Like worry free motoring cheaper Tax,cheaper fuel costs,Something new and shiny to play with.

I hope this more detailed explanation of my intentions finds you well, and you can offer me some constructive feedback and discourse on this matter.

Kind Regards

easyrider :)
 
Last edited:
New Kias look nice and all in pictures but I can't get the "It's a Kia" thing out of my head. Book some test drives, they'll be all over you to try their cars out
 
Can we safely assume that outright purchase costs and total cost of ownership are not as high a priority as monthly outgoings?

£21,000 for a Kia screams "hell no" to me.
 
Modern tech can be retrofitted to anything, standard tech soon get's old and looses novelty. I can see the newness rubbing off quite quickly from a Kia.

It's quite OK to just say I want a new car.

Kia screams to me massive depreciation.
 
The new Ceed is an excellent car (for its class), the optima certainly gets good reviews too. If what you want is a small engined, new or nearly new car of focus size the Ceed is perfect. As I mentioned before it is also, imo a better all rounder than the new focus, it's certainly nicer inside.

You seem to be able to get a petrol i30 estate cheaper than the Ceed from the usual online discount sites - it's the same car but doesn't have quite as nice an interior.
 
Last edited:
paradigm said:
Can we safely assume that outright purchase costs and total cost of ownership are not as high a priority as monthly outgoings?

£21,000 for a Kia screams "hell no" to me.
Click to expand...

Looking at the optima spec, you really need the top end Tech 3 to make it worthwhile putting up with the badge, £25k - £26k on a Kia, erm no thanks.

And even after spending all that money you get stuck with a tiny 1.7 diesel which going by the figures sound dire.
 
My experiences with Kia so far have been 1st class. Can't comment on the cars you've mentioned however -

Wife has a Kia sportage, anytime I've been in contact with Kia Customer services or Kia garage, they have been quick, efficient and very very good dealing with a couple of issues we've had.

Example was when the wife was driving and had a small incident with car. They came out from the local dealers, recovered the car, dropped the wife and kids off at home. Within 30 mins the garage called to say that they part was on back order to fix it. Kia Cusotmer services called 10 mins after that and had a replacement car on my drive within 90 mins of the wife calling them.

4 days replacement car, back to garage to get sportage, full inside and out valet and all covered under warranty.

7 year guarantee as well.
 
paradigm said:
Can we safely assume that outright purchase costs and total cost of ownership are not as high a priority as monthly outgoings?

£21,000 for a Kia screams "hell no" to me.
Click to expand...

Once I buy it.I don't have to worry about the car if anything goes wrong.

I know what you mean. 21K does seem a lot especially for a KIA.But it does seem a lot of car for the money.

What other New cars are out there around ceed/optima pricing that offer a comprehensive warranty?
 
You can get a Ceed 4 tech (whatever that is) 1.6 petrol for £17k new. That is much closer to the kind of price that makes sense for the car.

Diesel estate 4 tech for £19.5k, hatch for £18.5k

I30 petrol estate "active" £13.5k, diesel "blue drive nav" (wtf?) £17k
 
Last edited:
rodenal said:
The new Ceed is an excellent car (for its class), the optima certainly gets good reviews too. If what you want is a small engined, new or nearly new car of focus size the Ceed is perfect. As I mentioned before it is also, imo a better all rounder than the new focus, it's certainly nicer inside.

You seem to be able to get a petrol i30 estate cheaper than the Ceed from the usual online discount sites - it's the same car but doesn't have quite as nice an interior.
Click to expand...

i30? Please spoon feed me.Are you talking about the Hyundai?
 
Yes, the Hyundai version of the Ceed

The i40 is the equivalent of the optima and, imo better looking too.

To be clear I think a good e46 is ten times the car any of these is and you need to be really careful with your level of expecation, but if you have made your mind up and definitely want a new car of this size they are good choices.
 
Last edited:
What about getting one thats about a year old, is that an option? You'll end up with 6 out of the 7 year warranty left but i imagine it'll be a whole heap cheaper as some other guy has taken a huge depreciation hit.

We picked up our Alfa 6 months old with virtually top spec for about £17k from a dealer, brand new would've been about £25k, and yet we still get 4 1/2 years warranty.
 
maccapacca said:
Kia screams to me massive depreciation.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I agree. The fully transferable 7 year 100k warranty must mean that depreciation is no worse than any other run of the mill brand.

If the warranty is a big factor then there are other options with more than the regular 3 years / 60k;

Hyundai - 5 year unlimited mileage
Toyota - 5 years / 100k
Renault - 4 years / 100k
 
Marvt74 said:
What about getting one thats about a year old, is that an option? You'll end up with 6 out of the 7 year warranty left but i imagine it'll be a whole heap cheaper as some other guy has taken a huge depreciation hit.

We picked up our Alfa 6 months old with virtually top spec for about £17k from a dealer, brand new would've been about £25k, and yet we still get 4 1/2 years warranty.
Click to expand...

This is a worthwhile option and certainly makes good sense.
 
Ok I'll put this out there

What would you do if you owned a 2003 320D sport auto E46 with 140k that needed two new wings and complete 4x alloy refurb to make it look reasonable again?

This is going to cost in excess of 1K not including the new brakes that are looming that were advised after the last oil service...
 
Who done the service, have you actually looked at the brakes yourself to check there is an issue?

Two wings painted will be less than £300 if you're smart about it. Alloys £250

Hardly bank breaking stuff.
 
rodenal said:
Who done the service, have you actually looked at the brakes yourself to check there is an issue?

Two wings painted will be less than £300 if you're smart about it. Alloys £250

Hardly bank breaking stuff.
Click to expand...

The BMW indy said my brakes were getting low.

The cost of two new BMW wings are 176inc Vat thats £352 just for the wings
 
Why do you need to buy the wings from BMW? Purchase good condition second hand wings, have them resprayed.

Alternatively check the likes of cotswold bmw for a price for them. Even if you pay £350 for the wings it's still "only" going to be another £200-250 to spray them and £250 for your alloys. Worst case £850, that isn't "in excess of £1k"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom