2000 Kia Sephia Base review from North America

From 63k to 86k still very few problems. Bought in winter 2000, 86k miles in 2.5 years!

Just lost my Catalytic Converter. Horrible horrible rattling noise after the car warms up. At 86k I am over my emissions warranty which ran until 80k. I haven't replaced it yet since it failed AFTER emissions testing. Part is $170 online, may change myself.

I still change my oil/filter religiously every 3k miles. To me this makes a huge difference in any car. I also add a fuel injector gas supplement every once-in-a-while to a full tank of gas.

I also hit all the 15k services at a dealer. 90k coming up! Reminder: 60k service does not replace timing belt! Definetely replace the timing belt at that time if not during the service then somewhere else (pep boys for me).

Overall no problems. Have a roof rack for carrying bikes. This is our travelling car due to the high mileage & incredibly poor resale value.

Forgot to mention in earlier post that the tires were so horrible I lost my traction in snow while just going straight. The car slide sideways and I regained in time to move it up a curb. No damage except to underside of car where bumper hits frame. Just bent some welded on angles that hold bumper. Bumper sits lower, but is still haning on, no problems with steering! These were not the Kumho tires. I replaced them with GOOD Kumho's from TireRack. com and have had no problems.

This is the way I feel about my car:

"Seems I got a Kia produced in the middle of the run when things went right.

In the beginning of maufacturing they didn't know how to build anything, in the end of the run they just didn't care."

Resale value prevents Kia from entering the market of the "smart" car buyer who has money. (i was a poor grad student when I bought it).

Though I like the car and it gives me little problems, I wouldn't buy another Kia. I'm just not in their type of market anymore plus the horror stories of the many many many others puts me off.

The service I had at the dealer was pretty good. But I have moved and will go to a new dealer soon. They reminded me of the timing belt issue (see above).