this is the first time i intend to buy a car.

dear all readers please feel free to share your experiences with the forte.

how’s your experience with your forte to date? i read some comments on problems with forte like car breakdown, pulling to the left, sound here and there, jerking, electronics malfunction, poor resale value seen in the classified the star newspapers such as kia sportage and optima, fuel consumption getting higher after few k km, etc.

i’m a bit worried now. i’m still buying time before i book the 1.6L SX. i'm like standing in the middle of a line. to buy or not to buy. cannot sleep nowadays keep thinking forte and reading business news. whether economy will stabilise or crash. is it the right time to buy now or wait until naza kia offers more discounts and freebies? what would it be by end 2010? forte sales dropped in may while vios increased. will bank interest rate drops by end 2010? will reported quality issues be solved by end 2010 or 2011? could perodua viva be a better choice? half the price?

is the titanium silver looks a bit blue like the Camry? is it not grey? thinking of metal bronze.

hope all your feedback will help me to clear some doubts.

thank you.

Thanks man. Appreciate more sharing to be posted ...

No problem to drive for long, 7-10 years and more. Just worried there is a need to sell, eg migration to singapore for better career opportunities or overseas, or getting a company car. Then resale value is going to be a risk! Just hope forte buck the trend (history)!

Read shah alam area is giving free tv. Not sure how true it is. Some GPS. There have been rumours the 81,800 will be increased but no revision until today. What does that mean? Sales is not as crazy as expected by Naza Kia?

Is there a limit on the CKD units to Naza Kia by Kia Motors? I’m surprised that the number of units sold in may is the same. could this happened? it is very unlikely to sell the same amount of units right on a monthly basis?

I read the KL international motor show in Dec 2010 (PWTC) will offer some freebies for customers buying cars on the exhibition dates plus good interest rate from banks. Any history to support this?

As long titanium silver does not have blue colour like those camry then it’s ok. lighter than metal bronze it's ok.

i think to maintain strong resale values, all forte owners should not sell cheap and give in to low offers. past is past and past history is not indicative of future resale values. of course the owner may need a bit more time to sell the car and not when you are in dire straits to sell the car.

perhaps can use toyota, honda, and myvi resale values (eg after a number of years and mileage) as reference. an option is to either match that kind of resale values or minus industry standard depreciating value on an annual basis or slightly lower. definitely not less than half price of the purchase price. obviously used car dealers or others can potentially lower the resale values but forte owners should just hold on. the moment someone give in then that's where the market is spoilt and the whole history of "kia cars with no resale values" return.

should i buy the 1.6L EX or 1.6L SX?
i read that the 1.6L SX, 17 inch wheel is giving a stiff ride and tyre noise. with uneven roads and potholes everywhere, i worried it'll be too hard on the low profile tyre and rim and finally, passenger comfort.

could anyone confirm this?

any EX owners?

thanks EX owners for your feedback!

any reason why EX was chosen instead of SX? hope i can learn more. maintenance, ya, 17inch tyre much more expensive around RM 500. EX i think around RM 300.

i also read that EX can accelerate much faster than SX. less pedal effort. is it true and very significant where SX feels heavy and no power to overtake?

now my concern is the tyre noise for SX. something like rolling barrel on the roads. i heard this from test drive car. 2nd time test didn't really hear it. like metal grinding noise. any SX owners experiencing this? since most buyers are SX variant, any issue to comfort when driving in PLUS for long like causing fatigue?

this is my only worried. tyre noise. i understand EX doesn't have such a noise. been looking for EX test drive car but cannot find. other than that, whether it'll be a bit more difficult to reverse with only 2 sensors for the EX. EX just with beep beep sound and no bar in the meter? i see that the 2 reverse sensors are located in the middle of the bumper. that means side ways cannot be detected not like the EX??

latest forte owners...is the steering still with kia logo?
is the tyre still kumho? is it hankook for EX?
all parts like windscreens and side windows still with korean mark?