My buddy owns an Optima, its about 4 or 5 years old or so. I've driven it and it is surprisingly smooth and fun to drive. He's never had any issues with it. He has over 100k on it already. So after looking/test driving about 6 or 7 cars last year, I decided to buy an Optima. It's been great so far. I went through my flashy vehicle stage (Mustang, Charger), and my SUV stage (Explorer, Trailblazer) and all I wanted was something to get me from point A to Point B reliably and safe, and with a nice warranty, with good gas mileage I got all of that. I was as shocked as anyone when I test drove it. Surprisingly nice. Nicer than my friends 5 year old Optima. Wasn't even in my top 5 I was looking for at the time. But it sold me, and I did alot of research on Kia (along with some other companies I was looking at). Yes, they have come a long way.