1999 Kia Sephia review from North America

I have not had any major problems with the Sephia. I have had regular oil changes, brake pads x1 on front, shoes x1 on rear and a (somewhat costly) 60,000 mile maintenance since I've owned it.

I think it's attributable to the manual transmission, but my Kia has plenty of get up & go. She won't go above 75 without a rattle & hum, but that's "speeding" anyway. However, I pushed her 3500 miles over 6 days at a pretty constant 85-90 mph. NO problem.

As I said, I drove over 3500 miles from Tampa, FL to Seattle- over the Rockies, the Sierra-Nevadas and the Cascade mountain ranges with NO problem. I also drove the same distance, from Seattle BACK to FL, then on to Boston, MA and back to FL again. I've put about 30,000 miles on in less than 2 years and have done no repairs other than standard maintenance.

My only complaint is that the seats are pretty uncomfortable- my rear end is asleep after about 5 hours, then for the duration of the trip.

By the way, all of the above traveling has been with the car stuffed full of my belongings, including a Karrite clamshell cargo carrier strapped to the roof. I'd estimate about 1000 lbs. of cargo and my 6'1, 200 lb. self. NOT BAD, I say!

All of this great performance, for an incredible value at $2500.