In my opinion, I would take a Passat B8 2.0 anytime and any day over this Optima. Test drive both and you'll know why.

if the car most of the time sit in the workshop.... How nice to drive also is useless.

That IF applies for any car but if you are implying it on the Passat B8 2.0, you probably don't know know what you are talking about.

Ok. Then u go buy one and see how.

If your only criteria is fun to drive than of course Passat but the overall ownership experience must take into account maintenance. A Passat is more expensive and troublesome to maintain as DSG, mechatronic, coil packs and adaptive dampers are high failure items. Do you have alternative transport if your car lands in the workshop for weeks?

I'm not saying an Optima is cheap to maintain but it shouldn't be too different from a D-segment Jap car. Any Optima/Sonata owners can give their input?

As an Optima owner for 10 years (pre-K5) let me give you an idea. I exclude tyres as they are consumable items which depends on how much you travel.

Average per year over 10 years: RM2400
Excluding first 3 years as not typical, average from 4th to 10th year: RM2950
Average mileage per year: 22,000 km

I don't think the GT will be different by a lot. Bear in mind that my Optima was using timing belt which required changing every 60,000 km. The new Optima should use timing chain which doesn't need replacement.

Thank you for your input.

It's good that we are getting back on track to relevant discussion. Please don't feed the troll any more.

Rm2400 per year is quite high. What was the major items that was replaced or repaired?

Yes, I agree it could be lower. Main items were batteries, timing belts, A/C condenser (2x), engine mountings (2 sets) , lower arms, upper arms, ball joints, brake pads, absorbers, water hoses and radiator repair. I probably got cheated for the first set of engine mountings which lasted less than a year. The lower and upper arm and ball joints seem to give recurring problems so maybe I was given sub-standard parts as well. (There are also China made parts for Korean cars). This is the problem of using too many different mechanics just for convenience sake. In retrospect I should have found a good mechanic and stuck to him.

Seems that all Korean cars suffers with AC parts replacement after awhile be it KIA or Hyundai.
They still can't configure it for our weather

more like they dont give a hoot

The specs are not difficult to find, don't forget that you have your strategist friend with uncountable spotters, some more got experienced mechanic friends. And after some more digging, the new engine code should be A25A-FKS. No wonder i find it puzzling when they say it is whole new engine when actually 2AR-FSE has been in use for years.

Wow, really didn't expect that you own a mazda.

I have seen stalled cars of all brands but i don't straight away categorise it as the car is unreliable. Could be simple fact things like tyre puncture, forget to fill up sufficient petrol (yes, real stupid, but i experienced it before while driving a toyota), radiator fail, the person didn't do proper maintenance, etc. Radiator failures are common as water pump is a consumable part that should actually be replaced every 5 years to be safe, but most of us are actually lucky to get away with it past that. I once talked to mechanic before and he told me the most radiator fixes he did was the estima. So, does that mean toyota not reliable then?

Car electronic modules are bought from just a handful number of component suppliers, therefore no too hard to "inter-learn" or "inter-hack" Some more, CANBUS electronic system is a standard applied industry wide regardless of brands. So any properly trained and experience mechanic that can do electronics won't have too much issues fixing different brands.

Maintaining a Korean D-segment is not much different from a Jap D-segment. My Accord averaged rm2000 a year over 8 years.

Be it mercs or BMW after two years!

Seems like lots of parts failed. I used to owned a version 10 Subaru for 6 years and the only part failed is the absorbers which I changed to coil overs at rm3500. That's about it other than normal maintenance.

Quite surprise for a Honda. What were the major parts failed/repaired?

Used to be continentals are built to last but not these days.

Quite typical actually. Very syukur compared to, say, Peugeot 3008.

The longer you keep the car the heavier the maintenance. Most of the major repairs were in the last 4 years. For the first 6 years nothing much except wear and tear items like battery, brake pads, timing belts and regular servicing except for one change of A/C condenser. Engine mountings, absorbers, water hoses, radiator, lower arms, upper arms, ball joints, etc were all in the last 4 years. The 2nd condenser change was just after I sold the car but before hand over. I told the new owner, "Someone up there must be looking after you!"

2AR-FSE is indeed new engine on same batch as 2.0L GDI 6AR-FSE engine, both first fitted in the FL Camry. Both are fuel efficient engine with descent strength. As long as new Camry not release no one can confirm the performance specs.

Mazda is good, that's why I bought after selling off forte followed by Santa. Ever since I stopped aiding the Koreans end of 2013 gradually and stopped early 2014, they just keep deteriorating with sales began slumping that indirectly affecting my Santa's TV. Worst thing happened ever since they angered my members that were supposed to lend a helping hand if they are hired in early 2015 that they went personal.

When people said car broken down, why did you twist elsewhere to irrelevant tyre puncture, ran out of fuel, radiator, etc. Are you saying Sonata YF 2012 prone to radiator or water pump faulty with short lifespan that could last only 5 years? Is that why when people post question over Elantra thread same car & engine in DCT vs CVT which is fuel saving, you replied irrelevant answer on driving conditition on light or heavy foot.

A car with messed up wiring, apart from authorized SC with enough qualified engineers, don't expect SC that can't afford to hire qualified engineers or Ah Chong Ah Meng workshop can fix. If things are that easy, there won't be so many cases of cold door car with no spare parts where owners have to live with half fixed car without technical expert to help. Worst thing, spare parts have to import taking 1-2 months to receive and subject to high tax, shipping cost then got cut throat by workshop. Most imported parts tumpang Singapore order via middleman that markup further on price. Imagine Starex can have no technical spare part case having to import and wait almost a month. Now Optima GT with almost zero sales some more, who dare to buy?

Buy Passat, spare parts guaranteed available. Buy Optima, worry on spare part due to very poor sales volume. SC automatic order less parts, so are outside spare parts supply chain.

Hyundai Kia marketing are very desperate for sales nowadays, they perceive VW and Subaru as arch rivals now,. That's why always attack with irrelevant old issues. Conti driving feel and handling are superb, 2nd to none.

The new engine specs are already out and some more from official statement, take your time to search and read. The numbers are not plucked from the air.

So did you actually went down your car and asked that poor sonata driver what happened to his car? That you so damn sure that some shit mechanical shit happened? As i said, i've seen various makes of cars broken down road side, but i don't speculate as i don't know what really happened. it is just so misleading to say just 1 unit broken down means all of it is shitty engineering.

If you read my posts properly regarding the CVT vs DCT, i emphasised that the mechanical efficiency/inefficiency of either units are really nothing much to worry about. If take into account ECU and TCU programming, then it depends from make to make. No one actually made a like for like comparison before using same engine but different transmission, so no conclusive numbers. The driving behavior has the largest and most noticeable impact and next is traffic condition. My old vios, i can get 15-16km/L, but my mum's friend drive the exact same model, even slightly newer get only 11-12km/L; that's what i mean by driving behavior and condition.

What do you actually mean by messed up wiring? We're discussing about ability to solve and if the SC brings any specific car model into the showroom, definitely a copy of service manual will be provided by the principle engineer from HQ's engineering department. So what is there to worry about? And if you want to talk about electrical faults, european makes have higher risks compared to asian makes. And for those asian makes that have fault, highly due to aftermarket modification. Car manufacturers are sharing more and more similar electrical components as there are only a handful of suppliers that manufactures such CANBUS electrical modules.

This post has been edited by wkc5657: Jun 29 2017, 11:53 AM