[RISING STAR]

Disclaimer

I'm not a professional writer and my English may not be perfect. A couple of month ago, I moved from Ukraine to US. In Ukraine, I used to write a blog on automotive social network about my cars and all the modifications I made on them. I'm not sure if US have an analog of such a network, or, at least I haven't found any. Therefore I decided to publish my blog on the platform specific to my car. Please let me know if this format is not suitable for this website format and I'll delete the post. Thank you.

This car also has an Instagram account: gt_line.forte

Sometimes your life could change dramatically in one day. Black day. February 24th to be more precise. Despite having been to the US multiple times before, I had never considered relocating here due to various reasons. However, life has a way of surprising you and it now appears that moving here is the right decision for me. New life, new country, new car... Let's start from a very beginning.

Choice

In a new country, you know nothing about the auto market and its rules. You don't have a good mechanic, electrician, or detailer. You have to start everything from scratch. Even if you have experience with many cars in your native country, it takes time to adapt. There are many things you can't do yourself, just because you don't have all your familiar equipment. So, if you purchase a new car, you basically have two options: do as much as possible yourself or minimize the things you need to do on the new car. And I really like to do the things with my own hands in a car... Yeah.

So, taking into account all of this, your choice would be a brand new car, but your budget is very limited. You don't have a credit score and you only have some savings that you brought with you during the relocation. In this situation, no option except a used car is available for you. So, I began looking for a used car. Because I'm kind of a petrolhead, I like cars with some styling. Actually, I don't care about 0-60 acceleration, I just need a reliable car that brings me pleasure when I see it early in the morning.

Initially, I planned to buy one of the same car models that I owned in my home country and customize it in the same way. I've spend a lot of time on CarGurus for searching these cars and was surprised with awful conditions of the cars available. Even cars with low mileage looked like previous owners really didn't care about them. Many sellers just want to sell you their car and forget about it. They're telling you that you have a good choice because this particular car has 8 inch display, parking sensors, bla-bla. But when asked what was the reason of "transfer case removal for complete repairs" reported on Carfax or "was the head gasket replaced because it's a well know issue", many of sellers just stop responding.

So, then I decided to go with something more "native" to the local market, but still fun to drive. My choice was a 2017-2018 Elantra Sport with manual transmission, because I really like the way this car looks like. I found two Elantras that I was interested in. The first one was a "Hyundai Certified Pre-Owned". I scheduled a visit to the dealership, but before that, I asked my friend for a simple OBD device. So, in reality, "Hyundai Certified Pre-Owned" car meant:

• Deep scratch on the rear bumper
• A difference in color between the rear bumper and the rest of the car
• Corrosion on the trunk lid in several areas
• The potential need for replacement of air temperature sensor (DTC error)
• Unknown reasons for the "clutch master cylinder" replacement

All of these issues were discovered in just one hour, before even taking a test drive or lifting the car. How this car could've passed all these 173+ checks declared? Open-ended question... I was also surprised when a dealership representatives told me that this is a used car and it can't be in perfect condition. I understand that, but at the same time, a car is not an iPhone that can be replaced every year. It's still a significant amount of money, it's still an expensive purchase and nobody but me is interested in saving my money.

So you get the idea. The second Elantra was from CarMax which claims that "it's OK to be picky". But, as you already may have guessed, it was in similar poor condition with "one more thing". Price with +$2000 above the market.

Purchase

After spending several months searching for a used car, I gave up. If you want to get a car in good condition the only way is to purchase a new car from a dealership. So, I decided to apply for financing to buy a new car. I prefer compact cars. Especially diesel cars. Especially diesel cars with manual transmission. However, as you know, there are no such cars available in the US market, at least in compact segment. There is no BMW 1er, Ford Focus mk4, Kia Ceed, Seat Leon, Skoda Octavia or Volkswagen Golf GTD.

Nevertheless a couple of cars that I like are available in the US market. I'm talking about Honda Civic and Kia K3 (aka Cerato/Forte). I was interested in purchasing a mid-trim model and upgrading it later with an S/RS/GT/N whatever look. To be honest there is also Mazda 3, but Mazda 3 is not exist in MPS trim at all, so this was not an option for me. Additionally Hyundai Elantra GT N-Line is also not an option in the US market. So Civic was the first one.

In mid-December 2022 we visited a dealership to take a look at the Civic Sport. In general I was OK to purchase it with MSRP price. However, when we applied for financing we we're shocked, to find out that out-of-the-door price was $7000 above MSRP and the APR for 3 year loan was 14%. I know that I have no credit score yet, but 14% APR is not even possible in my home country! So, we rejected this "best-market" offer. More or less the same offers were provided by other Honda dealers as well.

