2002 Kia Sportage review from North America

Which car are you referring? My previous car or my present car (KIA)?

Previous car - nothing major. Just wanted to have a newer car.

Present car - so many things have gone wrong since ownership. The first year of ownership, I was driving it and just decided slowing down till it died. The engine light just kept on. This went on for a couple of times after the first time. Serviceman stated it had something to do with the air bag. (This sounded suspicious because I heard that once the airbags have exploded they can't be used anymore--not that the airbags exploded on me yet. However, this is still an area of concern to me as they are supposed to be a feature of the vehicle I wanted to have for safety purposes.) In the meantime, there was a time the back door can't be opened and had to make appointment for that as well. Then the engine light came on again. Somehow it's telling me something is wrong or the light won't light up. Dealership was temporarily able to get the light off. The very next day, it went back on again. This is getting to be very frustrating as I can't seem to use it without having the light on as soon as the engine starts. Another problem too is that the dealership is too far (36 miles from my residence). It takes so much gas to take it to the dealership. They also do not have a shuttle service that would either take you home or back to work while they try to "fit" your vehicle into their schedule even though you had a designated appointment time and day on the appointment date that they devote to look into what's wrong with the vehicle. Meanwhile, they keep your car and make you wait. They also do not let you know by calling if it is being looked at or if it has been fixed or needed to be fixed. They seem to neglect that when you turn in your car you also have to make arrangement for a transportation to go back home or to work or else wait all day or how long it will take them to figure what's wrong. I think that dealership would seriously consider having a shuttle service if they want to attract more customers in buying their cars knowing they'd be taken care of or at least minimize other concerns like worrying who and what time you could go home to take care of personal business or back to work to resume your work. Work is, after all, the guarantee that payments are made--for services, parts, or whatever. I have purchased two new vehicles in the past, but this is the only dealership in town that I know which do not provide a shuttle service.

Anyway, mine was due for new tabs. I brought it in for emission testing as that is required before I can get the new tabs. The vehicle has to pass the test. After paying the fee and had it tested, the attendant said that it failed. She said that when engine light is on, she can almost tell for sure that the vehicle isn't going to pass.

So I dropped mine off at the service department of the dealership yesterday (August 29, 2007) at noon after they gave me an appointment for today (August 30, 2007) at 8 o'clock in the morning. I had called at a minute before 10 to find out what their diagnosis. The man who answered said that they haven't gotten to it yet. He went on to say that they have a lot of cars to look into and they haven't even looked at mine yet. I had made the appointment last week and I was told that they were all booked up for that week and so I asked when the first available time and day they can do mine. However, they don't even stick to their own appointment. I don't think they should do all cars at one time. They should schedule all maintenance service for a certain day and others which require more time on a separate day. It is not fair to make people wait as though that's the only thing they spend their time on. Their time is important, but ours is important as well. They told me that they would call me and would let me know. They didn't. If it was going to take them a while, they should at least give people a "courtesy" call instead of keeping them in suspense. They have other obligations too.

Anyway, this is the fourth time I had brought it in for the same problem. I'm getting tired of it. My vehicle only has 5,000 miles since I've owned it and have religiously taken it for its required lube, oil filter change and have taken care of it. I'm beginning to think this SUV is a lemon. If so, KIA should own up to its ten-year warranty or a replacement.

Poor engineering.

Own dealership's mechanics, after servicing it for the same problem three times before AND in less than 5 years, still haven't figured what's causing the engine light to stay on.

I think they should just take the vehicle back and give me a new one if they want to keep my business or if they want to have say good things about their autos and their service.