[guy566]

Hello all. My fiance and I recently purchased a used 2015 Kia Optima SXL about a couple weeks ago. It is Snow White Pearl and is an absolute beauty! We have always liked the look of the newer Kia Optimas and found them very stylish and cool. We came across a 2015 SXL at an unbelievable price that got our attention and figured we would take a look. We ended up purchasing the car after taking it for a test drive and really getting a good look at it. My fiance fell in love with the car so that helped our decision. The reason the price was so low was because it had 120,000 miles, so for a 2015, that is alot of miles. But we figured we will take the gamble. The asking price was $12,650 and they accepted our offer of $11,800. We felt good about it and still do after a couple weeks with the car, we really, really like it. Now it does have some issues which I will discuss on this post.

Onto the car itself. It is a 2015 SXL, Snow White Pear with 120,000 miles. I believe it has every available option as well. We wanted something fully loaded and this car has: Dual Sunroof, Napa Leather, Infinity Sound System, HID Headlights, LED Fog Lights, LED Tail lights, Remote Start, Push Start, Navigation and so much more. We wanted our next vehicle to have these types of factory options and that is what was so appealing about this specific Optima. This car will be my fiance's as my car is a 2014 Ford Escape Titanium. I have already began upgrading the car in the cosmetic department. Upgraded the OEM HID bulbs to Osram CBB for a brighter, whiter light and upgraded the High Beam bulb to Osram Night Breaker Laser for extra output on the high beams. I have also changed the license lights to LED housings as well as the trunk light. Not just swapping in a simple LED bulb in the housings but changed the entire housings themselves for an even better, cleaner, more OEM look. I also purchased the upgraded Maps for the UVO system and that upgraded the entire infotainment system, so I now have Apple CarPlay compatibility. I was very excited to have this on the car as I love CarPlay! The car already has additional tint on top of the factory privacy glass, but the previous owner used a lighter film, so I may end up getting it re-done to a darker tint for all the windows as well as adding tint to the sun roof and tint stripe to the windshield. Also received a custom Covercraft sunshade that fits like a glove and it has a nice look to it being blue metallic. I have ordered and am still awaiting to receive a leather steering wheel cover for the "D-Wheel" as well as OEM Splash Mud Guards and a Passenger Seat Riser Kit. That is all I currently either have upgraded or am waiting for the items to arrive. There are more upgrades that I will be looking to get done in the future.

Now there are a few issues with the car that we only noticed once we got the car home after purchasing it. The biggest of the issues was that the rear outer LED tail lights were burned out and only partially lit up. This made us pretty upset since we were not aware of this before purchasing. I have already spoke with the sales manager and they are ordering new LED tail lights for us and that made us very happy.
Next issue is the AC. The AC system on this car is very weak and blows very warm air at idle or at a stop light. Once you get up to speed on the road, the AC cools down a bit, but not too much like it should. I have a thermostat that I stuck in the vent to verify this and the air coming out is indeed very warm, even when set to max speed, low temp setting, re circulation, basically, I can set it to the the coldest mode and the air coming from the vents is still warmish. I will need to bring this up to the dealer as the AC should not be warm, especially since we are heading into the hotter months coming up. The car has a slight pull to the right, so it may need an alignment, but that is small potatoes. The 2 biggest issues we found was the faulty LED tails and the AC not working properly. They will fix the LED tails and I hope they can do something about the AC.

Other than that, we love this car. It is a beautiful car to look at, drives great, and makes me feel cool behind the wheel. I plan on being a pretty active member on this group as I enjoy the community aspect and how we can all share our appreciation for the K5. Im uploading pictures of my car, and the shots of the headlights are with the new Osram CBB bulbs.

I look forward to being a part of this community and hope to get any input or feedback on my Optima. Maybe someone can share some info regarding my AC situation to let me know what I can do, thanks!

 

[Turbonut]

Those tail lights are a know problem and great that they are getting replaced, no cost.

