[davelli0331]

Last weekend I traded in my 7 year old, 120K mile Cadillac CTS for a new black Kia Cadenza. I did tons of research and had decided on the Cadenza a few weeks back.

Kia has really knocked this one out of the park. I loved my Caddy and it was a great car, but I don't miss it. I am floored at how much car Kia has offered for the price.

I do have one question, though: Have any of you noticed any rough shifts when the transmission shifts from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd? Those two shifts are a bit rough on mine. None of the other gears do that, and it's only when the engine is cold and at pretty low RPMs. I figure it's just the parts breaking in and the onboard computer learning my driving habits, but I wanted to ask.

 

[diggy44]

Welcome to the forum. No rough shifts on mine, its been smooth from day one. Even smoother now it seems since I added a K&N filter over the weekend

 

[gene]

welcome aboard. let us know if the rough shifts go away, always nice to hear what others experience.

 

[Dave H]

welcome!

Last weekend I traded in my 7 year old, 120K mile Cadillac CTS for a new black Kia Cadenza. I did tons of research and had decided on the Cadenza a few weeks back.

Kia has really knocked this one out of the park. I loved my Caddy and it was a great car, but I don't miss it. I am floored at how much car Kia has offered for the price.

I do have one question, though: Have any of you noticed any rough shifts when the transmission shifts from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd? Those two shifts are a bit rough on mine. None of the other gears do that, and it's only when the engine is cold and at pretty low RPMs. I figure it's just the parts breaking in and the onboard computer learning my driving habits, but I wanted to ask.

Welcome Dave,

Where in the South are you; I'm north of Charlotte in NC. I have a black with the white trim interior, and, like you, researched it as the best in its class. I have noticed occasionally a 'hard' shift 1st to 2nd; only seems to happen in cold temps when I accelerate slowly. Once fully warmed, doesn't happen again. Figured also that it's a break in/learn my driving pattern thing. I bought October 3, 2013 and have just turned 1000 miles, so, figure I'll give it time yet to smooth out.

Have some gripes about some dumb oversights by KIA, but, hands down best car for the money, gorgeous looks, and near Lexus/Infiniti quality for 20K less.

You'll love it. If you have any issues dealer can't help on, there is a preferred Cadenza owner KIA group at 855 542 7733 who work to handle issues just for Cadenza owners; great group of people.

Enjoy!

 

[bob61]

Welcome! I joined the Cadenza family when wife and I purchased just a little over a week ago. We are in Chicago area where we've had nothing but cold weather and can say I've noticed no problems with the shifting. If in doubt have it checked. We had experience with G37 we had prior with down shifting coming out of turns, the dealer reprogrammed the computer and was much smoother.

 

[davelli0331]

Thanks for the warm welcome, gents! (I assume we're all guys here but if not apologies)

Dave H., 1) I'm in Baton Rouge, LA (originally from Shreveport), so the deep, Deep South. Don't discriminate because I'm from a backwoods state! 2) Those are exactly the same conditions that I experience, only from 2nd to 3rd (the rough shift from 1st to 2nd has disappeared). If it hasn't smoothed out in a few months I'll have it checked.

I've had the car a week and I love it. The only complaint I have so far are the sun visors, of all things. They're incredibly cheap. And I wish they had an emblem that wasn't just KIA. I'm not ashamed of owning a Kia, my last car was a Cadillac so anyone who wants to talk trash can suck it. I just hate that the Cadenza is such an elegant car but has this big wonky badging on the front and back.

Other than that I really do think Kia has a real winner here. I've loved every mile so far.

Oh and BTW I bought a black-on-black base model. I do wish I had the sunroof, LCD gauges, adaptive cruise, and blind spot warnings, but this time around I wanted to buy something more sensible, so no regrets!

Did anyone buy the extended bumper to bumper warranty, or have you had experience with Kia's extended bumper to bumper warranty in the past? I plan on keeping the car for a long time, so the warranty would likely be worth it assuming that Kia honors it and doesn't try to backdoor it's way out of it every time you bring it in for something.

 

[Dave H]

Dave,

Ex Texan here; lived and worked in Dallas for years til retired; old neighbors! I did get the tech. package with the extras and they are worth the dough; most features for best price. But even without the tech. package or SXL, it's got more stuff on it than others, better looking, driving, and lots of great compliments.
Check one of the site forum vendors, KarbonKoncepts, for a Korean version of the KIA badges; it is the Korean letter K and sort of looks like Lexus' L..you can get a kit for front, back, steering wheel, and center wheel caps. around $50.00 or so, and, since the factory ones and these from Karbon are 3M adhesive backed, they are an easy swap. Good looking , especially on black and keeps everyone guessing.
As for dealer service; some are good, some are bad; same as all dealers. KIA is improving but still needs to step it up service wise for higher dollar cars now..
Enjoy!