(first posted 3/13/2017) It’s nothing short of astonishing just how far Kia has come in the past decade. Once seen almost universally as an automaker of mediocre, outdated and outclassed Walmart-grade economy cars, Kia has transcended the ranks of mainstream automobile brands, positioning itself as the sporty and stylish choice in most segments it competes in.
Yet Kia’s transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly didn’t occur overnight. After a few years of peddling just the positively wretched Sephia compact and Sportage compact SUV (North American market-wise, at least), by the early 2000s Kia began working towards a full lineup with the subcompact Rio, larger compact Spectra, midsize Optima, Sorento SUV, and Sedona minivan.
The most unusual of Kia’s early-00s additions however, has to be the Amanti, a car some of our readers might better know as the “Opirus”. For a brand mostly known for bland, forgettable, budget-friendly cars that looked like they were 5+ years too late, the Amanti was certainly an outlier.
Given the automaker’s expansion, it certainly wasn’t the idea of a full-size Kia that was so totally bizarre. After all, in other markets, Kia had been selling the Potentia and later the Enterprise (above) full-size sedans, based on the Mazda Luce and Sentia, respectively.
The rather bizzare thing about Kia’s first full-size car sold in North America lay in its execution. Simply put, the Amanti was an abomination. A gallimaufry of styling elements seemingly copied from other cars including the Mercedes W210 E-Class, Buick LeSabre, and Lincoln Town Car, the Amanti most notably looked like a budget attempt at creating a nock-off Jaguar S-Type, minus the actual grace and dignity of the Jag.
Adding to this were horrible proportions for car of this style. Although a tall roofline and expansive greenhouse may have been beneficial for passenger space and comfort, they only accentuated the Amanti’s disproportionately tall height relative to its short length and wheelbase. Small wheels and their corresponding small wheel wells only made things worse.
These dimensions working together (or should I say against each other) contributed to a look that was very unflattering from most angles. Words like stubby, choppy, and ungainly are just a few adjectives that come to mind.
Quite frankly, the Amanti looked like some cheap black-market knock-off that would’ve been sold on Canal Street in NYC. It even lacked any form of grille badging or identification. And then there’s the name. Is it any coincidence that the name “Amanti” sounds vaguely like “Armani”? “Amanti” may mean lovers in Italian, but there was certainly very little to love about it.
Underneath its cartoonist skin, the Amanti was based on the far more conventional, attractive, and elegant looking Hyundai Grandeur XG that had debuted four years prior. Versus its corporate cousin, the Kia Amanti rode on a 1.9-inch longer wheelbase, and overall was 5 inches longer, 2.6 inches taller, 0.9 inches wider, and some 350 pounds heavier, tipping the scales at over 4,100 pounds.
Power initially came from the very same cast-iron 3.5L Sigma V6, making a rather unremarkable 200 horsepower and 214 lb-ft torque. Not that it probably mattered to the Amanti’s buying demographic, but said engine was capable of dragging the Amanti from zero to sixty in a leisurely 8.9 seconds. 2007 and on Amantis gained a much appreciated power bump to 263 horsepower and 257 lb-ft torque, courtesy of the 3.8L Lambda V6.
But power was likely not a major concern for the relative few who ended up purchasing a Kia Amanti (just 62,710 over the course of nine years of reported sales: 2003-2011). Things such as positive steering feedback, minimal body roll, smoothness of its 5-speed automatic, and lack of squeal from its tall, narrow tires were sadly not to be found in the Amanti either.
Where the Amanti did deliver with bells on was in its cushy and isolated ride, spacious interior, and well-appointed cabin. Standard features included keyless entry, power front seats, front and rear side impact and side curtain airbags, dual-zone automatic climate control, and after 2005, leather upholstery, moonroof, and heated front seats. Most commendably, compared to previous Kias, the Amanti boasted a cabin of much-improved materials and assembly that were more on par with other Asian manufacturers.
Although its strengths were far and few between, the Amanti represented both a tremendous value (in terms of on-paper amenities for the price) and a significant leap forward for Kia. While is probably fooled few as a true luxury car, it did show the world that Kia was capable of making more than just stripped-down, penalty-box compacts.
It’s still somewhat unclear just what intentions and aspirations Kia had with selling the Amanti in the North American market, but ultimately, the Amanti proved to be Korea’s best crack at building a Buick. And while the Amanti may have been every bit as cringe worthy as Kias that came before it, it nonetheless paved the way for the higher-end Kias of today.