I'm going to say that the system has the proper refrigerant, but the A/C Variable displacement compressor needs to be replaced. There is an electronic control valve at the rear of the compressor that malfunctions and that can be replaced, but most replace the compressor. My compressor was not cooling properly and was making a slight noise, so I replaced it with a $60 used compressor with only 21,000 miles. I don't recommend going the used unit unless you can do the repair yourself because if a "bad" used unit is installed, the part will be replaced, but not labor.
This is another know problem with the car, so see if the dealer will offer any help for the compressor as you're probably looking @ >$500.

My experience has been that the price of these cars drop like a rock and the dealer probably knew about the problems, but at least they're helping with the tail lights, so maybe they made enough on the resale so they'll be able to help with the compressor, but if it was an as-is sale there is only so far they will go, so don't hold your breathe.

Might want to remove the Geweke Kia holder.

 

[guy566]

Thanks for your reply. I already removed the dealer license frame and purchased a simple chrome frame that goes around the plate, so it exposes the entire license plate and doesnt partially cover any of it. This is because I have my new custom plates for my cat coming in.

I need to speak with the service manager regarding the AC, this week has been a bit off with the holiday today. But I feel they will help us out. The sales men said the AC was working fine and it did blow cooler air on our test drive, but I didnt have my thermostat with me and since I have been able to verify temps and something is definately not working as it should. The car was sold AS IS but the AC was listed as working like it should, which is not the case, so I will see about them handling that.

Overall, we love this car and cant wait to add a few more touches to it to really make it how we want it.

 

[Turbonut]

Just wanted to add that with a bad valve, the compressor at times will work as expected and at other times take a while when first used in the day as it might take a few miles/ minutes before starting to cool, and at idle it will be nonexistent.
Mine was working off and on, but one day we used the car, a few minutes before it started to cool, but then the cabin cooled down quickly. Stopped at a store, came out, no air, and the air remained off all the way home, maybe 20 minutes in 90+ degree environment. I had the used compressor in the garage and the wife said she'll never be in this car again until the air is fixed, or we'll be using her car. I replaced the compressor the next day. You know happy wife happy life.
Also, the refrigerant pressures were perfect when it was operating, just the valve had decided to quit.

Hope the dealer helps you out. Let us know.

Also, I didn't know they made another SWP-Snow White PEAR!!!

 

[guy566]

Yep, its Pear colored, LOL, I'll have to fix that. I'll ask the dealer about the bad valve. Ive been documenting and taking pictures of the temps during different times of day and during idle, at speed on the road, after a long drive, just to have references. We absolutely love the car and couldn't be more pleased.

I'll be getting the passenger seat riser kit installed next week along with some tint improvements mentioned on my original post.
Tomorrow I'll be changing the license LED light so they both match.

Things are coming along!

 

[tonester]

Congrats on your purchase! Nice to know there's another Optimaforum member from the Sac-area here--I'm guessing you're sorta from around near there, given the dealer Yuba City plate advertisement.

 

[abrown0809]

The taillights tend to allow water to infiltrate, if left long enough the water will kill the LEDs. I have had it happen to both sides multiple times. As someone said earlier, it is a known issue. Also, the AC in my car is weak, only gets super cold when you're driving it. When I had a 2014 EX optima, it had the same issue and that was a lease with only 30k miles on it when i gave it back and picked up the SX turbo. Probably, its one of the things KIA cheaped on.

 

[Laguna]

Welcome to optimaforums.com!


Just FYI: This is the introduction forum and after posting here, you unlock the remainder of the forum. You may get better answers and support by posting your questions in the appropriate forums.

With that said, would you mind adjusting your signature to meet our requirements?

 

[K5 Optima Store]

Welcome to the Optima forum community! :wave:

That is quite the introductory there, glad to have you with us here.

I am going to take a guess and assume you have ordered from our site?

Thank you for your order with us, we appreciate your business.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need assistance.

-David

 

[guy566]

I will fix my signature, Im guessing it was too big? Because as far as the content in my Sig, there was nothing that broke any rules, so I will redo it smaller.

 

[guy566]

Yes, I just received the passenger seat risers I ordered from you. I breifly spoke with you over FB messenger as well. Im also looking for a pair of the trunk and gas cap LED switches. I know you are out but if you ever come across a set, I will buy them.

 

[Louis]

When you upgraded that UVO system, did it only show you Apple CarPlay availability? Do you know if Android Auto could be compatible as well?