Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-50
I hate my girlfriend's 2000 Kia Sephia. It has problems starting up. I replaced the plugs and wires. I bled and even replaced the fuel filter. I don't want to replace the coils because they are too expensive. The dealer says it's a problem with the 3rd gear in the transmission. : (My '76 Chevy is 200 times more reliable than that car.
We own a 2000 Kia Sephia. Bought used with 45,000 miles, it was great for about a month. Check engine light came on and ran very rough, we brought it to a dealer. 2 coils and 2 sets of plugs needed to be replaced. About another month later the entire brake system needed to be replaced. During the winter the battery died out on us, (no fault of the car) on the way to replace the battery we slid through an icy intersection and damaged a rim. Try finding a replacement rim, only from the dealer at $127.00 a piece. Someone else in here mentioned something about a dealer said she spilled coke in the shifter boot, funny we had the same issue and I don't allow food or drink in the car for those reasons (however the car was used). I don't recommend Kia's, it seems that cars that are very inexpensive to buy new, just aren't made very well at all. Guess you get what you pay for.
Hello fellow Kia Buyers. I have read a few of the other comments and I cannot agree more Kia's are a bad quality of cars. I have a 98 Kia Sepia 5 speed and this car has been a nightmare since the day I got it. Within the first month of bringing it home there were was a storm and my lights seem to be a little dull. I couldn't figure out what was going home when I got home I had a head light filled with water. The water slowly leaked out, but after doing so it left a mist or fog inside the head light. We took it to the dealer, but they said there was nothing that they could do just to wait for the mist to clear up. After that the car seemed fine up until six months the alternator went out and took the radio and the a/c with it. The dealer said that the alternator is under warranty, but the radio and a/c is not. I was thinking so what is a bumper to bumper warranty for? Anyhow that was the least of the problems I had out of the car. The car for some odd reason started to burn oil really, really bad. I mean I couldn't go more than 160 miles without having to buy more oil because it started making a ticking noise as if it was going to throw a rod. I have also had problems with the dash board the glue is starting to come un-done, all, but two of my vents inside the car have broken completely in half, and I have had to sew the drivers seat back together. On the driver side front and back and the passenger back side the rubber seal on the the door had broken in half so I had to get some rubber cement a glue it back together. Also the windshield wipers I was driving in a really bad storm to the point I had to pull over a couple of times. Well I decided to go ahead and rough it since I was only about 20 minutes from home. Well my windshield wipers were OK until turned them all the way up the right wiper flipped completely over and the one on the left went completely off the windshield landing on my side view mirror. I had to follow the lights to get off the road because it was like trying to see through a fish bowl. I got out a re-adjusted the wipers from their current positions and road home doing about 20-35 miles per hour on the access roads because I could not see anything. When I got home I called the dealer to let them know that I needed to have the the wipers done which I though would be an easy adjustment, NOT they told me that I would have to get a whole new motor for the wipers and it was going to be about 200.00 dollars. Well I didn't have the money for that so I had to make sure I paid attention to the weather before leaving the house. On top of all of this my trunk cannot be opened with the key it has to be popped open by the little handle on the inside. My key will barley turn to get the driver or passenger side doors open, some time I have to manually lock the passenger side because you push the lock in the door will not lock. My driver side, side view mirror now has a mind of its own it moves around while I drive so I have to move back every five to ten minutes. My gears are sticking as well sometimes I have to push with both hands to get in first or fifth gear, and yank until I have the entire car shaking to get out of fifth gear. My hydraulic system for my clutch had to be replaced 400.00 dollars man that really hurt this was in Dec 04, after that was fixed the belts had to be replaced this was in the beginning of Feb 05 now I am back again. I just went back to the dealer on the 21st of Feb 05 and there is something wrong with the engine. It sounds really rough when I am taking off in first gear, I can barely get it to pull up hill in second gear and there is like a constant puttering nose coming from the tail pipe I have no idea what is wrong with this car. The last time that I went to the dealer he told me that it was okay that the engine light is on because they had tried to turn it off, but it kept coming on. Mind you that this light has been own sitting there like that for about five years, well it decided it wanted to dance cause now it flashes on and off I told the dealer about the recent trouble with the engine, tail pipe and the check engine light. Well they called and told my mother that the motor mount was cracked so it would need to be replaced, then there was an O ring or something for the coolant system, spark plugs and something else well this all totaled to be another 408.12 so I was sure that everything would be taken care of. I guess that's what you call wishful thinking right when I started the car up the same problem with the engine, the tail pipe and the check engine light nothing had changed the same problem persisted. It was after hours when I picked up my car so the very next day I went back. We talked to the guy in charge and he is telling me well your going to need a new engine and I was like well you knew this the whole time and I just paid you 400 dollars for nothing since I have to get a brand new engine why wouldn't he tell me that in the beginning now I have to come up with an extra 2,000 dollars to get a new engine. The car is not even worth it, but I can't afford another car right now. If anyone has any recommendations about the whole situation please let me know the last repairs that I have had done to this car have cost-ed well over 1300 dollars and now this I can't even afford it. I hope that everyone lets their friends and families know that KIAs are horrible cars. I know from a friend that use to work for the KIA dealership that within the first six months that your car is going to have problems. Within the first two years of me having the car I had about five different recalls on the car and then there were a few more after that. You may think you are getting a deal when you buy a KIA, but it is going to cost you in the long run it is going to cost you about what you paid for it in repairs so you are actually buying a lemon at luxury car price. I have heard that Honda's and Toyota's are really good. Believe me I will never ever, ever, ever buy another KIA in my life it has truley been a costly and horrible experience I hope that people with the same situation inform others to let them know about the poor quality of these cars and stop them from becoming cash cow's for these dealerships. Encourage them to go on-line and find a web site that gives them facts about the cars for instance I read that KIA has the lowest rating with 5.19 defects per car, how can someone allow people to sell cars that are that defective that is nothing, but a set up. However, I wish everyone luck with there next car buying experience I know this will be one they never forget.