Photographed: Norwell, MA – March 2017
Consumer Reports tested one and proclaimed it the worst handling car they ever tested.
These were far inferior to Mazda-based luxo boats that preceded them, However. when Kia was sold to Hyundai, all Mazda DNA sourcing was cut off.
The sale of the company was another act of nationalism trumping pragmatism. The only other suitor was Ford, and it would have been a far better fit. They were already marketing Kia products in NA (Festiva, Aspire) and Kia was selling the Mercury Sable in ROK in the 90s.
Who knows, a successful Ford buyout may have given them the same type of presence in this market that the Chevy bowtie now enjoys here.
Since CR criticism of 75% of every car built since about 1940 has been largely negative, “Worst handling ever” is one hell of an achievement!
I might be tempted to buy one on a lark though, as much as my taste in cars I buy is conservative, I am attracted to oddball cars. Just for the “what the hell is it?” comments I’d get.
I never realized that they’re kinda rare as I’ve seen quite a few tooling around Pittsburgh over the time (just saw one at a strip mall last week.) I didn’t “shoot” it. I will be tempted to take some snaps if I catch another.
Wow, 4100 pounds! I remember the CR road tests harping about this being “the worst handling sedan” on the market circa 2005 because of the ultra soft suspension, but I had no idea how heavy it was too. For how compact and stubby it appears I’d never guess it was a two-ton vehicle. In terms of exterior dimensions these are hardly much larger than a Camry which are like 3200-3300. Gotta wonder where it all goes…
I remember thinking these were such a joke when new. Truly a platypus of an automobile… although, it wouldn’t be half bad looking if the trunk were 6-8 inches longer and there was a few inches of length added into the cowl (between the front door cut and front wheel well) to at least give a convincing impression of a RWD luxury car. If you’re gonna shamelessly crib the styling elements of 5 different luxury brands, copy the damn proportions while you’re at it!
The lack of badging, especially on the front end/grille, was another conspicuous element that I don’t think was an accident. What other modern car has even done that besides the Oldsmobile Aurora, which was also trying to escape the baggage of its own brand?
The first time i saw one, the front reminded me of a 1960 Valiant, Jag was the farthest thing from my mind.
Only, the 60 Valiant is better looking!
Happy Motoring, Mark
Um…whut? The Kia doesn’t look anything like a ’60 Valiant, from any angle.
I don’t see an overwhelming resemblance either, however these things are subjective after all. And Roger didn’t say it looked like it, just that it reminded him of a Valiant.
What other modern car has done that? The Hyundai Equus. It was either standard or a no-cost option where Equus-specific emblems and model badging replaced any Hyundai badges, in case you didn’t want to admit to the Snootersons next door that your impressive new luxury car was actually a Hyundai.
Not sure if the current generation continues that, but I know it was available on the first ones sold Stateside.
I’ve never seen one of these in the metal, to the best of my recollection. They weren’t sold here in Australia, although the XG (Grandeur) was and enjoys popularity as a cheap, loaded used car. I remember critics blasting its soft suspension and heavy nose dive, so I wonder if the Amanti was considerably worse.
“Gallimaufry”, there’s a word I hadn’t heard! Thanks!
Interesting that Kia chose “Amanti” as a name, considering Mazda almost launched a luxury marque called Amati a decade earlier.
The Amanti truly was a pig. It weighed 300 pounds more than a Chrysler 300 and almost 600 pounds more than a Maxima! Car & Driver ranked it dead last in a 6-way comparison:
http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/sixth-place-kia-amanti-page-2
I like bang for your buck but I wouldn’t have touched this. I’d sooner have had a pre-owned Avalon. Considering these only got 15/23 mpg (18 combined), I would have rather bought a new Lucerne CXS with some big incentives on the hood. Same gas mileage, smooth Northstar with most of the bugs ironed out, much more elegant styling.
These have long fascinated me (in a clinical sort of way). I was offered one as a rental on a trip. I didn’t want it and got a Taurus instead, but soon started kicking myself because I had deprived myself of the chance to try something unique.
I still am sometimes intrigued by the idea of one of these as a cheap beater. I can get past awful looks and handling for the right price if the thing were reasonably durable. But there’s the big question, isn’t it.
I suppose it’s possible to subjectivly hate a car more than the 06 Buick LaCrosse I spent some time with and that way would be if I had to keep fixing it.
