I hate my effing car!!!

[LimaXray]

I feel the need to complain, even tho I doubt anyone really cares, but I'm sure there are other people out there who share my feelings and wouldn't mind sharing they're own experiences with annoying car crap

Ok, so I have this Kia Optima.  I got it cause of the warranty and what not.  Now that car is a piece of shaZam!.  Don't get me wrong, it's a good car for what it costs, but some of the design ideas are so effing stupid I swear they employ monkeys as engineers.  I've always worked on my own cars because 1) its cheaper 2) i enjoy it and 3) i don't trust the guys a quickie lube to touch my car.  Of all the cars I've owned or worked on, my Kia has to be the least mechanic friendly by far. 

So my headlight burnt out last week, no big deal, just get a new one and pop it in, no more then a 5 minute job right?  Nope, not a chance.  Like so many cars today, the bulbs are inside the sealed headlight held in place by a metal clip.  I take off the plastic cover on the back of the headlight and try to see how the clip works.  Can I see it? nope. There is other crap so close to the headlight it makes it incredibly difficult to get my hand in there much less the opportunity to see how the bulb is secured.  After blindly trying to get the bulb out for 10 minutes or so, I finally manage to get it out.  For the next 20 minutes, I tried getting the new bulb in.  I couldn't get it.  I got so pissed I said screw it and gave up.  I decided when I get a chance, I'm going to pull out the entire goddamn headlight assembly out so I can see what the hell is going on.

My favorite thing about my Kia is the oil filter location.  Whenever I change the oil, I have to remove the passenger wheel to get to the filter from inside the wheel well.  There's almost no way I can get to it from underneath without first breaking my arm in 3 places.  Pulling off the wheel is no big deal, but it's just an extra step I'd rather live without. 

So who here has ever worked on a cars electrical system? It's tricky right? Now who here has ever worked on a Kia's electrical system? It's damn near impossible.  I installed a keyless entry last year because I couldn't live without it.  The hardest part about the whole install was Kia only uses a few different color wires either with a white stripe or without.  This means, there were several wires with the same color/striping in any given bundle of wires.  Do you know how much of a pain in the ass this is? There were a couple times it came down to guessing which wire was the wire I wanted.  I don't like guessing, I'm an engineer, guessing makes me unhappy.

To top it all off, I needed a new driver side airbag after 1000 miles and a new transmission after 5000 miles, but both of these were under warranty.  Oh, and dealing with their warranty wasn't too much fun either.

Ok I feel better now, I'll leave my thoughts on Ford to another day... 

[roguegeek]

You have come to the right place my friend. Looks as if you need some counseling and I know how much everyone here like to assist with anger management.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Wow... taking the tire off to get the filter. ridiculous.. I was changing the oil in a friend's Ford Taurus, and the oil filter is directly under the header. I thought THAT was retarded. Yours sounds worse though. Give it a good kick from me! 

[Egaeus]

You're an engineer?  What kind?  I'm just wondering what kind of engineer would buy a Kia. 

Their warranty would be nice if it wasn't prorated.

[RVertigo]

I've never driven a Kia that I liked...  I think they drive like crap.

My wife was thinking about getting one (my lil' sister and a friend of mine have one)...  Once we drove the Hyundai, I said there was NO WAY we'd get that Kia...  Still a cheap-ass car, still a good warranty...  But, drives a lot better.

[LimaXray]

Haha I'm a computer engineer.  I wanted a cheap new car, but my problem is I'm 6'6", and finding a cheap comfortable car is tough.  I could get a full size sedan from Kia for the same price as a Chevy sardine can, so why the hell not! 

Believe me, that car got a lot more then a kick after the whole headlight thing.  I feel bad for whoever buys this car.  I am not nice to it at all.  I do the most kick ass e-brake slides in that bad boy, I never use the clutch to downshift, I run it up to red line on a regular basis, and often get all kinds of chirping and body roll through turns.  I basically like to take my aggressions out on it by driving it like a race car, and so far it has taken it well 

oh and don't get me started about fords

[RVertigo]

oh and don't get me started about fords

Yeah... Me neither...   

[Church6360]

removing the wheel to get to the oil filter, ouch.
the worst i had was a 1987 saab9000 turbo, it had all kinds of procedures that had to be done through the wheel wells, but not the oil filter. good luck with all that.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

oh and don't get me started about fords

Yeah... Me neither...   

bwahaha.. me neither.. my first (and only so far) car was a 93 ford mustang... the 2.3L inline 4 that made 103bhp off the factory floor. Woohoo speed!

[3imo]

cars....only good for really rainy days.

I forget I have two in the garage. 

now trucks are a different story.  gimme a truck and I will find mud, I can't help it.

shoulda seen me in the the open Iraqi desert in the HMMV.  waaaahoooo!

