I'm just chiming in to be chiming in
I have a 2017 Kia Optima. It is one of the midsize cars for Kia and I had not planned to get it when I was car shopping last August! I too HATED shopping for a new car and spent ALL DAY at the dealership and went home with a car the same day. I went in for a used car and came out with a brand new car. It worked out better in the end. It has plenty of room in the back. The car salesman was over 6 foot tall and he had PLENTY of leg room in the back seat on the test drive. It handles / drives fabulously and gets great gas mileage. For the little (BIG) snows we had over the winter it handled really well. But since it's not an SUV I am not help.