So, while just *looking* on Saturday, we ended up driving out of the lot in a new White 4 Door Ex! Ended up with one very sweet lease deal.
Looked at everything from Civic's to Jetta's, the refined ride by the Kia was the major selling point, in my opinion it was superior to the others, not to mention the space and all the toys. It replaces a VW 06 2.0 Turbo GTI which really was such a let down in the years we owned it (22k on the it bent a few valves, not to mention a complete new AC system at 15k and a bunch of other problems).
Welcome to the forum scottiedog. It seems like the Forte is destined to join the ranks of vehicles to own. I know what you mean about the upkeep of a VW. I had a GTI back in 1983 and all its repairs were expensive. Glad you decided to join us here.
@awcga - My first few thousand miles with the GTI were amazing, but things went quickly downhill. VW has premium running costs and there service was poor to say the least (we worked with three dealers, all very poor). After the carbon build up on the 2.0T motor, I just lost all confidence in the brand. Kia are in a great position to revive the 1983 GTI experience, a nice Turbo motor and sub $20k cost would be a winning combination!
@MFury - Thanks. Yes, most don't even know what it is, but so far in the day or so we have had it, its created a lot of interest!