[natedawg120]

I have one thing to say about fords, Tempo = death. 

I have had a couple saturns that you have to take the passesnger wheel off to change the oil, jack the passenger side up to get the alt out and back in..... 

The worst by far to work on - Honda Del Sol, even my firebird with a 350 shoehorned in was easier to work on than that go-cart.

EDIT: the Del Sol had those freaking clips on the headlights too, and yes they do suck.

[bsj177]

I currently am driving a Kia Optima rental car.    It's actually pretty nice but I was wondering how well they hold up.    Guess your post answers my question! 

[RVertigo]

I currently am driving a Kia Optima rental car.

Did you get the optional insurance?

[xtalman]

My mom had a Toyota Tercel.  You didn't even have to get underneath the car to take off the oil filter, just pop the hood and it was right there in front of you.

I have a Subaru.  Maintenance on this thing is easy.  It's an old car, so I've changed struts, half-shafts, bushings, brake pads, etc without much trouble.    I was able to change out the headlight bulbs at night without much ambient light.  There's a ton of space in the engine bay.  To change the oil and filter I don't even have to jack up the car, just slide underneath the front end.  My friend commented that it seemed like this car was designed by engineers, for engineers.

My friend had a Chevy Corvette.  He used to complain about how there would be 8 bolts holding down a plate, but only 7 were accessible.  To get to the other, you'd have to pull off a body panel.

I heard on Porsche Boxsters, you have to drop the engine to get to the spark plugs.   

[badguy]

My girlfriend just got a new Corolla.  I looked under the hood and there is so much room in there it's ridiculous!  Hopefully not much will go wrong with it, but if something does happen, it doesn't look like it should be too hard to access anything.  My 98 Neon on the other hand - I hope I never have to get that alternator out.  And my friend's mother's late 90s Cavalier has the same issue with the oil filter placement...I don't know what these "designers" were thinking.

A couple questions kinda on topic but mostly off:

1.

Did you get the optional insurance?

Do you or anyone else have experience with the "optional insurance" with rental cars?  What I'm getting at is: with that insurance, can you pretty much thrash the car and return it without having to cover minor damage, or does it just cover accidental damage?

2.
If I were to buy a new car and do the routine maintenance myself (oil changes, replace spark plugs/wires, rotate wheels, etc), would I have any problem when trying to redeem a warranty by showing my receipts for supplies and a logbook of work done?  I was told that, in order for a warranty to be honored, all maintenance has to be done by the dealer, which seems like a ripoff to me.

Sorry to threadjack, I'm just curious. 

[roguegeek]

I heard on Porsche Boxsters, you have to drop the engine to get to the spark plugs.   

That's pretty close to being true. We got one in the other day and were not able to take several engine reference shots because they just weren't accessible. In fact, you can't even see the battery without removing some hardcore panelling first. Porsche does not authorize anyone but authorized mechanics to work on their vehicles.

[bsj177]

I currently am driving a Kia Optima rental car.

Did you get the optional insurance?

Didnt get the insurance when I rented the car.   I have good insurance and it covers any car I drive

[manofthefield]

I have a Subaru.  Maintenance on this thing is easy.  It's an old car, so I've changed struts, half-shafts, bushings, brake pads, etc without much trouble.    I was able to change out the headlight bulbs at night without much ambient light.  There's a ton of space in the engine bay.  To change the oil and filter I don't even have to jack up the car, just slide underneath the front end.  My friend commented that it seemed like this car was designed by engineers, for engineers.

I had a 97 Legacy GT... ditto about the oil changes, it was reallly easy w/o jacking the car.  BUT it was a major PITA to change the spark plugs on that thing.  I think I did it through the bottom and I had to have some skid pans removed.  Even then it was very difficult to get the socket wedged in between the the fender and the engine to get to the plugs.  Oh well, it was just a once every 100K miles thing anyway... I miss that car

[yamahonkawazuki]

My mom had a Toyota Tercel.  You didn't even have to get underneath the car to take off the oil filter, just pop the hood and it was right there in front of you.

I have a Subaru.  Maintenance on this thing is easy.  It's an old car, so I've changed struts, half-shafts, bushings, brake pads, etc without much trouble.    I was able to change out the headlight bulbs at night without much ambient light.  There's a ton of space in the engine bay.  To change the oil and filter I don't even have to jack up the car, just slide underneath the front end.  My friend commented that it seemed like this car was designed by engineers, for engineers.

My friend had a Chevy Corvette.  He used to complain about how there would be 8 bolts holding down a plate, but only 7 were accessible.  To get to the other, you'd have to pull off a body panel.

I heard on Porsche Boxsters, you have to drop the engine to get to the spark plugs.   

. not entirely, you just have to bend over backwards in a semi contorted sorta kinda pretzel lookin thingamabob