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Comments
When I bought mine (January of 2004) I was allowed by my dealer to keep the car for a few hours to drive around. Needless to say I was "sold" and bought mine that day. I would recommend that you ask your local dealer if you can drive one too, for awhile at least to see how you like it. I know that's not as good as living with one for a week or so, but, good luck in your final decision!
-Pete
PS One more thing about my Amanti. I drive mine pretty aggressively. In retrospect, my day to day driving is probably pretty hard on the car. I drive quickly and I'm not afraid to corner, (which is tough on my tires -Khumo's by the way -and doing a great job). Having said that, she still behaves like a lady and rides and looks great. I do think the front shocks are starting to go a little, but that could be my imagination. Love mine! :shades:
My 05 Amanti is just coming up to 9000 km (a bit more than 5000 miles) and it's been totally trouble free. Mine came with Kumho tires, a Korean brand that I hadn't heard of. So far my tires have not made the slightest noise, something that some of the early magazine reports commented on, so I don't know what kind of driving they were doing to get theirs to squeal. I did have a flat a while ago, called the roadside assistance, who dispatched help and made what could have been misery into a minor non-event. When I went to a specialty tire shop the next day to have the screw removed from the tire, I asked them about Kumho tires. The technicians there assured me that it was a perfectly good brand that was just as good as anything else that was available. I don't see any signs of premature tire wear and my tire pressures haven't changed in months of driving under all conditions. My car continues to be rattle free and gives an amazingly comfortable and quiet ride. I've been on some short out of town trips recently and find this to be a supremely comfortable highway cruiser, with almost no road noise, no wind noise at all, excellent air conditioning in our current heat wave, and very reasonable mileage at highway speeds. Around town mileage is not so good, especially on short start and stop trips, but it uses regular gas and if my driving includes any open road stretches, the mileage immediately improves. The part of owning this car that still amazes me each time it happens is that total strangers want to look at it and know all about it. They love the look of the car, are completely taken by the interior (I've had a number of total strangers sitting in the car just to show it to them....I figure the more people I can convert the better it will be for all of us who already own a Kia Amanti), and they believe the features for the price.
As I probably said back when I first posted here, before I bought mine just before last Christmas, the dealer I was working with gave it to me to use for a Saturday afternoon. So I took it on my usual errands, on roads and streets that I knew well, and also out of town. By the time I brought it back I knew I wanted it. We couldn't agree on a final deal so I went to another dealer and got what I thought was a fair deal and saved $600 in the process. I'm still having a little problem with finding a perfect driving position in which my leg doesn't hurt, but it's much better now than before so maybe I'm adjusting to the seat instead of the other way around.
To anyone who asks about buying one of these amazing cars, I'd say, try it for a few hours and you won't want to give it back. Take it on a highway trip and you'll want to keep on driving.
MagMax
Still going to get my car from dealer in Seattle can get late 05 with everything for just under $26k including mud guards, Sunroof deflector, Sport visors, Door edge guard, paint protecter, and a dealer installed class 2 hitch.
That includes all fees and other B.S. that they tag on the price when you go to pay.
-Pete Sarasota
MagMax
Also, do you happen to know whether or not Kia has addressed the "mushy front end" and "lack of horsepower" issues in 2006?
BTW, regarding sales price (which seems to come up often on some of these boards), $25K seems awfully high to me. One dealer here in Phoenix has them marked down substantially from this price...to around $20K+/-, loaded, before taxes, et al, of course.
Thank you!
My only reluctance to buy at this point is that I suspect Kia going to address the "mushy front end" and "lack of horsepower" issues in a couple of months when they release the '06 model and I'll be sorry I didn't wait (however, they may not be offering these hefty discounts then, either...who knows). Good luck to you! hawk
I think Kia is dumping the 3.5 engine and going to the 3.8 Aluminum V-6 with Continuously Variable Valve Timing, as the Srento and Sedona are both getting the 3.8 for 2006.
3.8L DOHC 24-valve, V6 engine with Continuously Variable Valve Timing (CVVT)
Horsepower @ rpm: 265 @ 6,000
Torque @ rpm: 257 @ 4,500
As the engine is lighter it should help the front suspension and give much better accelaretion with the reduced weight and more power, will improve gas mileage also
The 2006 Rio even got a new 1.6 Liter engine with CVVT
On a slightly different subject...