I have a 2001 kia sephia and I love it. I don't understand where you all are having all these problems. my gear shift knob broke, but I was still able to drive the and it ran just fine. the gear shifft was only 50 bucks used and works fine. that was dec.04.
Reading all these horror stories, I would have to agree that buying a kia is really hit or miss. I have a 2001 sephia and only had one incident of my engine over heating. called the service # and they had it towed to the dealer, dealer called me the next morning and had fixed by the next day.. I paid nothing out my pocket (i guess all covered by the warranty). I mean, cmon guys it's a cheap car... mine has been very dependable 3 years and 53,000+ miles so far.
I can't beleive all the negitive reviews of Kia Sephia LS 2000's!! I bought a used Kia Sephia LS 2000 with 91000 miles on it. I have had it for a few years and all I ever had to replace was the tires and front brakes, and that after I got the millage up to 179,000 and still running strong. Absolutely no major problems like described in some other reviews. The only things I had to replace were items that need to be replaced in every car now and then due to time, wear and tear like breaks, tires, airfilter etc. I would recommend this car to anyone who doesn't want to spend a lot of money and needs a reliable good little car. Go Kia!
Has anyone else heard of or know of any defects with the Kia tires. I was driving my wife's '03 KIA Spectra and the tire came off. Apparently the shop stated that the lug nuts had been off for a while and that the screws were stripped away. We had never touched the tires and we only had the car for 2 months? Is there any sort of defect for these lug nuts and is something like that covered under the KIA warranty? We're having a hard time getting this covered.
I think your lug nut problems are more likely due to taking the car to a garage where people stripped out the lug nuts by using an air wrench set too high. Cracked, mushroomed-out lug nuts and stripped lugs are a common problem because low-class mechanics don't bother to start the nut by hand, and don't finish tightening with a real torque wrench. If the nut starts crooked, they just jam that thing down there with metal shavings flying.
I have a 2000 kia sephia and its been trouble, brake problems. My dash is coming up by the winshield vents. The vents are also broken. Now my motor has only 80000 miles and starting to make noises I never heard from a engine. Its never been run hard. The lights suck, headlights are very dull and give off no light to help see. I wish I never bought this car, too late. I will NEVER again buy another!!!
I would have to disagree I have a kia sephia 2000 and the only problem I have is that the alternater isn't strong enough for my sound sytem, but then again I have a 2000 watt sytem in the car so go fig.
I have a 2000 KIA Sephia, and I'm having a hard time seeing where a lot of these comments are coming from. I've had it for about a year, running at 72k miles currently, and the only problems I've had are general wear-and-tear repairs and one other problem where the primary catalytic converter burned out. It's no surprise to me, though, because the previous owner lived in Wyoming and apparently drove it like a drag racer. Covered under warranty and everything has been perfect since!
I suppose that every car is made differently, though. I've had friends with Saturns and Fords with similar problems to all described here, so I don't see the big difference between those and a KIA. It really comes down to how much you are willing to pay for a car versus its quality. Of course this car isn't going to last as long as a Honda or Toyota, but it also doesn't cost as much.
I have a KIA Sephia 2000 and it is great, good engine, comfortable... great!
I have a 2000 Kia Sephia that I bought new in 2000. I now have 120,000 miles and absolutely love the car. The only problem I have had is the alternator went out with about 75,000 miles on it. Kia replace it for free under the warranty.
I have had cars from every domestic company and most of the imports. I have had great cars, terrible cars and so-so cars.
Based on the less than $10,000 I paid for my Kia new, I think it has been a real bargain. Of course it is not a luxury car and doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, but for transportation that is getting 30 to 35 miles per gallon, I cannot complain at all.
When I get ready to buy another small car, Kia will certainly be one of the first ones I look at!
Hardly any problems with my 2001 Kia Sephia since I bought it new in fall of 2001.
I stumbled on this site because I’m just now having some problems with my starter--from what I’ve read online, I’m thinking maybe it’s something called “heat soak”. It starts OK when the engine is cold, but once the engine warms up, if I park (like while running errands) and then start it up again too soon, I have to turn the key a few times. When I turn the key, it makes a brief noise, then goes silent. Usually takes about 3 times tries to start. But when it’s cooled down (even just an hour) it’s fine.
Like a previous writer, I’m a single mom, so considering all these other comments, I’m feeling like I’ve been really lucky the last few years!
I have a 2000 KIA and in an attempt to find a resolve to problems I have encountered for the past three months or more with the car, I too stumbled across this site. The vents and dash near my front window have come unglued and cracked; the driver's door locks when it feels like it, therefore I too use my key almost all of the time. Three days after owning it the rear brake line broke, six months later the proportioning valve also gave out. Now I have been encountering starting issues. After three electronic checks, cleaning of the solenoid, changing the gas filter, I am now told I need to change the plugs and wires. However, from what I have witnessed on previous postings here, that will more than likely not resolve my problem. Yes, it takes at least three tries before it will start, whether I pump it first, or not, or whether the engine is cold or warm. The dealership even told me I wasn't holding the clutch down far enough. I have been driving a stick since for 40 years! My windshield wipers make a terrible sound, but at least still working. I bought this used, yet still owe two more years on it. I am single and on social security disability, so I just pray this car holds out at least two years. If and when I can afford another car, it won't be a KIA for certain. I am 55 and have owned many cars and models, new and used, but none have aggravated me more than the KIA.