I no longer own a Mach-E

[Jimrpa]

I don’t mind Kia/hyundai, although as I said when I described my experience with the ionic 5, I found the interior very cheap and spartan and was very unimpressed with the tiny displays. The EV 9 looks like a much better vehicle from those perspectives, and it has a frunk. It’s just way too huge to be practical for me.

Sponsored

 

[Triggerhappy007]

It was a good ride, but I always get the itch for a new car after a few years. I've been eyeing the Kia EV9 for a while, but was waiting for the price to come down. $15k off MSRP was enough for me to pull the trigger on a GT-Line.

Great choice!

Is the $15k off for buying or leasing?

 

[generaltso]

Great choice!

Is the $15k off for buying or leasing?

I bought, but it would have been the same either way. I assume the cash incentives will be reduced as the tax credit eligibility arrives. But Kia hasn’t said.

 

[Triggerhappy007]

I bought, but it would have been the same either way. I assume the cash incentives will be reduced as the tax credit eligibility arrives. But Kia hasn’t said.

That's a great price for buying!

 

[BigMach-E]

Sorry to see you go @generaltso but I have been tempted by the EV 9 too.

 

[Jerrytball]

I bought, but it would have been the same either way. I assume the cash incentives will be reduced as the tax credit eligibility arrives. But Kia hasn’t said.

I was looking at a GT here in town so are you saying that the 15,000 off, was that Kia or the dealer because I think this one they have in town here, blue completely loaded out 70 something thousand?

 

[generaltso]

I was looking at a GT here in town so are you saying that the 15,000 off, was that Kia or the dealer because I think this one they have in town here, blue completely loaded out 70 something thousand?

Kia is currently doing $9000 customer cash. The rest came from the dealer, but it seems like that's not uncommon.

 

[Jerrytball]

Kia is currently doing $9000 customer cash. The rest came from the dealer, but it seems like that's not uncommon.

So if you didn’t trade in the Mustang yet, could you pull the camera off and send it to me lol

 

[RMoore]

I will certainly miss your font of knowledge and your trenchant prose. I do hope you stick around at least long enough to provide a nice review and comparison as you already have started to. I’m trying to convince my wife that we should replace our 9 yr old Sienna with the EV9. I’ve loved watching the many reviews on line. As others have said, it’s a big car. Not a little bigger it seems but a lot bigger. Will be interested to hear how you like driving vs the MME.

Given that Kia has the EV6 I wonder if one can consider the EV9 to be a first year EV the way the original job 1 MME was with its kinks that needed working out, or whether they worked those out with the EV6.

 

[circatee]

Firstly, CONGRATULATIONS. And, like others have said, thanks for all the help.

Now, onto more important things. You've had the car now just over 24 hours, care to give us a few paragraphs of your experience, use of it and overall assessment?

Go...

 

[generaltso]

Now, onto more important things. You've had the car now just over 24 hours, care to give us a few paragraphs of your experience, use of it and overall assessment?

Go...

I'm not ready for a full on review yet, but here's a quick list of pros and cons when compared to the MME. This is just off the top of my head, and in no particular order:

Pros

• Infotainment is much more responsive
• Can view multiple things on the screen at the same time
• Massaging seat
• Front seats have a huge number of adjustments and are much more comfortable
• Steering wheel is power adjustable, so can be linked with seat position to driver profiles
• HUD
• Ventilated seats
• Heated/ventilated seats in the back
• “Driver Only” setting for HVAC
• Can customize the behavior of air recirc
• Sunroof opens (front only)
• Sunroof has shades (front and rear)
• Rear windows have sun shades
• Light on the dash shows when HVB is charging the LVB (and it does it often)
• Universal charge limit is not based on location (could also be a con)
• Apple Car Key/PaaK without app running and can easily be shared with others (phone and watch)
• Manual battery preconditioning from in car or app
• Remote 360 pictures through web or app
• Kia Access app shows much more info about car status and has more functionality than FordPass
• Instant power usage display (by percent and kW)
• Frunk and remote start buttons on the fob
• Can be unlocked and started with NFC key card
• Can be started with fingerprint
• Manual key to unlock in the event of a dead 12V battery
• Easy access to the 12V battery
• Paddles for regen levels (independent of drive mode)
• Customizable drive mode
• Blind spot cameras
• Smart Park uses lines, not just other cars
• Remote Smart Park (don't have to be in the car)
• Physical buttons for trunk, frunk, cameras, auto-hold
• IPC shows charging speed
• Great charging curve
• Clutch that disconnects the front motor in Eco mode
• Power distribution display (front/rear)
• Confirmation for automatic speed limit changes
• No subscription fee for Highway Drive Assist 2
• Can fast forward and rewind in SXM
• CarPlay always connects
• Qi phone charger works much better
• OTA updates are posted on the Kia owner site as they’re released, and the app shows which ones your car has received
• 120V Outlet in the trunk and V2L adapter included for J1772 port
• Digital rear view mirror
• Can turn on audible alert for Blind Spot Monitoring (or have it vibrate the steering wheel)
• Smoother transition to friction brakes (can't hear or feel it)
• Brake Disc Cleaning Mode
• Can lock the charger to the car (only while charging or always)
• Side mirrors tilt in reverse

