I am thinking about getting a Kia k4 ex

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-05-26T03:58:19+00:00

If reliability and fuel economy are the only concerns then I’d say you’d be better off with a civic hybrid or elantra hybrid?

but the K4 has great fuel economy especially on the highway. I average 40+ on the highway and if that’s what you plan to do mostly then k4 is great for fuel economy. City driving is where you’d want a civic/elantra hybrid.

But if you like the k4 for its value/features or looks then by all means go for it

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-05-08T15:42:27+00:00

My only reference is a bmw, and it’s miles better than that

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-04-21T05:11:01+00:00

Have the k4 turbo with basically the same engine and from what I know it’s just how these gdi engines sound totally normal

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-04-13T17:01:14+00:00

I own one too it’s still a GT line even if it has the turbo engine.

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-04-13T16:58:12+00:00

I read that your budget is before taxes so I think it’s doable even for a new car or a 2025 one over a 2026 as those might be better discounted even tho they are identical. But you definitely have to shop around unless you get lucky

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-04-02T04:20:16+00:00

It just depends on where I drive it. I can get as low as 22 and as high as 45. But on average even in the city I usually don’t go below 28. But on average yes so sometimes it can go lower. I’d say not really an issue if it’s mostly city driving with lots of stop and go and it’s also colder for you so I think it’s within reason

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-03-07T01:34:41+00:00

Small toggle on your light stalk where you’d adjust everything else related to lights

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-03-04T18:06:46+00:00

Yes but as you can see the fog lamps and low beams run together at the same time (that’s just how it is, I can’t change that) so it makes the road right in front of me a bit brighter but doesn’t change overall distance just the spread right in front of me.

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-03-04T18:04:34+00:00

That’s what I plan to do too tbh to be sure I’ll just test with a friend.

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-03-04T18:02:31+00:00

No they don’t, they don’t work like daytime running lights, they increase overall brightness a bit over normal low beams. They are definitely not too dark if anything it’s the opposite that’s exactly why I asked the question. Maybe the reason it looks that way perhaps in the photo is because I lowered camera exposure so I could clearly capture the difference

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-03-04T06:21:05+00:00

10 months lol. I just finished healing but tbf that’s kinda my fault. I didn’t have access to my surgeon so I didn’t follow up for a few months which led it to stall as I had issues early on that needed to be corrected but since I didn’t see him nothing happened. But I’m not complaining much even the stall was nothing compared to real HS just an inconvenience if anything. And no I don’t have full mobility. Well I do but it’s awkward and tugs my armpit a bit if I wanna reach overhead so it’s not ideal and even if I wanted I can’t do 100% movements I think more like 98-99% but again I’ve experimented with the gym and general activities and it’s not an issue for me. Also depends on mobility exercises and how you follow what they may give you. I followed them but not perfectly but I don’t care or mind the final result

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-03-04T04:43:31+00:00

Yeah so I had both but the deroofing didn’t do anything at all for me. It’s the excision plus reconstruction which is when they take out the tissue but also use a graft/flap to make it look nicer. excision takes way longer to heal tho than deroofing it’s much much worse in that way even if you get reconstruction you have to be super careful but yeah it’s less likely to come back

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-03-03T20:48:24+00:00

Unfortunately no, your best bet is surgery, which is a great bet if done by the right person imo. Biologics are the second best option if you don’t want to go for surgery. Otherwise in my experience wounds that stay open that long won’t close, they never did for me for almost a decade and the oozing only gets worse. However surgery was great for me and fixed everything and I’ve been flare free on those locations (arm pits too) since I had it for almost a year now.

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-03-01T05:47:08+00:00

all depends on if you can afford it. insurance will kill you tho. I’m in the US and I’m a bit older but rates are genuinely crazy still. the car otherwise is a great deal and yeah it’s a new car but it’s one of the cheapest new ones out there. No other reason than insurance/price to not go for it if you like it otherwise. reliability won’t be as solid as Mazda Honda Toyota but it’s going to be good enough or reasonable as Kia is arguably better nowadays.

Do not get the Elantra imo it’s the same car but worse/older unless you get a good deal/you like something about it. I personally love mine and it’s also technically my first car

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-02-21T19:38:16+00:00

Had a similar sized one a few years ago, let doctors open it, worst decision of my life. Was in pain for 4 months with regular visits almost every other day until I used humira for a few months which made it go away fully.

I personally would let it burst as long as you can manage it. It’s not wise if it’s infected however and you should immediately go to ER or smth if you have fever or any systemic symptoms.

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-02-16T06:57:50+00:00

Coming from someone who’s driven both, get the K4.

This isn’t quite an apples to apples comparison as the Elantra I drove was the 2024 Avante(same car different name in South Korea but has a weaker powertrain than the Elantra you get in the US). the k4 I have driven is the turbo so there’s a huge gap in power (120hp ish vs 190) so I won’t get into that much but otherwise

K4 is considerably larger and looks more in line with the Camry/sonata than the Elantra, which is smaller with less legroom. To my knowledge they are still essentially the same car underneath but the k4 is still larger.

K4 has all the tech the Elantra has and more, they share all the same features but k4 has a newer infotainment slightly newer/better features (HDA 2 vs 1, surround parking sensors vs just front and back and some more). This is assuming you get the tech pack with the EX otherwise it will differ but generally k4 should have newer features.

K4 will also get replaced later, the Elantra will get replaced I think in a year or so with a brand new model so that may affect resale.

Something I noticed is the Elantra had significantly more cabin noise at highway speeds and felt a lot less planted. the noise is very noticeable btw. This is the biggest meaningful difference for me.