A week after I was browsing CarGurus for used cars in good condition, if any. Suddenly I noticed the "New Cars" button. As far as I understand dealerships post their inventories to CarGurus. Of course the prices listed were MSRPs. But I decided to apply for a couple of Fortes in GT-Line (not Premium) trim. I was surprised when two dealers responded that it was Christmas time, so they would do their best to make a deal with me, even though I didn't have a credit score. So, on December 23rd my spouse and I went to a dealership for Forte GT-Line at MSRP.

Surprisingly there were 20+ Fortes in different trims at the dealership. We were able to select from different colors and compare different trims. Finally, we decided to go with GT-Line Premium, which was just $140 above MSRP and had only 9% APR for 3 years. My spouse said she never had a sunroof in a car, so it should be. And I wanted to have the car equipped with all assistants available, to save money and time on retrofitting in future.

Specification:

• Model: Kia Forte (BD)
• Model Year: 2023
• Engine: 2.0 MPI
• Power: 147 hp @ 6200 rpm
• Torque: 179 nm @ 4500 rpm
• Transmission: 6 speed IVT
• Brake system: disc
• Tires: 225/45 R17 (all season)
• Trunk size: 433 liters
• Fuel tank capacity: 11.9 gallons
• Safety: 4 stars in NHTSA rating (6 airbags)
• Mileage at purchase: 17 ml
• Trim: GT-Line Premium

Despite the fact the car is fully packed with the options I still want to add more. Especially those that I had in my previous cars. All the options should be OEM only or look similar to OEM.

Plans:

1. Convex left rear view mirror​
2. Rear tunnel with vent and USB port​
3. Steering wheel with red stitching​
4. Gearbox shifter with red stitching​
5. Lowering springs​
6. Front grill GT emblem​
7. Auto-dimming interior rear view mirror​
8. Parking sensors (front + rear)​

Changes:

1. LED headlamp bulbs (Auxito)
2. LED license plate bulbs (Philips)
3. LED trunk bulbs (Philips)
4. Glossy black roof (Oracal)
5. Glossy black front side markers (Oracal)

 

[Steve g]

Hi

 

[Intruder]

Welcome!

 

[dual-clutch]

I'm very sorry about what's happening in the Ukraine. I hope one day you can have a free Ukraine again.

 

[RISING STAR]

I'm very sorry about what's happening in the Ukraine. I hope one day you can have a free Ukraine again.

Thank you. No worries. We're here to discuss our cars, not Ukraine. That was just a disclaimer. 😊

 

[Intruder]

We discuss a lot of topics here

Cars just happen to be the #1 topic of course!

 

[WorldPlayer]

With regard to the damaged cars with only 5 or 6 years, here is my opinion. Surely others will disagree.

Hyundai/Kia are perceived as economy brands and in fact most of their models are economically priced. Nothing wrong with this strategy. This is how many foreign carmakers entered the US market: VW, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, etc.

The problem with economy cars is that buyers of these types of cars are often not interested or able to maintain a top level of upkeep. Who buys an economy car to make it a garage queen?

That gets us to the expression "garage queen." Apartments rarely feature exclusive, individual-use garages. Starter homes may or may not feature one. And even if the home has a garage, there may be more cars in the household than garage space. Which car is getting the garage? The Audi, the Ford, or the Elantra? Some cars are going to get protection from the elements... and probably not the economy car.

There are bound to be exceptions, of course. Nicer cars also get abused by their owners. But this may explain why it might be difficult to come across a nice used Elantra.

9% is still a very high interest rate; it will likely cost you thousands of dollars. My suggestion is to priorize paying down the debt, if you can. In the US, most car loans do not penalize you for making extra payments. Be sure and inform yourself. Paying down the debt can also help improve your credit score.

Since you've already been here for a while, I probably don't need to remind you that US parking lot forward stops are murderously high. I long time ago got into the habit of just backing up, to avoid tearing down our car's front ends.

It's always nice to have fresh flowers. Congratulations on the new car!

 

[ForteGT2]

Plans:

1. Aspherical left rear view mirror​
2. Rear tunnel with vent and USB port​
3. Steering wheel with red stitching​
4. Gearbox shifter with red stitching​
5. Glanced black roof​
6. Lowering springs​
7. Front grill GT emblem​
8. Auto-dimming interior rear view mirror​
9. Parking sensors (front + rear)​

I wanted to do this with daughters GT-Line but not sure you can install the tube from the HVAC box to the rear console vent. There are two versions of the HVAC box so it's possible there is no door to remove to install the tube.

Looks like you need the center duct (see below) but I'm not sure the car will have the necessary opening for it.

