Don't take this the wrong way. I am making friendly suggestions for your complaints!

-Terrible wheel well noise when driving on dirt roads
---Add sound deadening mat and ensolite foam

-Cheap feeling door handles
---Sound deadening mat in my doors made the handle feel much "meatier"

-No room lamp
---Diode Dynamics Stage 3 white map LEDs really brighten up the interior for cheap

-Doors rattle with bass
---Add sound deadening mat and ensolite foam

-Lack of cluster gauges
---Custom Gauge Pod

-Hitting the smallest mud puddle coats the entire side of vehicle
---OEM Mudguards will help

All in all, not super cheap. But definitely worth it!

 

My complaints

-Terrible wheel well noise when driving on dirt roads.

Better quieter tires, more insulation. try driving different tires on the same roads and you'll probably hear the same noise. Forte is one of the quieter cars in its class

-Overly sensitive brakes
Not at all, smooth, try driving other cars in the same class. (anything but domestic of course)

-Cheap feeling door handles
nothing you can do about that except maybe door poppers

-No headroom in rear seats

you get that with a koup, try sitting in a tibby. the koup is like an suv compared to it

-No room lamp

Koups have a room lamp if you get it without a sunroof

-Doors rattle with bass
too much bass? maybe add some sound deadning. check D113's threads.

-Lack of cluster gauges

SX has a few. for the rest, get a OBD like a scan gauge, or add more gauges like someone else did.

-Hitting the smallest mud puddle coats the entire side of vehicle

you shouldn't hit mud puddles in the first place. but, here, get oem mud flaps, or aftermarket rally armours.

Really? these are your complains?

 

Everyone knows the most visual would probably be the creases during the cold weather, but at least they go away in warm weather.

But some nit picking on my end would be two simple things really,

- Interior light manages to not light up the aux/usb jacks so you cant see where to put them (yes yes...I can't find the hole....let the jokes ensue). Might be fixed with that Diode Dyanmics light kit, but as I have stock interior lights its a minor annoyance.

- Bluetooth, why does it have to redownload the phone book after EVERY call I make?? I don't think its the phone, as I've had 3 phones in the life of this car and each one did it. That is probably the most annoying 'feature.'

 

We all love our cars, we know this. In fact my first car was a 2002 Kia Rio 5 M/T with a 109hp 1.5 liter and I loved it. This doesn't mean that they're isn't a couple things we would like to change. Im not really talking about performance either. Im just curious to what other people don't like about our cars from the factory.

My complaints

-Terrible wheel well noise when driving on dirt roads.
-Overly sensitive brakes
-Cheap feeling door handles
-No headroom in rear seats
-No room lamp
-Doors rattle with bass
-Lack of cluster gauges
-Hitting the smallest mud puddle coats the entire side of vehicle

So you did not test drive or read the spec's on the car you were going to buy. And now you want to bitch...Trade it in and get yourself another ride . It shouldn't run you more than $35.000.00 for a ride you would like..

 

I didn't like the brake sensitivity at first either but I've come to appreciate it. Although I wish the seats didn't squeak so much!

I just realized this is the KOUP complaint thread X) ^maybe it's a seen thing

 

Seats squeaky? o__0

 

Never had ANY of these problems you guys are talking about. The only problem I had with the Koup was rear toe causing the car to drift to the right.

 

Well that's why I stated "from factory". All of these issues with the exception of the door handles has been fixed, Ive got a scangauge, tons of sound deadening, about 3 cans of rubberized undercoating in the wheel wells to take the rock chipping noise away. plus oil temp gauges, and my only issues with getting mud flaps is that it kind of takes the "sport" away from the car. Atleast IMO, but I apologize, I didnt mean to come off like I hate this car, because it is very far from it. I mean what more can you expect for 20k dollars (i basically stole this thing). I do love the car, and I was more-so curious about what you guys had to say.

 

I don't get why u would need a better gauge cluster? What else do u need? Tach, speedo, fuel, and the trip computer along with the really well done red lit cluster is awesome IMO. If you're turbo'd it's another story. Everything else u mentioned is easily fixed.