JP, thank yourself – I’m afraid that if you did accept one as a rental, you’d still be kicking yourself!
I got one as a rental at the time, and I was really impressed with it. Granted, at the time, my DD was a 1997 Lincoln Continental, so I was used to big, soft FWD handling, but I thought the Amanti road beautifully. At least our low mileage one seemed really well put together, it was nice and quiet inside.
For our purpose of a 3 hour drive to visit my 93 year-old great grandmother, and chauffeuring her around for the day, it was a perfect conveyance.
Utter, total, POS crap.
In the fall of 2004 I was hit by a DHL delivery truck that had lost its brakes. Thankfully I and the DHL driver were fine but my 1997 Blazer now needed some TLC at the local Chevy dealer’s body shop where a family friend was the manager.
DHL’s insurance sent me to Enterprise, who put me in a new Cadaver. Wasn’t the first Cavalier I’d ever driven; we’d owned one as a spare car eight years before, an ’86 wagon. That one worked out better than expected. In contrast, the new one was both sadism and masochism in one car. I felt ten years older after a 60-mile trek from home to the office.
So Enterprise replaced the Cavalier with a 2004 Amanti.
Yeah it had power and it was full of bells AND whistles. Just don’t look too closely.
Absolutely NOTHING about the Amanti suggested it would last long enough to become a CC. Even the plastic woodgrain insert for the shifter began to lift from the console during the two weeks I had it.
But its most endearing feature was its, um…unique way of going up Green Tree Hill on Pittsburgh’s Parkway West – the main thorofare to my neck of the woods. Coning out of the Fort Pitt Tunnel, the road bends left, then midway up the hill, just when you need power, it bends right.
So I’d give it some gas while steering the wheel to the right…
BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM…with each “bam” the steering wheel would jerk, and the more gas you gave it, the worse the jerking motion. Only way it would stop was by straightening out the wheel.
Down hills, left hand turns, no big issue. But go up hill and steer right while on the gas…and the jerking action and noise would begin again.
On a new car that otherwise drove smoothly if totally unremarkable. Maybe the brakes were touchy, I don’t remember for sure.
I understand Kia’s come a long way since 2004…where they’d come a long way from the 1996 Sephia. I know a number of people who are happy with their Sportages, Optimas and Souls.
But the Amanti, to me, wasn’t ready for prime-time.
If I died and went straight to hell, Satan would be waiting at the gate with the keys to one.
Given the numbers still on the street here as well as others experience, it’s fairly safe to say that the Amanti was mechanically fairly durable (if not more so), and that your Amanti clearly had something wrong with it, like a bad CV joint, or?
The few which sold in Austria seem to hold quite well and – surprisingly – command good prices on the used car market if in good condition. I just discovered one of my neighbors has one and he says he won’t replace it for something else. As noted below, if you cruise around at modest speeds, it’s a very comfortable rolling sofa.
Nice article. Going back a little farther, I spent a year in Korea in the mid-80s on a military tour. I remember walking in to a Kia dealer who was then selling Mazdas in CKD form. What stood out was every new car in the showroom had drip pans underneath that were full.
Besides the very poor build quality, the other thing I remember in riding in these early cars was the extremely soft suspension – needed to cope with the very rough roads in Korea at the time.
From their product then to now is quite amazing.
They did sell at least three in Austria. It made no sense and looked out of place in a country where BMW, Audi and M-B rule supreme. But apparently they are reliable and as long as you trundle along at moderate speed are sofa-comfortable.
“… bland, forgettable, budget-friendly car”
A more accurate description could not be possible when describing the Amanti. I also wholeheartedly agree with every other description, too. These were lousy, and I’m surprised every time I still see one that a few are around.
The first time I saw one, I really tried to find anything I could like about the design. All these years later, I’m still looking. Nothing.
I’ll take you to task a bit for the “wretched” label for the Sephia as well as the gen 1 Sportage. Yes they had somewhat poorly finished interiors, but the Sephia had good Mazda bones and was not terrible car to drive with the stick shift. The Sportage is a surprisingly capable little trucklet (body on frame, 2 speed transfer case, solid rear axle, good geometry), in the same way the Suzuki Sidekicks/Trackers/Vitaras are. As Samurais rusted out and gen 1 Trackers started to rapidly appreciate, now some folks are looking to these gen 1 Sportages as the next cheap mini-4×4 to modify.
