Faults:

While I was driving, I observed a sudden loss of power and very thick smoke came out of the muffler.

Two weeks after acquiring the van, it over heated; a water plug was damaged.

Then it never started; good thing that the cylinder head and the engine was not damaged when it overheated due to damaged water plug. But the timing was changed, as it turned out to be hard to start engine. So the mechanic calibrated the injection pump, and the nozzles were cleaned and corrected the timing, and then the problem on hard starting and black smoke was solved.

A very reliable powerful engine in terms of speed.

A very spacious van for my 3 kids.

Right now, I need to replace the brake pads on front and a need to check the mac pherson strut coil spring.

In deed, a value for a price, but need to watch out for its maintenance.

General Comments:

Very spacious, good for family use.

But plastic interiors were indeed noisy.

Faults:

The engine was "replaced" in 2003 and had coolant problems since. It gave up again Dec 31, 2006 and cost me heaps for repairs. The engine was rebuilt due to overheating where it fact I could have prevented this if I did not force to drive it. With the overheating, the cylinder heads needs to be replaced, gaskets included and O-rings. Thermostat needs replacing and radiators serviced. This could have ensured no coolant loss and more years of performance and could have only cost $800 to $1,500 (incl. labor).

The repairer I got rebuild the engine - with replacement pistons (3), rings, valves, gaskets, radiator cleaned, thermostat replaced, and other incidentals included.

Now, my Kia Carnival Classic 2000 is driving like new. Surprisingly, the work done by the repairer is outstanding, but they don't want to work on a Kia anymore due to spare parts being scarce and Kia Motors provided no help in giving the service manual (it not a copy, hints on how to fix it). If only they helped, it could have not taken us 7 months to rebuild the Kia Classic Carnival.

God bless them.

General Comments:

The car is really good, spacious, and economical.

If only Kia helps those who are willing to standby their product throughout.

Faults:

What hasn't??

Currently on its 3rd engine.

2nd gearbox and needs a new one as we speek.

Fuel pump failure.

Warped brake disks replaced numerous times.

Exhaust system broke off from the engine.

Seats are worn seriously.

Engine mounts broken.

Gear selector snapped.

Hand brake cable snapped.

Only 56000Kms old.

General Comments:

Worst car ever made. I should have stuck with a japanese brand like Toyota, Honda or Nissan, but the cheap price swayed me.

Has trouble going down the freeway at 110Kph, and once a hill comes up, you need to pull it back to second gear and crawl up it. Even semi trailers go past me.

Handles so bad it's not funny. Worst body roll of any car ever.

Zero to 100 in about the time it takes to put it on the back of a tow truck and then let the truck move it.

It has left me stranded around 15 times, and about $3500 in towing fees alone.

In the time I have owned this pile, my other car (a Nissan Maxima 1998) has had not one problem at all with it.

Shows that Japanese know how to build cars and the Koreans don't.

Only a fool would buy this car.

Next year I'm buying a second hand Honda Odyssey. and I know from experience that it will perform faultlesly. I should have gotten it in the first place. (Kicking myself now)