nippy

Hi experts, I went and had a look at a Kia Optima 2001 during the weekend. There were some minor things like broken plastics on door trims, some issues with power windows etc. As per the info available on the net, this car is based on Hyundai Sonata. But it looks much nicer than the sonata. This is NOT for my personal use. Is it worth buying this car? Are the parts available for this model? What's the market price of this car? Please advice.

Theoretically yes. But I have 3.5yrs of experience with this car. Out of 85k kms I might have done at least 65k. I know I can run at least 50kms more even though the reading is "E". But I took this reading as soon as it touched "E". So it cannot be way off.

The fuel indicator was exactly at "E" before I pumped. I took this reading after it came back to "E". Yes. It might not be 100% accurate. But I am sure it is very closer to the actual figure. Do you want to know the total fuel cost of my Galle trip? It was less than 2000.

Hi.. This is my first forum post. I really cannot comment on the Viva. But I can comment on the first generation(In SL) of Peroduas.I have been using a Perodua Kenari for last 3.5+yrs. Other than the regular services I hardly had to spend any money on this car. I had to replace break pads (Rs2000 as far as I can remember) twice and had a minor issue with the left hand side power shutter. I have done nearly 85,000kms so far. I have driven 100+kms continuously. So what I can say is they are very reliable cars. May be much better than 13-14yrs old starlets. One of my uncles has been using a Kelisa for 5 yrs. He has done 120k + I guess. He had to replace clutch plates after running about 50,000kms; probably due to bad driving habits. The cost was Rs8000 if I am not mistaken. In terms of fuel consumption, I do not think any other car in this category can beat Peroduas. I serviced my car last week and the company suggested me to do a tune up and said the fuel consumption would have dropped. I never felt that though. So I did not want to spend 11,000 on the tune up . During the weekend I went to Galle with 4 people in the car. I pumped fuel worth of Rs1000.00. The indicator hit the "E" mark when the trip meter reading was 157kms. So after 3.5yrs the fuel figure was = 157/8.695= 18.05kmpl. On my way I had to pass bustling cities like Kadana,Wattala,Colombo, Panadura, Ambalangoda etc. So it was not really a smooth long distance travel. The other plus point is the manuring capability in heavy traffic conditions. You can simply sneak through even tiny spaces and get to your destination much quicker than big sedans. In terms of negative things about this car I would say the seats could have been better. The rubber parts are also not of the high quality. But I do not really care. If you need, you can spend some more money and make it comfy. The other factor is the resale value. It is purely based on the perception of the people. Even on this forum, I see a lot of people recommending starlets. That's because they do not have any experience with Peroduas. IMHO Peroduas are actually reliable and economical cars. The prices : Viva 1000cc is 1.45m Viva elite 1000cc is 1.74m (Has a much better look than Viva I guess) The auto would be little higher than that. I am not sure about 660cc version. It may be cheaper.