1998 Kia Sephia review from North America

When I first got the car, the man I bought it from told me that it would be a good car if I treated it well. I don't drive it hard; I'm very light-footed, and have still had an unbelievable amount of problems.

The car has had to be taken into the shop at least once a month, and usually more often than that. I've put almost as much money into repairing it as I actually payed for it initially.

First, I took it to my mechanic because the car would "jump" around a bit whenever it changed gears (it also shimmied around when I was idling). The mechanic told me that KIA just makes bad transmissions and that there was nothing he could do about it. Since then, in addition to more transmission problems, I have had problems with the wiring underneath the car (first a transmission line busted while my mother was driving it, leaving her stranded. Just weeks later, my fuel line busted, leaving me stranded with gas puddling around my car), and the brakes. I almost got into a really bad accident recently as a result of the brake problems. Also, the car has decided that it doesn't want to start sometimes. The lining around one of the rear doors has begun to come off, my windshield wipers stopped working once (and now that they're actually working, they don't effectively wipe off the rain - they actually make it more difficult to see), and on occasion, the driver-side door doesn't unlock. Also, the tape player makes a high-pitched squealing sound.

This car, although it looks nice and is comfortable, terrifies me.

Every other Sephia owner I've ever talked to has had similar problems and similar dissatisfaction.

My Mazda (which I still own) is an '89, and has not had nearly as many problems as the Sephia.