Used 2012 Kia Optima Consumer Reviews
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Great car for the money hands down
sassy1866, 06/04/2012
2012 Kia Optima EX Turbo 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 6A)
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
I just bought a 2012 Kia Optima EX Turbo. Spicy Red with Beige interior. Absolutely love it. You can't find any other car with the amount of options at the Kia price. I bought the tubo because the regular 4 seemed noisy. Plus I love the power. Only two complaints I have are the wind noise around the windows when driving on the highway and the passenger seat is too low.
Engine failed in 2nd month - transmission in 3rd
Bob, 08/23/2018
2012 Kia Optima LX 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 6A)
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
I purchased a 2012 Kia Optima LX with 116k miles, after checking the Carfax. There was a recall of certain Optima engines due to metal shavings left during the cleaning process. This VIN was not included in the recall. But after 2 months, the engine blew on my way to work. Kia handled it great, replacing the engine at no cost to me. I drove it 3 more weeks and the transmission blew. Just after my engine blew, I mentioned it to a friend who recalled another person who had the same blown engine with a Kia Optima. He told me that right after the engine was replaced, the transmission went. Now mine does the same exact thing. Right now, I'm waiting to hear back from the dealer after they inspect it, but I don't have a good feeling. Two major issues in 3 months?
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2012 Kia Optima for sale near you
3 of 18 listings
- Hybrid SedanMSRP: $7,30084 mi away
- SX SedanMSRP: $8,491169 mi away
- EX SedanMSRP: N/A162 mi away
See all 18 listings
You get what you pay for
giantsfan58, 01/16/2013
2012 Kia Optima EX 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 6A)
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
I bought a fully loaded 2012 Optima EX in Feb. 2012. I noticed soon after buying it that the leg room is very tight. My leg was constantly jammed up against the speaker in the driver's door. The seats are sharply molded and hard. The transmission went out at 13,000 miles. Recently, I noticed an issue with the steering. While driving down the freeway, the car would begin drifting right or left. When you go to correct it, there is a "catch" in the electronic steering. If you do a search for this you will see many others have had this problem. The real world MPG is nowhere near what thet advertise. This car has a ton of bells and whistles and is great looking, but buyer beware.
so far so good
dawoj52, 12/02/2014
2012 Kia Optima LX 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 6A)
9 of 10 people found this review helpful
I got my kia optima 2012 LX used. I thought it would make a great commute car i drive around 80 miles per day to and from work. I currently have 80,000 miles on my kia and so far it has been a joy .I do have some minor problems like the passager and rear windows cant be rolled up or down from the driver control panel ,r/s cigarette lighter does not work,inside temperature gauge quit working ,so i have to take it back to the dealer. The tires on the kia are very cheep and need to be replaced asap upon purchase. MPG is great i drive from Chicago to Indiana all highway miles and i spend no more than $ 55 per week on gas . I get complements on a look of the car all the time !!
Could not beat this value anywhere...
astrol, 05/07/2012
2012 Kia Optima SX 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 6A)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
My wife's new car is a Satin Metal SX w/tour and tech pkgs. and trimmings. She drove both the 2.4 EX and the 2.0T SX and preferred the latter hands down driving the same exact test route and road irregularities. She didn't feel the need to drive the EX w/Turbo after that. For some reason the SX with the Sport tuned suspension actually feels more refined. The car is very new so no long term data from me as of yet but I cannot imagine getting more for your money than what KIA is now offering with the Optima. The overall level of refinement more than makes up for the few hard plastic bits found in parts of the interior. The 2.0T has amazing torque from 1250rpm with no lag. Yikes! Avg. 28 mpg.