I agree about the early Sportage. Pretty they are not, but I have heard good things about their capability off road.
I had this idea in my head at the time (around 1994) that they should have put a blue oval on the front of the Sportage and marketed it in Canada as the Explorer II, we being the land of cheapo vehicles. It would have been at least as competitive as the Tracker, likely better.
How bad can the handling be, i.e. does a general market that buys as many pickup trucks as ours does really care about handling? In any case most people are stuck in traffic on the way to work anyway so a sofa is probably best for them, all the handling in the world won’t make a difference when you’re rolling along at 5mph on the freeway. None of the big car magazines have ever really “gotten it” in regard to the intended mission of cars like this. Sure, an Avalon or a Buick probably was an objectively better car. Until the price tag was considered, then maybe not. (But I didn’t look up prices, just guessing)
At the end of the day they still sold 7000 per year. No, not Camry or F150 numbers but still more than many other cars also on offer.
Thanks for the writeup, you don’t see them every day anymore.
That’s what I was wondering too-who really cares about “handling”? The few that do get sports sedans or coupes with stone suspensions and they are happy. I’ve driven old ’70s and ’80s cars and I like how they drive but compare newer luxoboats/near luxoboats and even things like Devilles and aero Town Cars feel like they handle tight. There is nothing on the road made in the past 10-20 years or so that has unacceptable handling for regular use.
The people who would have considered an Amanti would probably not thought of “handling” as an important consideration for a car.
Then you get people like me who like a smooth quiet ride AND like going around corners at speeds that make my wife complain.
Exactly. And there’s plenty of cars that can do both, so why would I sacrifice one?
Oddly enough, my customer (who was in her 60s) said she what she really liked about the MINI Countryman she ended up buying was its handling. She’d been driving her husband’s A4 as her commute was longer and the Kia was on its final leg, and said she really had gotten used to the “tight European handling” of the Audi. The handling, among several other factors (visibility, infotainment interface, comfort) was what she said set the Countryman apart.
Our family got used to the transitional years of Kia starting with Maggie’s purchasing an ’06 Spectra that had been mildly riced-out at the local buy here/pay here lot. Yes, the interior was cheap with lots of hard plastic, but it was well equipped, drove well, and above all was very reliable for the three years she had it. Way more reliable than the previous cars she’d owned.
Her success with that car (plus the memories of the Ford Festiva I’d had back in the early 90’s, which convinced us to try the Spectra in the first place) got me to buy an ’08 Sedona van, which sits out on the street as I write this. Once again, a solid, reliable, comfortable vehicle.
When it was trade in time for Maggie, Kia’s were the first consideration on our list, but she got side tracked by the ’15 Dodge Dart GT she currently owns. Leather and all the luxuries will to that to you. I’m still willing (actually enthusiastic) about replacing the Sedona with another one when the day inevitably comes, but it’ll have to be a ’14. The third generation Sedona have non-removable second row seats with kills the current model for me (reenactment hauling and race track camping necessitate the ability to gut the back end completely, and I really don’t want to have to use tools).
All in all, we’re fans of Kia. Big time. And the excellent relationship we have with the local dealership is icing on the cake.
Hyundai and Kia are textbook examples about how to overcome a bad reputation.
I am right there with you. I bought my 2012 Sedona for the low price and great warranty. I have come to really like the van and after 60k miles it has proved quite trouble-free. Unlike my Honda Fit, the Kia has yet to get its first new brake pads at 63k. I would definitely consider another.
I got curious and checked my local CL. There are 4 Amantis for sale, including a very clean 1 owner car with over 200k on it. About $2500 seems to be the going rate for a nice clean one with over 100k.
We’ve had the same good experience with my wife’s Kia, a ’12 Forte Koup EX. One extremely minor repair in 65K miles (a detached trim piece in the first year, repaired under warranty) and it’s been stone cold reliable since. We’re also still on the original brake pads at 65K though they’re near replacement. I’d have zero qualms with replacing it with another Kia, and that very well may be the case (the wife is a fan of the current Sportage, though the new CX-5 may present a strong case of its own…) Plus the 10/100k powertrain warranty is very good for peace of mind!
I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact that this stubby little thing weighed about as much as my 1989 Cadillac Brougham, a BOF full-sized car dating in technology to the mid 1970s! Better to just get a LeSabre and avoid the odd looks.
