Why do people buy Kias? Why do people buy new cars in general? Why do people buy ANY car when you can go out and buy a 2006 MINI Cooper S convertible for <$5000?

Such questions have been troubling my already troubled mind as of late. Out of my inherent cynicism I often find myself trying to figure out why people spend money on the things they do. It's fun to try to piece together marketing to try to understand the kinds of people that buy certain things.

But one thing leaves me constantly confused.

Enter my close friend, Logan, who's been in the market for a car for some time. He's looking for the following:

a) A reliable car, that won't need a ton of service and won't leave him stranded.
b) A car within his price range, so no more than about $13k.
c) A good deal for his money.

Nothing more. So what does he say he's considering buying? A 2019 KIA OPTIMA. WHY??!?!?! What in the world is with people's fascination with buying new cars? I tried to explain to him that a 2019 will be worth half its value in three years at most, but he wouldn't listen. "But it has only 3000 miles on it" he said to me. Dude. You can buy four 2009 Kias for the price you'd spend on that one. Not to mention how absolutely boring a Kia Optima is, like good heavens. If you're in the market for a car, at least something fun! Find what you like and optimize for that factor, then just troll craigslist for a few days and I'll guarantee you'll find something that's cheaper, better, more reliable, and more fun than a 2019 Kia Optima.

And that's not even mentioning the people he'd be buying the Kia from. He wants to buy a USED 2019 Kia. That means someone bought a brand new Kia and got another new model the next year. Ever wonder why every Kia you see on the road is no more than 5 years old or so? If you have the expendable income to buy a brand new car EVERY YEAR then at least have the sense to get something cool.

Before anyone gets mad I did not rant to him, this was all in my head.

Let's just list some ePiC fEaTuReS you could get on an actually interesting car:

Decent horsepower
A convertible top
A manual transmission
High quality speakers
Good alloys in the chassis
Good handling
Good top speed
Good gas mieage

None of which a 2019 Kia Optima has.

I'm not sure I'm a big fan of trash talking people's choices... But on the topic of Kias, from experience, people who drive Kias are almost all terrible drivers. idk why, they're just no good at driving.

Min Ccoopers are pretty unreliable. Add to that list of features an unreliable oil sensor that doesn't alert on an oil change until the sump is almost dry and new timing chain at 50k miles, Been there, done that, finally paid off the t-shirt Some people just want to get in a car and drive to where they want to go without thinking too much about it.

Because people are morons.

I've driven mine for about 110k miles and all I've had to replace was the fuel pump, but everyone's experience is different I guess.

Just get a tesla, duh ! It's just 3x more than you said

I am a mechanic, and I see several Kias per day, and just about every one leaks oil, even the newest ones.
I think most people have the (wrong) impression that newer cars have the best tech, and work the best in every way. Newer cars, however, are actually getting less and less reliable, and cheap. The manufacturers are spending more money on making the interior and exterior of the car look pretty, then adding an engine and transmission as an afterthought.

Also, on the subject of Mini Coopers, I did an oil change one today, and it took forever, the oil filter was buried under the coolant reservoir, and I had to remove the entire reservoir, and the hoses attached, to even see the filter, loosing half the coolant in the process.

I drive a 1994 Saturn SL2, and while it isn't perfect, it works well enough, and was cheap, and gets good gas mileage.

You're absolutely right, for every Mini made past 2007. The "Gen 1" BMW Minis (pre 2008) are by far the best, as they were build before safety regulations really started choking companies into doing things that end up making cars heavier, slower, and much more complicated to service under the hood. I replaced my oil just last Saturday and while it isn't the easiest of the cars I've oil changed, all it took was a long ratchet. I did, however, have to go buy a 36mm socket. (why so big?)

It baffles me why people buy Kias as well. You could get something really nice on the used market for the 13k your friend has, even a used 911 or something. I would recommend a manual BMW 335i, which is the car I plan on getting myself once I save up enough money and get some more experience driving (because of the N54).

But without people buying new cars, there wouldn't be any good deals on used ones for people who want to save money like me, so these types of people are necessary for the car economy.

Well, we have plenty of used cars out there. Problem is, most people ditch their cars for another one because their old car has issues. The only reason I would see someone getting rid of a car that doesn't have any issues is because they have expendable money. And most people who have money to burn will buy newer and higher end vehicles that most used-car searchers won't be able to afford. But hey, maybe I'm wrong.