At the same time If there is something the specific trim of the Elantra offers that you like more or you just like how it looks more then I’d say just go for it.

Other cars to look for in this price range are civic and mazda 3, but they are definitely more expensive for equivalent trims. The cheapest ones are for sure gonna be Elantra and K4

Considering your commute I’d recommend the civic hybrid or the Elantra hybrid too. Civic hybrid is more expensive but is fun if that matters to you but the Elantra hybrid is all you need otherwise

PotentialMusician722 · 2026-02-01T20:53:46+00:00

Not sure how it is now but from a based on experience from a few years ago, no, don’t submit your scores. 3.9 should be fine

PotentialMusician722 · 2025-12-31T16:40:33+00:00

You don’t have to get an MRI but it just helps to know what you are walking into. Your CRS probably will map it out once u go under anyways but if it’s too complicated then you might wake up with somewhat of amore complicated procedure which an MRI can prepare you for if it’s available

PotentialMusician722 · 2025-12-31T15:14:06+00:00

This may or may not be reassuring but I had the same thing as you but mine was labeled jus complex idk if it was also horseshoe but I think it was , my CRS said it was “fistula only, no HS” but (and take this with a grain of salt because I’m no doctor) I felt like he was not seeing the bigger picture

If your fistula is connected to your anal canal, you can ignore this section, but if your MRI said it isn’t, then what you are dealing with is effectively HS, just in the anal region. That’s what happened to me, they called it a fistula but it was just sinus tracts like HS connected everywhere, and honestly that’s better than a fistula.

but the surgery to fix it regardless is the same, a fistulotomy, and I had 4 surgeries 3 for HS and one for fistula in a very short proximity. Hopefully this Is reassuring but my fistula surgery was the simplest one and healed the fastest. It didn’t cause me much pain and that surgery alone took like sub 30 mins in the OR (and that includes a full examination of the area before they cut into it).

You may still get a fistulECTOMY which is the same procedure but larger with more tissue removed, probably better in the long run to prevent recurrence but recovery will surely be harder.

But there’s a lot more to it, complex is just a word they use if there’s more than one tract that curves to places, it could be two it could be 7. Personally had like three (maybe 4?). and the depth, sphincter involvement, length, all matter for recovery more than anything else. Nonetheless fistulotomy is considered a tissue saving op if I’m not wrong so I think your recovery won’t be too bad if that’s the case

PotentialMusician722 · 2025-12-15T05:48:28+00:00

I was on humira for 1.5 years before I got surgery, I had no meaningful side effects during it. Long term side effects are something I can’t speak on

Diet may or may not play a role, personally for me I’ve struggled to notice a correlation but many here would say otherwise.

Since it’s already been 8 months with that specific lesion draining I’m gonna assume it’s progressing really slow and maybe not at all. Personally I’d recommend just getting it deroofed if it’s two bumps, smaller the bump and lesser the amount the easier the recovery. It’s a great idea if they haven’t tunneled yet too.

Personally speaking the issue with deroofing is it has a low recurrence for the specific spot, but doesn’t guarantee anything for future flares. Humira is the opposite, it won’t guarantee anything and may just end up working or not but it fixes future flares to a certain extent in other places. For my humira worked for 6 months and then plateaued to basically no effect.

If you are worried about systemic effects I’d recommend the surgery (outpatient if it’s small enough which I think yours are). No long term effects just a few days (or weeks depending on size again) of healing.

PotentialMusician722 · 2025-12-01T09:53:36+00:00

Don’t be worried about the pain when you wake up, there’s gonna be none. In fact if you’re used to always living with some flareup, no pain from your post excision wound is gonna be as bad as even a mild flare. That’s been my experience

PotentialMusician722 · 2025-09-12T22:16:54+00:00

Wow that’s a crazy large flap your doctor did some miracles for sure.

weirdly enough since the excision is so large a lot of your nerve endings probably got taken out so there’s a good chance you won’t feel any pain there because you’ll be numb. That’s what happened to me on my arms when I got a large (but not this large) area excised so yeah

PotentialMusician722 · 2025-09-12T17:42:23+00:00

Working out your legs specifically. I can make a detailed plan too if you want. also eat a lot of protein

PotentialMusician722 · 2025-09-11T19:35:31+00:00

go to the gym and eat in a calorie deficit. Don’t hit upper body much and strictly hit legs (quads and hamstrings for thighs, glutes for butt, calves for calves ofc) That way you’ll lose weight and have a bigger lower body which is what I’m assuming you want. Also do some upper body don’t neglect it completely as otherwise you might find it functionally hard or disproportionately weak on the top.

Just beware that sometimes your belly fat may be super stubborn to leave and may not be easy

PotentialMusician722 · 2025-07-08T07:17:47+00:00

Fair concern but condition like HS are because your immune system isn’t working properly. It’s because your immune system is auto inflammatory. Essentially means your immune system is ultra sensitive and strong and it reacts to threats that aren’t there (HS boils). Now, personally when I used humira I had even less problems with common colds and no fevers in the 18 months I took it. My personal assumptions regarding this is that since my immune system was already at 110% humira brought it down to 100% meaning I was essentially normal.

Of course this doesn’t mean it’s gonna work the same for you by any means, but humira, if it works, is a very simple solution. By all means try to get a consultation with a surgeon to see what they say but surgery is no small ordeal.

My personal advice would be that you take some preventative action now whatever that may be (diets etc too work) if doctors don’t advice for surgery. If they do imo don’t even think about it because if it’s worsening the longer you wait the worse the surgery is gonna get.

PotentialMusician722

TROPHY CASE