A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to drive around in a luxury vehicle. Actually this was the most expensive car I’ve ever driven and let me tell ya I honestly believe that car could sense my nervousness. The vehicle I’m speaking of is the Kia K900. My husband and I heard talk of the K900 when I was purchasing my Kia Optima back in 2013. They didn’t have one in stock for us to look at, but we honestly couldn’t wrap our heads around a Kia having the price tag of other luxury brands like Lincoln and Audi so when the K900 showed up at my doorstep thanks to Drive Shop we too excited to check it out.
I took this baby out on the road on the second day as I was headed to Maryland to present my research at a conference. I stopped to pick up my lab mate at the local train station and admittedly had a time trying to deduce how to pop the trunk. After I figured that out we excitedly discovered that the car actually had a button on the trunk that allowed it close automatically. Talk about snazzy!
As we drove down the highway my friend played with all the buttons and I was trying to stay focused on the road. The K900 comes equipped with every alarm, bell, and whistle made by man to help you drive safely. Between the warnings for the lane departure and blindside assist, I was a frazzled mess as alarms would go off every time I made an attempt to switch lanes and didn’t put my turning signals on fast enough. Luckily you can turn all these things off. You can also turn off the window projection which displays your speed and navigation directions into the drivers side lower window as I found it to be a bit distracting.
The K900 reminds me of an older man’s “weekend” car and to me has a lot of similarities to the Buick. It was spacious and an overall smooth ride. While the car as admittedly nice, I felt it missed the mark for that of a luxury vehicle. The seats were somewhat comfortable though I could never find the right settings for me. This may have something to do with me being on alert because I didn’t want the car criticizing my driving. One of the first things that I noticed was that there was no digital clock display ANYWHERE. Instead, there is an analog clock in the dash below the display screen. With all the special features to help me keep my eye on the road, I’m not sure why the makers of the K900 felt it would be okay for me to take my eyes off the road to figure out what time was. My husband thought I was just being picky and he spent a good bit of time while we were on our way to the mall trying to pull up a digital clock on the display. He failed.
The next thing that threw me about the vehicle was its poor gas mileage 15/23mpg. On a full tank, the K900 showed that I had 294 miles until empty. After a trip to Bethesda MD, and back there was only 73 miles left. This has a lot to do with the V8 engine and the fact that the car only gets a combined 21mpg, but with this price tag I expected a lot more.
The car comes with absolutely every upgrade imaginable short of its own Keurig coffee machine. I LOVED the panoramic sunroof as well as the privacy shields that went up with the push of a button. There are surround cameras to assist you when backing up or pulling out and it even tells you how far you’ve gone and how much fuel you’ve used at the end of your trip. Don’t get me wrong the technology was sweet, but even with all the upgrades I still felt that this car was lacking compared to some other luxury vehicles I’d ridden in. While I appreciate Kia’s attempt at luxury I felt that this missed the mark with this car and seemed to be trying to mask this in all the add-ons. With a starting MSRP of $54,000 I expected better handling, drive comfort, and gas mileage. While this is a great car to rent and drive around in on vacation I don’t think I would recommend to the everyday consumer.
