1997 Kia Sportage ex review from North America

This vehicle has been a headache from the very start. I've had it for 13 months, and it has spent a full 7 of those months in the shop for various issues.

We bought the car used with only 36,000 miles on it. Three days after I got it, it overheated while waiting at a stoplight. It was still under the dealer's 30-day warranty, so we took it back to find out what was going on. They had the car for a month and a half, replacing the radiator, power steering pump, muffler, and fixing the air bag and check engine lights, which never went off.

I got the car back at the beginning of February. It ran fine, minus a moderate antifreeze smell (but no overheating), until mid-May. I parked it at 9:00 pm, went into the library and worked until 5:00 am, and when I went out to start the car, the check engine light came on and stayed. The car was idling and running VERY roughly, so I took it to the shop. They replaced the spark plugs and I went to pick the car up. Halfway home, it started doing the same rough idling/running thing, so I turned around and brought it back to the shop. Long story short, they had it for a month and a half trying to diagnose and fix the problem. They replaced several parts, most notably the oxygen sensors and the fuel injectors.

The fuel injectors did the trick from the beginning of July until the end of September, when the same rough idling/running started again. My family tried to drive the car two hours to our home, but only made it about half an hour before they had to be towed home. The car has been in the shop from September 28 until today, January 29, and it still isn't fixed. Virtually every part has been replaced, and the dealership that was working on it flat out told us that there is so much wrong with it that it can't be fixed. Save yourself the frustration - look for something more reliable.

Save yourself the money - and the headache.