I have noticed another minor change between the 2004 & 2005 Amanti's (among those already mentioned here). When I bought my new 1984 Toyota Camry, I always hated the cheap looking rear name tag molded all in one piece. My '04 Amanti has quality, separate letters spelling out the word 'AMANTI' on the trunk. Now, in '05 it is a one piece unit with connecting tabs that look poor (to me). I wonder how much Kia saved?
I understand these things do add up, but -although I love my car dearly, I wonder what else has been done that's hidden to cut corners on future models?
Again, this is just a MINOR observation on my part.
-Pete Sarasota
Thanks for the info!
I made an appointment at my Kia dealer for it and they fixed it under Warranty. They had to put a new set of parts-fuel filler door lock/release mechanism parts of some variety. Take yours in and let me know what happens, OK, magmax? I'm sure they'll fix it for free under the Warranty.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
MagMax
MagMax
MagMax
Also, up there.. I'm not sure what a key fob is. I know on my car that my mirrors stay where I left them. If I turn the button to the left, then they drop when I put it in reverse, or if to the right, then only the right one drops. Wait.. I do remember while a while there that they were defaulting back. Seems like I had to put it in Park with foot on brake for it to hold the positioning that I wanted. Bill - Orlando
But, overall, its a good car at a bargain price
I dare anyone to find any car, in this price range that's a nicer car. It's only bad point is it uses fuel more than it should, (something we didn't really care about a year ago but now is important). And I guarantee you the next model change of the Amanti will have a great mpg improvement over this model as it will be based on the upcoming Azera by Hyundai with its new engine.
Believe what you wish, but if you read these owner's comments here, at the forum you will NOT find complaints of it's handling. That's real world testing.
Really...test drive one yourself then decide. :shades:
If you watch ABC's World News Tonight (at 6:30 p.m. e.s.t.), you may have noticed that they have been running a commercial all this week for the Amanti. It is a silver one just like my own. As stated in an earlier post, it is nice to know these ads are out there to at least help folks know what an Amanti is.
Tom from Central N.J.
we have just returned from a 4118 mile vacation trip in our 2004 AMANTI.it now has 21350 miles with no repairs runs fine on 87 octane even in the Va.Pa.and NY mountains.Our entire trip mileage average for city and highway was 25.5 the best highway trip mileage was a 30.2 and a 32.0 these mileages were using the A/C all the time.I did try shutting the a/c off to see what improvement i would get .by the car computer it jumped 2.5 to 3.0 this was not over a prolonged time as i went back on a/c all the prior data for mileage was done by fillup to fillup and using a pencil to get the REAL mileage per gallon.The Amanti is the best car we have ever had and it still has people asking to see it.The CR reviews are so far wrong about this car it is unbelieviable.I mentioned before that i wrote KIA all i received is that they got my letter.
Daniel :-)
Bill - Orlando
My car has only 20000 KM. The only symptom that I had was a whistle when the car was coasting. Apparently the final gear is a problem.
Anyone else been or going down this road?????
Todd
I've been happily enjoying my new Amanti, which I purchased a little over a month ago.
Can someone tell me how, or point me to a site, on how to use the sportamatic feature? :confuse:
Thanks
Amando Mi Amanti
Glad you like your new Amanti and welcome. I have mine for almost two years now and still love it.
The Sportmatic transmission you asked about, can be used to downshift or upshift your gears manually. This overrides the automatic transmission's control (which usually does a very good job on it's own). It's not something you would use all the time, but from time to time, I like to downshift for more power and stay in the lower gear for better performance to pass other cars more quickly. In other words, if done right, your car will be faster, than by just letting your transmission do the shifting on it's own.
Having said that. It will not improve your economy.
If you experiment and drive down a road at 50 MPH and move the shifter over to the right, you can move the shifter to the "-" side. That will downshift to the 4th gear (indicated on your instrument cluster) and hold it there until you change it or the car slows down too much and will still downshift to protect the engine. If you step on the gas, you will notice acceleration a little more brisk than if you just stepped on the gas in "D". If you do it again, -moving the selector to the "-", it will go to the next lower (3rd) gear. Pushing the shifter to the "+" will shift it up to the next gear and so on.
On the other hand, if you just step on the gas pedal while in "D", depending on how hard you step on the gas, the transmission will downshift automatically. This is better for most everyday use and more efficient.
