Faithful readers know I would never bury the lead, so here it is: The Kia Optima Hybrid is my pick for the best commuting sedan under $35,000.
But wait, say the faithful, the Optima Hybrid’s base price is only $26,450, including delivery. Exactly.
The Optima Hybrid is not a perfect car, to be sure. The powertrain software is strangely moody at times. The trunk is a little tight. It’s about as exhilarating as a bolus of laudanum, thus the “commuting” qualifier. It’s just that it is otherwise such a staggering amount of car for the money. Kia’s PR team thoughtfully equipped my test car with the Hybrid Premium Technology package ($5,350, for a total out-the-door price of $32,615), a hugely persuasive and Lexus-like list of upgrades including navigation with SiriusXM traffic info; rear-camera display; an excellent Infinity eight-speaker sound system with subwoofer; panoramic sunroof with blacked out B-pillars (those are the roof supports between the front and rear doors that, when blacked out, sleek-ify the car’s profile); heated and ventilated front seats; and a heated steering wheel and rear seats.
I admit I am susceptible to the euphoric effects of a heated steering wheel, and I don’t even live in the Snow Belt. I further concede that all this low-cost, high-tech gear has the power to redeem a harvest-gold 1972 Mercury Montego (pause for wistful nostalgia here). My point is, if you’re ponying up for a new car of this size/performance/price, the full-kit Optima is dispositive. It will make you happy. It will make you comfortable. Your butt will thank you.
Honda and Acura trail-blazed the one-price, tech-package approach and it has served those companies well. Kia’s doubling down on discount amenities is a beautiful way to get consumers to take the car and the brand seriously, and it seems to be working. As of March, Kia is the fastest-growing car company in the U.S., in part thanks to the record 15,000 Optimas that passed through dealership doors last month.
So that’s the rational, arithmetical, bang-per-buck argument. The irrational argument consists of the fact that the Optima is the best-looking car in its class: uncommonly lithe and handsomely proportioned for a front-wheel-drive sedan. A tapering chrome bow arcs fluidly over the roofline from the A pillar to the short rear deck, which helps visually lighten and lengthen the roofline.
Later this year the Optima will get some competition in the swimsuit competition from the redesigned-for-2013 Ford Fusion, a car that, Aston Martin cues notwithstanding, looks an awful lot like the Optima. In the meantime, the Optima is the Miss Venezuela of the mid-to-full-size, C/D segment, which includes the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Buick Verano, Subaru Legacy, Chevrolet Malibu and the furiously styled Hyundai Sonata, which is the corporate sibling and mechanical clone of the Optima.
Courtesy of TheWallStreetJournal
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