Powered Mirror Install Instructions 2019-Up Forte | Kia Forte Forum (forteforums.com)

 

[RISING STAR]

9% is still a very high interest rate; it will likely cost you thousands of dollars. My suggestion is to priorize paying down the debt, if you can. In the US, most car loans do not penalize you for making extra payments. Be sure and inform yourself. Paying down the debt can also help improve your credit score.

Since you've already been here for a while, I probably don't need to remind you that US parking lot forward stops are murderously high. I long time ago got into the habit of just backing up, to avoid tearing down our car's front ends.

It's always nice to have fresh flowers. Congratulations on the new car!

Thank you. Yes, I'm very picky in terms of personal finance management here. Every month I'm paying a little more than regular monthly payment (+$50-100) and setup all these auto-payments, notifications, etc. in order not to miss any payment. Especially because I'm still building my credit history.

Oh, yeah, parking lot stops are quite high, but my previous car had only 12mm clearance (H&R lowering springs -30mm from Euro stock), so I'm kind used to this and always aware. I'm already thinking to lower Forte a bit. 😁

 

[RISING STAR]

I wanted to do this with daughters GT-Line but not sure you can install the tube from the HVAC box to the rear console vent. There are two versions of the HVAC box so it's possible there is no door to remove to install the tube.

Looks like you need the center duct (see below) but I'm not sure the car will have the necessary opening for it.

I'm referencing to different schemas. And it looks like it should have the duct itself. But the question is where the flap which prevents air to circulate to central vent. The answer probably can be found at junkyard with another Forte GT-Line. 😊

PS: Special thanks for auto-dimming rear-view mirror installation manual. 😁

 

[noturbonoproblem]

Thank you. Yes, I'm very picky in terms of personal finance management here. Every month I'm paying a little more than regular monthly payment (+$50-100) and setup all these auto-payments, notifications, etc. in order not to miss any payment. Especially because I'm still building my credit history.

Oh, yeah, parking lot stops are quite high, but my previous car had only 12mm clearance (H&R lowering springs -30mm from Euro stock), so I'm kind used to this and always aware. I'm already thinking to lower Forte a bit. 😁

Good for you - the quicker you pay it off, the less total you'll pay.

I also have a 2.0L-powered Forte, albeit a '21 manual transmission car.

Lowering springs and coilovers are available for these cars. Keep in mind your GT-Line (and all other 2.0L-powered Forte's) have a different rear suspension design compared to the GT, so a lot of GT-specific stuff won't fit your car. As for engine modifications on these cars, there's basically nothing besides an intake. There is one exhaust, but you'd have to cut away at the rear bumper trim to make it fit.

As such, I'd focus on suspension and handling, as I've done with mine.

As for chassis braces, a strut bar makes a big difference to steering response and is pretty cheap all things considered. Evilla also makes a lower tie bar and rear sway bar. Lower tie bar did make a difference, but not as significant, and I haven't installed the rear sway bar on my car yet.

As for suspension itself, it depends on how expensive you want to go. If you want to just lower it, M&S Storm lowering springs will fit your car and lower it for $300. You can get cheap coilovers (Rev9) for around $500, decent coilovers from $600 (lower spec Godspeed) to $800 (higher-spec Godspeed), and great coilovers for $1200 (BCRacing).

Hope this helps! Congrats on the car.

 

[RISING STAR]

As for suspension itself, it depends on how expensive you want to go. If you want to just lower it, M&S Storm lowering springs will fit your car and lower it for $300. You can get cheap coilovers (Rev9) for around $500, decent coilovers from $600 (lower spec Godspeed) to $800 (higher-spec Godspeed), and great coilovers for $1200 (BCRacing).

Super! Thank you very much for all the info. To be honest, at least for now, I'm only interested in lowering springs. Nothing extra. M&S website doesn't show the engine it fits. Is it for 1.6 or 2.0? Do you know?
M&S Lowering Springs for Kia Forte K3 GT

And what about Eibach or H&R. I see only 1.6 modifications. Is there 2.0 version from them exist?

 

[noturbonoproblem]

Super! Thank you very much for all the info. To be honest, at least for now, I'm only interested in lowering springs. Nothing extra. M&S website doesn't show the engine it fits. Is it for 1.6 or 2.0? Do you know?
M&S Lowering Springs for Kia Forte K3 GT

And what about Eibach or H&R. I see only 1.6 modifications. Is there 2.0 version from them exist?

The ones you linked are for the 1.6T GT. The 1.6T is the GT engine, and has a different rear suspension design, so stuff for them won't fit. You'll want these - M&S Lowering Springs for Kia Forte K3 BD – M&S America (mnsamerica.com)
Apologies that my old link didn't work.
As far as I know, neither Eibach nor H&R make lowering springs for 2.0L cars - only the GT. We're pretty much stuck with the M&S Storm ones as far as lowering springs go on 2.0L cars