2000 Kia Sephia Base 1.8L

Summary:

Solid and inexpensive little car

Faults:

I had the brakes replaced under warranty at 20,000 miles for a known issue with soft disks and drums.

Weather-Strip needs to be reseated frequently.

General Comments:

I purchased this car brand-new in the fall of 1999. It's not the most comfortable car, owing mostly to the obtrusiveness of the center console.

It's fairly peppy, but not a rocket by any stretch. The care is noisy at highway speeds.

I have had the brakes redone twice, the first time under warranty (second time at 100,000 miles).

I've replaced no shocks/struts. No exhaust components.

It's solid, basic transportation that I paid $8500.00 for. I'm still driving it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 27th January, 2006

2000 Kia Sephia LS 1.4L/4 cylinder

Summary:

This car has a short lifespan

Faults:

Windshield washer system went out at 30,000 miles. Still haven't fixed it yet. Wipers have always worked fine.

Automatic lock system went out at 70,000 miles. Now all doors have to be locked and unlocked manually.

Center console latch broke off 2 months after the car was purchased. Never got it fixed due to neglegence from the Kia dealership.

Car broke down at 40,000 miles. Diagnosis from dealership was that it needed a tune-up, and they said this happens with every model.

Whole belt system replaced at 65,000 miles including the timing belt and the a/c compressor belt.

Steering wheel vibrates pretty badly when the brake pedal is pressed.

Driver-side automatic window control went out for one rear window and the passenger window. The windows that don't roll down from the driver seat have to be rolled down by the switch that controls them.

Dashboard started warping at 50,000 miles... probably due to extreme heat, but both defrost plates are cracked and the yellow insulation underneath the dashboard is exposed.

Glove box switch is almost broken. It has to be handled delicately when being opened and closed.

The A/C and heat has always worked wonderfully, although the air doesn't reach the passengers in the back very well.

Good speakers.

I installed a CD player, which goes out when the car hits minute bumps or holes in the road.

The hood rattles and squeaks while the car is driving due to vibrations from the engine, I assume.

Both "Boots" on the front axle tore at 74200 miles, I have yet to replace this. The mechanic says the only way to fix this is to replace the whole front axle.

The door seals easily come off and are torn in some places.

The plastic pieces on the outside of the car on the rear windows have turned a whitish color, due to drying out. It looks bad.

The passenger seat covering is starting to come off from the bottom up.

The trunk opening latch broke off around 30,000 miles and I super glued it back on. That seemed to fix the problem.

Even though the belts have been replaces, they like to squeal sometimes when the car is started up, but will stop after a minute or two of driving.

Pretty good get up and go, but this varies. Sometimes it takes forever to get the car up to good speed.

Have driven this car back and forth from California to Florida three times and it did just fine, although after 45 minutes of sitting.. the seats are very uncomfortable.

I am very diligent about it's full service oil changes every 2000-3000 miles, and this is probably why the engine has had rare problems.

This car has always been very reliable. Next to no engine trouble, except for the one time it needed a tune-up.

It was a good first car, and now I'm ready for a new one because now the repairs are exceeding it's blue book value.

Seats.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 26th October, 2005