the 2013 kia optima sx limited: affordable luxury

In retrospect, it was fitting that Kia gave me a 2013 Optima SX Limited to test drive for a few days before I left for Africa. Delivered to my driveway in Snow (Leopard?) White Pearl, the mid-size sedan was as sleek as a cheetah, as sturdy as an elephant and as efficient as Mother Nature herself.

Kia has become synonymous with great value, meaning you get lots more features than you’d expect for the price. This was confirmed the minute I opened the door and slid into the cushy Nappa leather driver’s seat. Between the comfy seats – which heat and cool – the heated steering wheel and the satellite radio, I could have happily just sat and relaxed for an hour or two.

But, because this was a car and not a living room, I picked up a friend to go out for coffee. I laughed when she did a double take as I turned on to her street and looked appreciatively at the Optima. “Wow,” she said. “This is so luxurious.” As she snuggled into her heated seat (yes, it had dipped to 71 that morning from San Diego’s standard 72 degrees), she pointed out that this would be a great car for taking out clients, and that they would be so impressed by its good looks.

The Optima is considered a family car but that doesn’t give it enough credit style-wise – or demographic-wise. For empty nesters like me, the Optima is practical enough to satisfy a middle-age sensibility but sporty enough to give you the confidence that you can still turn heads.

In fact, my almost 21-year-old daughter, who is the first to grab the keys when I get a new car to test, took the Optima to pick up her friend, who jumped in and exclaimed, “This is a sexy car!”

Best of all – for every age group – is the fact that the Optima earned a top five-star rating for overall safety performance.

The Optima provided a smooth driving experience whether I was doing errands locally or zipping up and down the 5. Unfortunately, the one feature I didn’t get to test because I only had a couple of days with the car before leaving on vacation were the steering wheel paddle shifters. In fact, I had absolutely no idea what they were! Located on both sides of the steering wheel, I was sure they were just one more way to change the radio station or the volume but I’ve since learned they act like a manual transmission without the clutch. As someone who has never driven a stick, I think I will do a little more research before actually shifting gears.

Ironically, when I arrived in Johannesburg after traveling for 12 hours in unheated/uncooled plane seats, the first thing I saw was this recycling bin:

I thought back, longingly, and sent out a silent wish to Kia that their next vehicle would be an Optima 747.

This post originally appeared on my former blog, StyleSubstanceSoul.com.