Cons

• Heated seat/wheel doesn’t survive ignition cycle
• 1PD doesn’t survive ignition cycle
• Link seat/wheel to climate is missing
• Headlights on with wipers doesn’t exist
• No courtesy wipe setting
• Can’t remotely turn on heated seat (but can remotely turn on wheel)
• No charge session history
• No sunglass holder
• No pillar code to unlock
• Lame forum
• Kia Diagnostic Software prohibitively expensive (a lot more than FDRS)
• No FORScan equivalent
• App isn’t free after 3 years

 

[mdolan92869]

Cons

• Lame forum

So, you're selling it already? ?

 

[circatee]

I'm not ready for a full on review yet, but here's a quick list of pros and cons when compared to the MME. This is just off the top of my head, and in no particular order:

Pros

• Infotainment is much more responsive
• Can view multiple things on the screen at the same time
• Massaging seat
• Front seats have a huge number of adjustments and are much more comfortable
• Steering wheel is power adjustable, so can be linked with seat position to driver profiles
• HUD
• Ventilated seats
• Heated/ventilated seats in the back
• “Driver Only” setting for HVAC
• Can customize the behavior of air recirc
• Sunroof opens (front only)
• Sunroof has shades (front and rear)
• Rear windows have sun shades
• Light on the dash shows when HVB is charging the LVB (and it does it often)
• Universal charge limit is not based on location (could also be a con)
• Apple Car Key/PaaK without app running and can easily be shared with others (phone and watch)
• Manual battery preconditioning from in car or app
• Remote 360 pictures through web or app
• Kia Access app shows much more info about car status and has more functionality than FordPass
• Instant power usage display (by percent and kW)
• Frunk and remote start buttons on the fob
• Can be unlocked and started with NFC key card
• Can be started with fingerprint
• Manual key to unlock in the event of a dead 12V battery
• Easy access to the 12V battery
• Paddles for regen levels (independent of drive mode)
• Customizable drive mode
• Blind spot cameras
• Smart Park uses lines, not just other cars
• Remote Smart Park (don't have to be in the car)
• Physical buttons for trunk, frunk, cameras, auto-hold
• IPC shows charging speed
• Great charging curve
• Clutch that disconnects the front motor in Eco mode
• Power distribution display (front/rear)
• Confirmation for automatic speed limit changes
• No subscription fee for Highway Drive Assist 2
• Can fast forward and rewind in SXM
• CarPlay always connects
• Qi phone charger works much better
• OTA updates are posted on the Kia owner site as they’re released, and the app shows which ones your car has received

Cons

• Heated seat/wheel doesn’t survive ignition cycle
• 1PD doesn’t survive ignition cycle
• Link seat/wheel to climate is missing
• Headlights on with wipers doesn’t exist
• No courtesy wipe setting
• Can’t remotely turn on heated seat (but can remotely turn on wheel)
• No charge session history
• No sunglass holder
• No pillar code to unlock
• Lame forum
• Kia Diagnostic Software prohibitively expensive (a lot more than FDRS)
• No FORScan equivalent
• App isn’t free after 3 years

Seriously, thanks for the quick synopsis...

 

[ChasingCoral]

After owning 2 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIIIs and 1 Evo X I will never own another import. All imports are dead to me. They are all utter garbage. I think you made the wrong move.

Yeah. I once had an unreliable Yugo. I’ll never trust Mercedes again.

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post: Thank you Sir General for doing all the work to get the FitCamX dash cam for the Mach E. While there are better dash cams to be sure, the seamless integration makes the FitCamX system perfect for me needs. I guess you'll be reaching out to them for the EV9 now....?

Sponsored