Kia K5 - an owner's experience after 50,000 km

Assalamualaikum,

It has been two years since I became a proud owner of a Kia Optima K5.

I wrote a mini review on my K5 roughly a year or so ago. You can read it from the link below......

http://pondokajip.blogspot.com/2013/07/im-in-love-with-koreankorean-made-car.html

Fast forward to today. That car ages well. Still noticing people glancing at my K5 at traffic lights, on the streets, at petrol stations etc. I travelled more than 50,000km with this car of mine. Going up north, and down south of the Peninsula, as well as heading out both to the east and west coast. Predominantly, I spend the bulk of driving time with my K5 in the state of Pulau Pinang. So today, I want to do a short sharing with respect to that car of mine for the benefit of future buyers as well existing owners of the K5. I will try to cover issues that I have with that car, fuel consumption and other things that I encounter during those time. Before we start, I want to let you know that my car is the 2.0 Nu engine version. For the earlier 2.0 Theta engine version, you might need to search elsewhere in the web for some review or feedback. And mine is the pre-facelift version. Here goes.....

Fuel consumption

When I bought the K5 back in 2012, I do not know what to expect in term of fuel consumption. It was still new on our shores, therefore, any information on the fuel consumption was hard to come by. But I'm making a calculated guess that the fuel consumption will be around 8km/l to 10km/l, typical fuel consumption for a 2.0 liter, D segment car.

After 50,000 km, I'm delighted to say that I'm getting a total average of more than 12km/l out of my K5. 12.25km/l to be exact.

I'm using Fuel Log 3 app to log my fc from day one. Shown above is the fc I'm currently getting after more than 50,000km of driving.

Why am I delighted with the fc? Let's compare it to my previously owned cars, the Suzuki Swift and the Nissan Grand Livina. The former is a 1.5 liter car and the latter is a 1.6 liter car. What is there not to like when my K5 is off by only 2km/l in comparison to those cars.

I have a bigger smile on my face when I read an article in Paul Tan website on the new Vios. Vios has this aura or perception as a frugal car in terms of fuel economy. But, when I'm able to better the fuel consumption using my K5, which is a 2.0 liter car in comparison to the Vios's 1.5 liter engine, I must say that I am ecstatic. Frugal, and a good looking car? A big plus if you ask me...The link to that Paul Tan article is here.

Issues

My first issue with the car is whenever I apply the brake, a second or two before the car comes to a complete stop, I can hear this annoying sound emitting from the brake. I complained to Kia regarding this annoying sound, and they replaced the disc for me (for free of course). The pad was replaced at the same time as well (pad was not free since it is subjected to wear and tear...crap). But, even after replacement, the annoying sound is still there. Is it inherent? I hope not. The sad part about this is how long Kia took to react to my complain. It was nearly a year before they agree to change  the disc. How annoying was that? Their reason was that the sound is normal. I totally do not agree with their argument since my sister's Kelisa, a way cheaper car than the K5 makes no such sound. I wrote countless letters to Kia highlighting my predicament. I will keep on complaining to Kia, since I believe that this may be related to supplier issue. My thought is that those discs and pads are dual sourced. One supplier might be supplying a problematic parts while the other may not. Well, I'm only guessing here. It may or may not be true. Do you have the same issue with your K5? Let me know.....

I actually have a solution though. I've been spraying this liquid onto the discs and pads and the sound will disappear. It is a cheap solution (I cannot remember the price though, but it does not exceed RM20) and a single can will last for months, depending how much you apply it. But forking out my own money to solve the issue, when the car manufacturer is happily claiming that the issue is normal does not bode well with me.

But, being a smart consumer, I will keep the complain rolling in...If I don't complain, how will they improve? Right?.....

My second issue is with the fuel lid. It will not open whenever I push the fuel lid button (the one located on the driver side door). It happened to me a couple of times at the petrol station. Luckily for me, Kia design a second mechanism to open the lid, in the form of a mechanical lever placed inside the car boot. I complained for the first time, Kia fixed it but the issue popped up again. Made a second complain during 10,000km servicing and they fixed it again, but that was the last time that it need fixing because no more issue faced afterwards. So that one has a happy ending to it.

Other than those two issues, I do not have anything else to say, issues wise on the K5. Going strong.....

On a different note, I have a colleague that once told me that Kia is a lousy car in term of quality, so lousy that within a year the printed words on the knobs and controls will wear off. After 2 years, everything is still pristine. Sorry to disappoint you......

Tyre

When I bought the K5, it came equipped with Nexen tyres. I do not have any issue with them. Serve me well during the dry as well as during the wet rainy days. The best part about the stock Nexen tyres were the high treadwear value (it was rated to 400). I believe that it can go well beyond 60,000km if I take good care of it. I made the mistake of not regularly rotating the tyres. So, I end up needing to replace them at 50,000km. Here was how the tyres' condition prior to replacement.

I opt for Continental MC5 as the replacement. I initially searched around to try and get the same Nexen stock tyres. But, it was difficult to get them. So, I opt for the MC5 instead. 

After searching in 2 different states for the best offer on MC5, I settled with a shop in Perai for RM490 each. How is it? I honestly do not feel any major difference to the stock Nexen. But, I can feel that it is a tad softer in comparison to the Nexen. I'm currently pumping in Nitrogen into the tyres. Let see whether in the long run it will help with wear or not.

In the future, I probably want to try Vikings ProTech PT 5 tyres. Those black donuts are cheap! RM360 each. One good thing about the Vikings is that they are being produced by Continental in their Alor Setar factory. So, to have that Continental DNA is a plus point here. Until that time comes for another replacement, I'll stick with the MC5.

Features I like on the K5

There are 2 features that I like with this car, and both coincidentally linked to night time driving. 

I personally like the ECM (electric chromic mirror) on the K5. Driving at night is much pleasant when the ECM is in action, reducing glare from the car behind. So good that sometimes I did not notice drivers giving me the high beam.

I also like the bright fog lamp on the tail light. When drivers tailgating my K5 at night, I will turn on the rear fog lamp. With it being so bright, those tailgaters will keep their distance. A good feature to annoy people. Put a smile on my face.

A special mention to the rear view camera. The display is placed within the rear view mirror. Saved me countless time from potential fender bender.

So that's it. A small sharing on my K5. Let me know your thoughts......
Happy driving.