Brake pads needed replacement shortly after buying car.
Both electric fans needed replacement, 1 failing leaving us stranded, road side assistance was good, but took 1 month for parts.
Rough shifting / running almost from day one - many visits to dealer resulted in denial of any problems.
Dealer service was pathetic. Customer Service was lousy. Brought to dealer attention many times, nothing was ever done.
Turns out our regular service was never done - only the oil was changed.
Had to hound them to get anything done. Calls were never returned.
Always long delays to get parts - 1 month or more.
We owned this car for 1 1/2 years.
In the end the dealer took it back and we got a Ford Focus.
We had the same issues with our Sedona van and the dealer took it back and we got a Ford Windstar.
Even numerous letters, faxes, emails, phone calls to Kia Canada resulted in no action or even a call back.
I would strongly discourage anyone (especially in Canada) from buying a Kia.
The only reason that the brake pads on the 2001 KIA Sephia should wear out fast is if the brakes are being drove with. What I mean by drove is one foot on the gas and one foot on the brake. I bought my 2001 new and the front brake pads lasted until 51,000 miles. I drive my car hard I have raced constantly and have had no major problems.
The problem with customer service is a dealership problem, KIA has no control over the dealerships. My suggestion if you ever own another Kia is to go to a different dealership.
Overall I think the 2001 KIA Sephia is a great car. I now have 69,000 miles on it. I suggest giving Kia another try.
Wow...you raced a KIA sephia... nice life...
Raced a Kia? Everything okay at 60,000 miles... let me know how you're doing at 80,000. My lovely little Kia left my 17 year old on the side of the road at 81,000 miles because the transmission decided to die... she called our mechanic...I'm now waiting to see if Kia will honor the warranty??? Wish me luck... I don't have $2,500 to spend on a car worth $3,300! I guess I should have bought a Ford.
I work for Kia. They are good vehicles as long as
they are taken care of. if people were not skipping
maintenace or abusing their vehicles they would last
a lot longer. also keep in mind, you spent about 1/2
as much for your kia so don't begin to think it should
act like a lexus or a ford.
My Kia I have only minor problems with. The dealership honored the warranty even though I was not the original owner and fixed EVERYTHING, no questions asked. I have been in 2 wrecks in this car and its still going... if they still made it I would buy another one.
I bought a 2001 Kia Sephia at 95,000 miles. I love this car! I now have 150,000 miles on it and it runs/drives great. I have only had to do minor maintanence on the car and get great mileage. I would buy another one in a moment. They said at the dealership that it could last 250,000 miles if it is maintained properly. I tend to agree. I faithfully change oil and maintain. We'll see!
I bought a 2001 Kia Sephia brand new from the dealer. The car now has 130,000 miles and runs beautiful. I have always had a problem with the dealership, things such as saying they did something, but never did, long waits, and very high costs for services. If it wasn't for that I would buy another Kia, but due to the high dealer cost for service I think I'll buy something else next time.
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