Alas, Le Sabres are thinning out. A good one is worth having, but they’re approaching lunar mileage.
There’s an ’88 H Body LeSabre near me that looks new as in brand new. I’d be Seriously tempted if it ever comes up for sale haven’t seen one that nice since Bush the 1st’s inauguration!
Oh,well at least I can settle on a Lucerne for now.
IIRC the Opirus/Amanti was already somewhat of a throwback to the bad old days of Korean clunkers when it arrived. An odd duck in an otherwise rapidly improving Kia lineup. The Sorento, which really signified the way up for Kia, was introduced a year earlier.
A couple I worked with had one of these in black. While I have no idea what model year it was, they were in their early to mid-’40s at the time these were introduced. They loved that car and it just kept going for them although last I saw it, it was starting to look a bit frazzled, but not as bad as the featured one.
With a 4100 curb weight there is obviously some heft to it. Visually, I have trouble reconciling these with being a full-sized car.
It isn’t based on the grandeur, it’s based on the Equus.
Wrong-It’s Grandeur (XG350) based.
Call this one the chrysalis before the caterpillar came forth. Kia and Hyundai really moved by leaps and bounds, perhaps due to the merger, or perhaps in spite of it. I am almost sad that Kia/Hyundai did not keep their decidedly unique styling intact, although the current sedans and SUVs are attractive if not standardized to the rest of the market. I had a Santa Fe in 2004 (and again in 2006 after an unfortunate accident) and loved it for it’s funky look. The Amanti was goofy, but at least it was recognizable. I understand market choices, physics and aerodynamics play a major part, but why a company does not try to stand out with an original look is amazing to me. Styling has become like NASCAR headlight stickers…only a half-hearted attempt to be able to differentiate the different models, and unsuccessful at that.
I test drove one of these on a lark – I wasn’t looking for a sedan but the Columbus OH mega-dealer had a glut of Ford/Mercury Panthers, Kia Amantis and Hyundai XGs – I think 250s, not 300s – so I took a spin in each of them while they prepped my Santa Fe. Content-wise the Amanti was a hoot! Driving it was another story – even the XG was a better driving car, though I almost stopped the buy process on the Santa Fe and switched to a Grand Marquis! They had fleet-purchased CVs and GMs with alloys or wire wheel covers, with or without sunroofs, and leather or fabric interiors – otherwise optioned identically. if my wife hadn’t been the primary driver there would’ve been a shiny red Marquis, leather, sunroof and alloys in the garage. The Amanti had more “stuff” but the good ol’ Mod V8 Panther was a lot better to drive.
I’ve had one since new, and now after 250tkm, I must disagree with most. The car is ugly and made of cheapest materials, yes. But it is also extremely reliable, well engineered, spacious, quite comfortable on long journeys as well as town, and drives very well in winter conditions. Also, it is a very safe car, the fuel economy is surprisingly good and the power line will probably last a million kilometers. And I got me a hood emblem from the aftermarket.
I also have a Saab and a Cadillac, and the Saab is the next one to go. Here in cold Finland you need better reliability.
BTW. Mine looks much better than the one in pictures, being taken care of.
Personally I like the looks of the Amanti – very familiar yet unique. Tons of room inside with a reasonable footprint.
Its main problem was that its depreciation was as high as the length of the dealership’s driveway.
For a “drive it until the wheels fall off” used car buyer (er,me?) A reasonably reliable car with high depreciation is a plus point. Junk yards (….I mean Auto Recycling Centers..) aren’t terribly concerned with resale value.
Certainly, that’s the plus side, when buying one used and drive it till the wheels fall off ! And you don’t have to wait till the junk yard status, you can get one for a low price when it’s still in a good / excellent condition.
I’m that guy who will keep a vehicle long enough to attain junk/parts car status. And the longer it takes the better!?. That’s why I prefer “low tech” cars that one needn’t be a NASA tech to work on. This explains my love of RWD GM B/Cs and grudging (for a non Ford guy) respect for Panthers.
Not so much here in Austria. Good examples seem to go between €6000-€7000, and we’re talking about a 10 year old (or more) luxury sedan here.
There is one of these in the parking lot at work in remarkably nice condition. I was walking with a co-worker and when he spotted that front end he literally stopped and stared because it’s so bizarre. You can see what they were aiming for but that tall grille just looks so wrong on that stubby hood.
That dashboard looks every bit as low rent as anything on an 07 Sebring, with none of the faux retro details. Lots of phony wood around to provide the bling to distract from that, though.
