I have made a booking on Forte 2.0 recently.
The reason why Forte is chosen is because of many oversea positive reviews of the car. It may not be the best in every areas of the car performance, however, some qualities and features are either on par or better than the Japanese counterparts.
To spend another extra RM30K--40K for a Japanese equivalence in Malaysia is TOTALLY INSANE.
And why we have to worry about the car service as it can be done easily at any Naza Kia workshop. A modern new car would not easily breakdown as long as you have not abused it and serviced regularly.
Regarding about the Forte or sonata resale value would be largely depend on the supply and demand in the future. Moreover, the saving of over RM30K-40K + interest of 5 to 7 years will give you a great lump sum when you decided to sell your car. (however, this rule only apply to Forte as Sonata pricing is too close to the Japanese counterparts)
SD, reduce your price, don't kill a nice product.