I'd have to say my only complaint would be the noisy engine at idle, and how it "ticks" but it's not much to me, I'm just trying to be picky with a complaint lol

 

Well I absolutely hate how it doesnt have one for water temperature, I know its got the one on the trip computer but I hate having to switch it all the time. My grandmother has a 2011 Sorento and the cluster is the same exact style except instead of one huge gauge for fuel, it splits the difference with one for fuel and one for water temperature. I would love to retrofit one of these panels into my koup, but im sure that's nearly impossible.

http://media.caranddriver.com/image.../11q2/397309/2011-kia-sorento-sx-instrument-cluster-photo-397358-s-1280x782.jpg

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Atv821
My complaints

-Terrible wheel well noise when driving on dirt roads.

Better quieter tires, more insulation. try driving different tires on the same roads and you'll probably hear the same noise. Forte is one of the quieter cars in its class

-Overly sensitive brakes
Not at all, smooth, try driving other cars in the same class. (anything but domestic of course)

-Cheap feeling door handles
nothing you can do about that except maybe door poppers

-No headroom in rear seats

you get that with a koup, try sitting in a tibby. the koup is like an suv compared to it

-No room lamp

Koups have a room lamp if you get it without a sunroof

-Doors rattle with bass
too much bass? maybe add some sound deadning. check D113's threads.

-Lack of cluster gauges

SX has a few. for the rest, get a OBD like a scan gauge, or add more gauges like someone else did.

-Hitting the smallest mud puddle coats the entire side of vehicle

you shouldn't hit mud puddles in the first place. but, here, get oem mud flaps, or aftermarket rally armours.


Really? these are your complains?
__________________

I AGREE I LOVE THE BRAKES THAY ARE THE BEST OF ALL THE CAR THAT I HAVE DRIVEN....

 

My only real complaint?...The Bluetooth system, needs a major fix. Everything else is sweet and solid!!

 

My #1 Complaint..CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP and CHEAP INTERIOR MATERIALS..And please don't give me it's only a $24k car fully loaded..24k is enough money where they could have used a little better quality materials. The paint job sucks..you look at it and it chips..The leather is crappy, no lumbar support, the center console rubs against the seats, the metal dead pedal makes noise when you put your foot on it, plastic bits scratch way to easy..go ahead and flame me..don't matter to me..next year i trade it in.

 

Then Just trade it in. I think there is good quality interior, we were looking at c300 MB and we think the interior looks as good as the c300. And every thing you are complaning about I haven't had. You need to get a Bentley, that the only car you will be happy with. Lol.

 

My only complaint would be "transfer complete" every time I got in the car. However, I fixed this issue by installing an in-dash DVD unit.

 

I got used to it. if I don't hear the transfer complete, I don't drive off. It means two things, Bluetooth on phone is off and I need to turn it on or I don't have my phone which in that case I am glad that it reminded me to go and look for it.

 

I wouldn't say the interior materials are cheap, they're superior to what Mitsubishi use on all of their current models, and Fortes are cheaper than Lancers.

Gauges? Why? It's not a high performance vehicle, nor is it an unreliable piece of ass like an Alfa 156 you shouldn't need to constantly monitor things like oil pressure.

Mud puddles splashing the side of the car? That's more your fault than the car.

My only issues would be the way the car sounds for the first few minutes of driving from a cold start, tinny .. would be my description.

And the ride, it's not fantastic .. mainly due to the rear axle, tad skittish, but nothing so terrible that it's worth complaining about.

All in all, you get more than you pay for with the Koup, and that's all there is to it really. In a world where everyone is trying to rip you off and give you less for more, KIA is giving you more, for less. Accept that fact and you'll never find fault in your car again.

 

I wouldn't say the interior materials are cheap, they're superior to what Mitsubishi use on all of their current models, and Fortes are cheaper than Lancers.

Gauges? Why? It's not a high performance vehicle, nor is it an unreliable piece of ass like an Alfa 156 you shouldn't need to constantly monitor things like oil pressure.

Mud puddles splashing the side of the car? That's more your fault than the car.

My only issues would be the way the car sounds for the first few minutes of driving from a cold start, tinny .. would be my description.

And the ride, it's not fantastic .. mainly due to the rear axle, tad skittish, but nothing so terrible that it's worth complaining about.

