Nick1994
$100 site donor 2023
While the Genesis was in for some work at the dealer, I got a Kona as a loaner for 10 days and 400 miles. Overall, it's ok. Where this would make a decent car is someone who doesn't drive much, and just needs a car to get around. Would be a good car for grandma.
The good:
The good:
- It's easy to get in and out of
- Decent leg room up front, plenty of headroom up front (I'm 6'2", this can be a little harder for me in some cars).
- For a base model, the tech is great. Easy to use touchscreen with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto standard. Responsive and quick screen.
- Lane Keep Assist is excellent. It keeps the car in the lane hands free and you don't even look like that much of a drunk going down the road. You can take your hands off the steering wheel (carefully) for 15 seconds before you have to touch it again and it starts over.
- I think in the long run, this would be a reliable car. Very simple, not too many features, has incandescent bulbs, plenty of room under the hood, no CVT, no turbo, no GDI etc.
- The headlights were fine. Nothing to write home about but not bad at all.
- The front seats. Moderately comfortable, mostly if you aren't too tall.
- Road noise. Not that good, but for a cheaper car it wasn't all that bad
- Not much power. Sometimes it seemed adequate, but most of the time it's just underpowered. Revving to the moon didn't seem to make all that much of a difference. In normal city driving it's ok. Need to pass? Merge on the highway? Be patient.
- No back seat room. I think the longest I could take sitting in the back seat is a trip to a restaurant 2 miles away. I scooted up the seat to where I could still drive, then hopped in the back and I could hardly close the back door, my legs were straddling the driver's seat.
- The armrests on the door panels are the hardest cheapest plastic you can imagine.
- The trunk is too small. You have to put groceries in the back seat too unless you're stacking everything on top of each other, which would probably make it all fall out when you open the trunk (typical CUV).
- The A/C is just short of being able to keep up in the Phoenix sun. Seems like an undersized system.
- Ride quality! This thing was like a horse carriage, it seemed like there was 60 psi in all the tires (digital readout showed about 33 psi).
- Speakers. I guess for a base model I shouldn't be asking for so much, but they weren't that good. My base model 15' Sonata was a lot better. All the sound comes from the front. If you turn the Fade to the rear, you can barely hear anything.