As mentioned above, I miss Korean Baroque styling elements. The early 00s Sonata has always been a favorite of mine and much better at capturing that Jaguar S Type look.
The Amanti is so freaky, I really appreciate the weirdness. It’s not good but, it’s at least different. 60 Valiant and 59-61 Studebaker Lark come to mind.
Several of them creeping in Tucson. Could be the perfect second car for the snowbird demographic.
The Lark was better looking!
Happy Motoring, Mark
I see this robot from an old Ruff and Reddy cartoon.
A “metal man”, direct from planet Muni-Mula!
Muni-Mula: “Aluminum” spelled backwards for you young uns…
This one must have gotten the same “love” from its owner(s) as the Amanti does from the audience here, witness the rust and opaque, yellow headlights.
…and the dirt/debris.
And the stained upholstery.
And the ripped seatback pocket. This has “junker” written all over it, and at only age thirteen?
The interior looks like it’s in better shape than the exterior. Wow, that thing has a lot of room inside!
My customer traded it in for a brand-new Cooper Countryman All4 launch edition! Her husband has an A4 and she said she got used to the tight European handling of it, which is why she came to look at MINIs.
Ooh, we need a driving impression!
This is one of those cars that appeared to be fairly well made and assembled initially but as time wore on it’s cheap cost cutting ways were soon exposed. Most examples we see going through the auctions in the past 5 years are in very bad shape with rust holes in strange places included door frames, roof and hood. Headlights are now yellow and quite stained. Some seem to suffer what we call the no door open syndrome where you literally need to put all your muscle into pulling the door open more than half way. It’s usually the passenger door or one of the rear ones. The alloys wheels peeled with in a few Winters of driving, chrome peels and certain interior pieces ripple or come undone.
With that said the driveline does seem to be pretty rugged overall as most every example seems to be running well enough. Several owners have told us they got a few hundred thousand miles out of them with little other than the normal maintenance items, some wheel bearings and few other minor front end parts replaced. It was mainly the quality of certain materials that seemed weak on these.
It did seem like the newer ones held up a bit better usually with the larger 3.8 engines. Those are the ones to get if the ungainly looks didn’t bother you or the flaccid ride/handling.
If I ever got one for a winter beater, I’d absolutely be getting an aftermarket stand up hood ornament for it.
They look like a modern interpretation of a ’59 – ’60 Studebaker Lark. If I had one I would re badge it as one.
http://hem.bredband.net/b284654/IMAGES/1959Lark_4dr.jpg
Another fine piece of writing. The “Canal St.” knockoff reference almost made me spit my tea out of my nostrils.
My weird photographic memory takes me back to Whoopi Goldberg’s short-lived sitcom from the early 00s where in an episode she is in a Canal Street shop trying to get a knockoff Versace briefcase to replace her brother’s which she ruined. The girl at the shop offers her a knockoff Gucci and says to replace the Gucci badge with a Versace it’s $50 more bucks! The Amanti’s lack of a Kia emblem on the grille is what made me think of that lol 🙂
Say what you want. I actually liked the American styling of these cars, kinda like a 7/8 th scale Panther with a Chrysler But it IS unique.
wow! two of my favs on CC the same day. (also Festiva). i bought a 2008 Amanti new in 09. a dealer in Pittsburgh was moving these out at a steep discount of $20K. this on a car that stickered at about $32K! i remember seeing loaded Accents selling for 20 large at that time. coincidentally i was in the market for a newer car to replace my girlfriends reliable but rusty Protege so i was looking for something newer used that met her, not my checklist of attributes. safe, biggish, effortless power, puffy cloud ride, power everything. i was getting discouraged by what i was finding available in the used car choices. it was imperative that i didn’t buy something that would need fixing or repair for a few years. then i saw the ad for these Amantis’. they has the big black n white picture of it accompanying the ad and while i can’t say it was love at first sight, i did think that it had a classy look to it with the tasteful chrome accents, formal roofline, and towncar like tail lights. i agree the 04-06 Amanti was drawn with the ugly stick but i think the 07-09 redesign was a success at turning what was a cartoon on wheels into a proper car.
maybe having grown accustomed to it by now i find it strange, not insulting, that people on the net still deride the looks of the car because in the real world my GF has gotten and still does get compliments on the car. most think Mercedes! also, compared to todays 4 wheel oragamic tortured bunkers the Amanti could stand as an inset picture alongside Websters definition of “car”.