All in all, you get more than you pay for with the Koup, and that's all there is to it really. In a world where everyone is trying to rip you off and give you less for more, KIA is giving you more, for less. Accept that fact and you'll never find fault in your car again.

well said

 

First thing that comes to my mind is the gauges. I love how they look and I wish I had the sx so I could have that red lighting behind the speed but it is missing a temp gauge. Lets face the fact that cars will run hot. It happens. amd I plan on keeping this car till its dead. So a temp gauge rele would've been nice. The only other main thing for me is that if I don't have my music blaring I gotta listen to my seat creek. Grr! But I mean unless my parents or gf are in the care I do have to turned up lol OH WAIT AND ONE OTHER THING THAT PISSES ME OFF!!!! forget the seat creaking but I ride with the windows down and roof open everyday unless its raining or unless I have passengers. 20degrees F to 100 IDC its down. I just don't care to use ac if I don't have to. I like the cold so I guess that's why it doesn't bother me. But back to my main point, there is a damn whistling noise that comes from the side mirrors between that creese that allows you to pull the mirrors forward or back. It starts whistling around 60 mph and just gets worse the faster yu go!!! I have the 2011 btw just incase this was fixed in 2012

 

I asked the tech at kia before about the temp gauge. He said that the temp warning would come on the trip computer if it rises to a dangerous point. Kinda like it flashes when you running low on fuel. Never tested it myself (hope never have to either) so don't quote me on this. Would make sense tho

 

leather seat

not a complaint, just an observation
seat material is the same as a chevy volt
volt twice the price, lots of useless gadgets
winter only 24 miles on battery, then about 30 mpg gas in volt
what ya winin about?

 

The only complate I have is I wish that when you park and turn off the car, you could close the sunroof without the ignition in the run position. My 92 4runner I can shut it down and remove the key and as long as I don't open the door I can control the windows and the moon roof. Little thing but.

 

My first brand new car at 25 bought with my own hard earned money. If I had any complaints I would of bought a different car.

Love it!

 

Yeah, I am with this guy! I know buying a new car is a bad investment, but really only if you plan on trading, which I do not. I know I am not going to have to worry about mechanical issues for a long time. I am very glad every mile on the car has been put there by me and it has only been out of my sight on one occasion, and that was on the trip from Korea.

 

Hey all,

My major complaint is the cheap interior finish on the door. When I release the seat-belt, it swings and hits the door and has left a ton of deep scuff marks on the door (i have since become VERY careful when I release the seat-belt). Maybe it's my large frame as most people don't have that problem but it's an eye-sore everytime I look at the door panel.

 

Y'all are a bunch of whiners. My lights are dim, i got HIDs. Mine didn't come with fogs, I put fogs in. I hated having muddy sides/doors, so I got awesometastic mud flaps. My stock tires sucked, so I went out and bought better tires. I have the issue with the seatbelts too cause I'm short and I sit with the seat almost all the way to the front. While I got used to it, you can always buy those BMW seatbelt holders and fix that issue. MOST if not all of these issues can be remedied if you actually are creative do research. If you wanted a perfect car, make it yourself. Or buy one. You test drove the car, you looked inside it. No one blinded folded you and told you to buy it. I loved my car, and every thing about it. At first i thought my cup holders were too big and my drinks always slid around, but one day I had to carry a bowl of soup in my car and OMG, the to go soup bowl FITs inside my cup holder. It's awesome. Everything about my car was great. No one complained, except the fat dudes who sat in my car for 8 hours when I went to FL, but it's their fault. Instead of making a thread like this that serves NO purpose, make a thread about "This is the Koup's shortcomings, and these are my suggestions/DIYs about how to fix them."

I don't even have a Forte, the car saved my life when I pushed it to the limit.

Just my rant. Take initiatives. Or at least be useful.

 

Geez DevilsX,

Don’t have to take it too personally. Isn’t that what a “General Discussion” section is for?

Of course I’ve remedied the seat-belt issues… just being extra careful (since I didn't have this issue in my last vehicle), doesn’t change the fact that the scuff marks don’t go away now that I'm more careful.

Unlike you (as you mentioned in your post), I’m on a very limited budget and can’t just “buy” things.

Just IMO, not trying to start anything.

 

I guess I'm just grumpy I don't have a forte anymore. Anyways, carry on with the complaints! I understand everyone is on a tight budget. Myself included.