Are Kia Optima's reliable?

I'm looking to get a used car with low miles ranging from $15-$25k… I think the Kia Optima is an awesome looking car with ALOT of style (I'm a 21 year old male). They look great but also are fairly cheap with low miles. I asked my dad for advice, he has worked on cars and trucks his whole life and he told me to stay away from them. Not reliable, to stick with Ford or another american car. Opinions?

Of course, as they have been for the twenty years, they were junk in the early 80's but so were Honda & Toyota's in the 70's. Your dads opinion is extremely outdated. Maybe he is too.

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KIA RECEIVES THE 2014 KELLEY BLUE BOOK BRAND IMAGE AWARD FOR 'BEST VALUE BRAND' The Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards recognize automakers for their outstanding work in capturing the attention and interest of new-vehicle buyers. In April 2014, Kia Motors America earned its first ever Brand Image Award for 'Best Value Brand.' Kia scored high marks-driven primarily by the Optima, Rio, Soul, and Forte models-on affordability and fuel efficiency.

Your fathers opinion is biased against Asian manufacturers. If you buy a 2-3 year old low mileage KIA it will be just as reliable as the best in class Honda or Toyota.

Kia/Hyundai have made giant strides toward quality and reliability. The first Korean car I saw in the late 80s, I said, "This is a disposable car." Then recently I bought my wife a Honda CR-V and was extremely disappointed in quality and design. I have always been a Honda man and worked for the factory for a while. So, I shopped around and found terrific quality at a very low price. I bought her an '04 Santa Fe for a fraction of the sale price of her '01 CR-V. It reminds me of driving a Mercedes. Ask your dad to update his views on Korean cars. American cars are not reliable, but the best of the lot would be Ford. For the price, I would go Kia or Hyundai.

High repairs

Their 100k mile warranty thinks so