HP for the later cars was up to 264. 0-60 dips into the 6s. handling, which is only a word to my GF is competent, but definitely not the drunken pig dance of let’s say a 70s LTD.
in 8 years an idler pulley went bad and a small piece of plastic trim fell off the inside of the sunroof but snapped back on, and a small quarter-sized patch of the rear fender is starting to rust bubble.
these were much more well appointed in Korea in Opirus guise. features like self leveling suspension, motorized dipping headlamps, power rear sunshade and more were axed for N. Am but the arsenal of power and convenience that did come over was still impressive for the price. this wouldn’t be the car that i’d choose for the daily bump n grind commute but i’d surely steal the keys if i had a multi state trip planned.
You seem to reinforce the impression that I have been building – that these may not have been the most polished cars built but they are fairly robust from a mechanical aspect. From my unscientific study there seem to be a pretty fair number of them out there given their low sales figures. For a cheap and reliable used car I would probably take one over quite a number of Chrysler products of that era and class.
Glad to read your positive story. I lauded the virtues of Kia when they first arrived. “Just watch” I advised the laughter. Now look at them.
Your car is downright attractive. It must have good visibility with those rear windows (compared to today’s vehicles anyway).
What makes these cars kind of goofy-looking to me is the separated headlights. Other than that, I love your example!
I wouldn’t begin to know the answer to this but based on how many of these I’ve seen (and see), But I wonder if these were particularly popular in ‘da Burgh? They seemed more common here than I would think based on production numbers!
after butt surgery:
Isn’t there some way of making a head light lens that after 5 or six years outdoors the lens won’t turn the color of Milk? With all the government regulations out there , I would think this would be a more urgent thing. Not everybody garages their car , or for that matter even bothers to wash it, yet headlights are kinda important.
The last thing we need is regulation on how long a lens must stay clear. One of my car’s lenses is clouded but still can see VERY nicely going down the road. What matters more is headlight size and design. Just buy new ones. Most passenger headlights can be bought on ebay for $200 a pair.
+1
I liked the old sealed beam glass headlights. Simple, easy to clean and cost less than $2.99. Never had problems seeing with them like the newer headlights. Of course I am one of those old farts who doesn’t like tinted glass, likes lots of greenhouse so I can see where I am going, thinks airbags and a lot of other safety related features as unneeded and often counterproductive(why should I worry about getting in a wreck,all the safety features will save me mentality)and doesn’t like all the power and electronic equipment of today. My idea of an ideal car would be an upgraded 1963 Rambler Classic.
You may or may not like this then…
http://www.pro-touring.com/threads/120478-1963-AMC-Rambler-Classic
I could not agree more. How this has not become a manufacturer-related safety recall is beyond me. The clouding affects the light output and array, both regulated by the feds.
Ha, I saw a Sephia yesterday, in pretty good shape too. I have a friend who took one to 300,000 miles, lots of them on the highway.
“Black Market Knockoff” seems exactly right. I always thought there was something vaguely Russian about the styling of these…it strikes me as something Lada might have built in the immediate post Soviet era to try and tempt the newly emerging “aspirational class”.
The combination of awkward proportions and weak attempts at blinginess simply made this one of the ugliest cars of the era. Only slightly less vomit inducing than the Aztek.
It’s truly remarkable how far Kia and Hyundai have come.
Exactly!
Russian knockoff was my alternative choice, but I decided to go with the Canal Street one.
There’s one aspect of the styling I really don’t get. That’s the window treatment on the rear door.
I’m used to cars having a fixed quarter window to allow the main glass to wind down. I’m also used to a little metal filler panel instead to allow the glass to wind down. But BOTH – a filler panel in the (fixed) quarter window?
Weird!
Wow, has it been that long? I remember seeing the ad campaigns when these came out, so I’m guessing calendar year 2002 which places me at 9 or 10 years old. I thought the Amanti looked like a Bentley (I know, I know) and for a then-advertised $25k starting price I tried to get my mom to buy one…not that we were even in the market for a new car. Im surprised nobody has mentioned the oversized LED turn signals on the front (a production first?)…thats what stands out to me all these years later.
The turn signals! They are amazing! It’s like the entire front half of the car is lighting up.
True. The Korean auto industry as a whole are blazing (have blazed) along the learning curve at a pace that makes that of the Japanese in the ’70s and ’80s look positively poky.