It's a fun feature to have and I use it many times in traffic to squeeze into spots were I have to be quick.
If you want, you can start in 2nd gear by pushing the selector to the "+" when you start to drive from a standstill. This is good in slippery weather during the winter.
I don't need to do that here in Florida! :shades:
I hope this helps a little!
-Pete
Also, today, my battery went dead and they put in a new one. AND, I had a new custom grill installed. It's vertical chrome "slats" much like the Jag has. It's beautiful.
Love my Amanti!
You're going to enjoy your Amanti, believe me, and over the next little while you're going to discover all sorts of little thoughtful features that will make you smile. I think it's a great car and all of my friends agree. Yes, the fuel economy isn't great, but you get so much for your buck that paying a little more for gas is worth it compared to anything else that you compare the Amanti to.
One question, Daniel: is your steering wheel all leather? The American Amantis that I've seen have a leather steering wheel whereas in Canada it's a composite wheel of woodgrain plus leather that looks like a million bucks. I wonder why that wheel isn't available in the US. But since you're close to the border....
MagMax
MagMax
I've searched the internet and the grille is called a "billet grille"........it's custom made for many vehicles, and believe me, on the Amanti, it looks awesome! I'll see about that picture.
http://www.precisiongrilles.com/?page=view_parts&cat=24&partNum=886220
Hey that grill looks very cool to say the least!! I will definitely consider one for mine also!!
I put a little something together for everyone. Here it is!
With the current bad world fuel situation and Amanti's mediocre fuel consumption, I thought it might be good idea to re-look at our on board computer (for those that have this option) and how it can help us save fuel. I think it is fair to say everyone knows about the temperature display. But, how many of us use some of the other neat features? I have used only a few so far, and the computer instructions that came with my car were not that thorough and clear so I never knew what some of these functions meant or even use properly. After living with the car for awhile though, I think I've figured out what they're all about. So, I'm hopeful that I might help some of the other owners who also have not used their on board computer as efficiently as perhaps they could have.
Here are some of my following observations:
Temp) Let's start with the outside temperature. I think this is self explanatory, although I might mention for those that might not know it, that it can display C° and F°. Press and hold the "reset" button until it changes.
Range) The next feature is the estimated mileage range based on the average fuel consumption and the amount of fuel in your tank. When it drops to 30 miles it will no longer indicate and you better get some fuel soon!
Trip) The next feature is a trip odometer. If you want to use this one instead of the two available on your instrument cluster, you can. Don't forget to re-set it at the beginning of your trip.
Avg MPH) Average MPH is next and indicates you average MPH. I'm assuming that is accumulative and does not reset itself whenever you re-start the engine.
Avg MPG) Now comes the feature I really like and use now to improve my mileage . When this is activated and reset to zero, it will start to inform you of your average MPG. You will see how by maintaining a steady speed your mileage climbs. For example, I achieved 20.0 average mpg and then just waiting at a red light for about a minute, it dropped to 19.6. Driving habits might improve if you keep an eye on these numbers.
Inst MPG) The next feature is instant mpg which is cool but not as helpful as average as it goes all over the place based on instantaneous driving. It will give you an idea as to what your instant driving habits add to your fuel consumption, though.
Timer) The last feature is a timer that starts timing when you reset it. I guess this elapses the driving time on a given trip. I used it when I ordered food and it was to be ready in 25 minutes.
I'm just starting to focus on this cool computer and learning about this as I go along, so if anybody else has further information that I may have missed, screwed up or just has some more insight, that would be helpful.
Thanks all!, Pete
I have a 2005 Opirus, which as most of you know is the Asian version of the Amanti.
I’m totally in love with my car, but I have one concern regarding the ESP. The other day I was driving on curvy road at 120 km/h with ESP on, however when I’m going through a curve the ESP off light will start blinking and I can feel a power drawback.
This will only happen while going on curves at high speed, I asked the dealer who said it was normal and it’s the way the ESP functions. Honestly I’m not so sure of what he said, specially since I got the ESP off light coming on three times while driving on normal road at low speed.
Does any one have experience in ESP? or can confirm any of the above?
Thanks.
Daniel
As for the grill, how much did it cost? I assume they ship it to you and you have someone (or the dealer) install it?
Bill - Orlando