And yes, AFAIK the Amanti was the first production car with LED front turn signals.
I’ve seen quite a few of these and the thing that sticks in my mind is the way those large white front parking lights (driving lights?) located under the headlights and front bumper light up. They look like big LEDs or something. The glowing lights make the car look very impressive when one is approaching you on a two-lane highway.
Those are the turn signals. Yes, they are LEDs — the ones mentioned in the comment directly above yours.
Brendan you are right this is a Korean Buick. I had a 2007 rental Amanti for a month and I became fond of it. Not perfect but pretty good. There were a few things that annoyed me:
Rear view mirrors would automatically when shifted into reverse, both mirrors. All I could see was pavement. Very annoying.
Door locks that would automatically unlock when shifted into park.
There was something about the radio controls that annoyed me but can’t remember exactly what it was.
Oh yes the styling best to leave that alone. But otherwise a very nice car.
I spent a bit of time driving these as a rental car agency employee around ’05-’07. I recall them being comfortable, but they handled as though they already had a few hundred thou on the odometer. Kind of a poor-man’s LeSabre.
I wonder what the price difference between an Amanti and a LeSabre was. To me a LeSabre was a “poor” mans Electra/Park Avenue. ?
I just did a quick search, and the base price for an ’04 Amanti was $24,995, while a Lesabre started just over $26k. Granted, that was for a rental-grade Buick, While the Kia was probably better-equipped.
I currently own a 2005 Kia Amanti. I am the second owner and has just over 40k on it. Driven about 3k a year. 80 year old man owned and garage kept it. Other than the yellowing lights (need to stay on top of those) and why too cushy handling, it s true cream puff dream boat. Love it on long trips. Effortless power and smooth transmission. Tons of space. Yet, not as big and ungangly as a Town Car. I look forward to years of reliable driving, and building in lost miles, with my Amanti. Next big trip is to Myrtle Beach from Philly.
2004 Kia Gallimaufry. Perfect model name, fits right in with Opirus, Maepsy, Azera and other Korean car names that sound like a disease.
I remember being briefly interested in a Hyundai XG (which the Amanti is based on) as a used car in the early 2000s. It seemed like a lot of features for the money. But my brother had just bought an Elantra and it was the most soulless appliance I have ever driven, which turned me off of Hyundai. Kia wasn’t even on my radar back then, and no wonder if it was a watered down copy of the Hyundai that I passed on. These cars certainly came a long way since then.
I live in a small town and a house several blocks from me often has an Amati in the drive. Like many in the area, it is a vacation home, or as we say in southern Ontario, a “cottage”, so it has not been there for several months but will probably return with the warmer weather.
Video about the Amanti’s cousin, the XG
(first posted 3/13/2017) It’s nothing short of astonishing just how far Kia has come in the past decade
And now it can be said due to the many Kia engine failures….. It’s nothing short of astonishing just how far Kia has FALLEN in the past decade.
I think , about 95-96% of them were “silver”.
I never made the connection between Amanti and Armani – it’s a car, not a suit – but Amanti did sound alot like both Avanti and Amati, the latter the Mazda luxury brand cancelled just before they were set to build them. The car itself was a hodgepodge of detail stolen from other upmarket models – a Buick Park Avenue roofline, headlamps off a Mercedes E-class, a cheap copy of the early-’00s Toyota Avalon dashboard (which itself was stolen from the 4th-gen Honda Prelude), and an important-looking yet generic grille. I’m guessing lots of people were left guessing what it was if they didn’t see the logo on the back.
The most bothersome styling detail for me is that large black plastic thing at the back of the rear-door windows. It’s common for a small section at the back of the rear-door windows to be blocked off with a triangular plastic piece so the window can be a bit narrower and thus roll down further, but this isn’t a small section; it’s a big section. And the part of the window that rolls down is already separated from the rearmost pane that’s partly shrouded, so I don’t get why it was necessary.
The American advertising slogan for the Kia Sephia was, “It’s time everyone had a well-built car.” Whether the Sephia was actually well-built, I don’t know. Theoretically a car could be both wretched by gearhead standards and well-built.
The rear of this Kia looks like someone copied the back of a 98 Lincoln Town car with a sheet of brown paper and a pencil, in an attempt to carve out a luxury look. It runs right from the curved profile along the window out to the taillights, as if they just shrunk the mold.