Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-51
Yes, I still owe 5 K on that heap :D We bought it used, from a independent used car dealer... we had the 2 month warranty on it (and it ran PERFECT) except towards the end of that 2 months, just as it expired, and the dealer avoided all my phone calls, perfectly timed to an expired warranty! The used car dealer was not a "Kia Dealer" and in trying to track down a dealer around here, forget it! From the two month point on, it's been nothing, but trouble... and after reading someone else's entry, I too have the same PAINT PROBLEM as well. My car only has just hit 70,000 and it sickens me! All my Chevy's generally hit about 200,000 miles before they die on me! I will NEVER buy another Kia again, and it makes me afraid of other foreign cars. Granted, I know some are very good, but on the whole, I think I'm sticking to Chevy's, and Gmc's and Dodges. VJBriody@netzero.net.
I am also having a huge problem with my 99 Kia Sportage. I'm just glad it's not just me.
When I first bought the car, from a used car lot, it leaked just a teeny bit. I live in Florida and it now GUSHES water from underneath the passenger dash. If someone could please tell me a way to fix it, that would be awesome.
I've been having a few othe problems that were listed, but my car smelling like mold is a very big deal right now. I know it needs an oil change, but I don't know what other kind of money I want to put in this piece of junk.
I own a 2000 sportage... and for the past yr plus it has had the check engine light on too... i have done away with kia mechanics a long time ago... and have my own... my truck has 135,000 plus miles on it... and overall it runs great... i have some electrical issues... but I am taking it down today to the shop and passing along the issues that I have read on the site where I got your email address...
I know for a fact... that the hoses seem to crack fast... and the radiator sucks rocks... oh and my sensor for my breaks just went out... so that screws up my turn signals and my automatic gear shifter... i have to override the system... but I am looking for an after market one... all and all things are OK with my truck... and while I want to buy another one... and give that one as a trade in... i know it will not be worth anything... and I cannot afford a new truck right now... but soon...
Anyway...i will let you know of any changes that were made... that fixed my problems... and maybe..if you still have yours... which I doubt... i can pass the info onto you... talk to you soon april.
I have had my 2002 kia sportage for almost 2 years and it has been great. it conked out 2 weeks ago and needed a new radiator. we replaced that, but ever since it takes about 3 times to turn over and start and it idols a little high when stopped. yesterday the check engine light came on and the over drive button is stuck on-even though we did not turn it on. it has about 47,000 miles on it and I just want it back like it was 2 weeks ago. Any suggestions? I really want to keep it for the next few years as it serves the purpose for just me.
1999 Kia Sportage with starting problems, mechanic says there was a factory recall because there are weak sensors on flywheel, engine must be pulled? Anybody know anything about this. Intermittently, it will just crank, but not start. After a dozen tries, it'll start.
John
jweyrick@cfl.rr.com.
I wish I had found this site four years ago when I made the decision to buy a used 97 Sportage with low miles. Two months into ownership of it I now know why low miles.
It started with this loud grinding sound that caused all power to the car to halt and immediately the MIL check engine light came on. I took it to a mechanic and he performed a tune-up, all was fine for a week, then the check engine light comes back on. Replaced countless sensors and each time a new one would come up as the fault.
At the suggestion of the mechanic I take it to the dealer, worse mistake ever, as they were ill equipped on resolving anything. First we spent money at grounding the electrical issues, same error, then they claim its the tranny, we spent 1500.00 on a rebuilt one, two miles later the same thing, they send a tow truck to get us, now it’s the brakes that just suddenly locked into place, this while the car while was being driven and not depressed. Then came the transfer case, finally my neighbor tells me to stop spending money on this because after paying 7K for this lemon, we threw another 4K into it for unnecessary repairs.
I purchased the car at 40K miles and it currently has only has 56K miles on it, five years later.
Other issues, the windows stopped working the door locks freaked out turning on and off with the vehicle parked and the key out of the ignition, which I resolved by disconnecting the factory installed alarm.
This weekend I’m putting it on eBay to sell as a parts car. Oh and although the truck runs well now, the MIL lamp still comes on, so it can’t pass inspection in NYS.
Useless piece of engineering!
Gimayoral@yahoo.com.
I’ve found this review and it’s comments particularly helpful, as many reviews found on this site makes me want to break out into a full chorus of “my heat bleeds for you “ in other words I hear a lot of whining, to no avail, but this review/comments offer up more solutions than problems.
I can truly say I didn’t waste my time reading this, THANK YOU to all who posted!!
For ALL the questions I see posted here, read every word of this review/comments, as I think someone here has posted a “fix” that can help you.
The (electrical) grounding troubles I see here make perfect sense to me (now), some thing I’d of overlooked other wise.
Police cars are grounded out to the max, I saw one once that had not one, but, two grounding cables hooked to the trunk lid, that’s right the trunk lid, my grandfather has had many, second hand police cars, and says if you remove any of these ground cables (and run the spot lights or anything high amp/watt) BAD things happen.
So I’d say in light of all this, ground every thing you can (preferably to the frame)
And make sure the contact surfaces (where your connector meets (touches) the frame ect.) you ground to are CLEAN (no rust paint ect) even if the surfaces look clean/bare, and your connectors/terminals are band new, sand them bare (raw) any way, the better the contact the more current can flow.
I don’t know if all this (listed above) will stop me from buying a sportage, but knowledge is power none the less.
Hi, I own a 1996 purchased new, so I clearly can identify with most if not all your issues, problems and concerns. My truck started acting out barely 2 months after I drove it off the lot. First the driver power window went dead, then the rear ones, rattling passenger door glass, brakes faded out, noisy transmission, occasionally grinding starter, excessive steering wheel play, loss of power, etc. etc.
As usual, the dealer couldn't find, identify, or fix these problems properly. Until one day the transfer case just locked up on it's own and almost got my wife and I killed. After countless calls, dealer trips, hiring an attorney and the intervention of the local Consumer Affairs, the dealer was forced to put in a new transfer case, repaint my truck (they ruined the paint after 6 months in the shop waiting for parts), clean the interiors, put in new window regulators, put in new rotors and pads, replace the flywheel and install new steering column linkage.
After that it ran pretty well for a couple of years (the usual maintenance and some stuff breaking down which can be considered normal for Kia's), then the transmission recently gave away (it always had a grinding whine after the transfer case slammed it to a halt when it locked at 35mph) so I replaced that too. Then it started having serious loss of power, and being off warranty several years I took it on my own to fix it too.
Loss of power was traced to the darn ignition coil assemblies (DOHC 16V engines have 2, nested withing the valve cover and directly above the spark plugs). Found they HAD CRACKS along the shaft and would shoot sparks everywhere and short out every now and then, so I replaced them and fixed the power issue, this also fixed the CHECK ENGINE light. You must remove the air intake assembly to reach these coils, so either have a new gasket on hand or gasket paper to make a new one as I did.
I also replaced the spark cables, put in a new air intake gasket, and replaced several stretched/cracked hoses. Beware of Kia air and vacuum rubber hoses, they crack and leak air and cause all kinds of rough idling, hard starts, loss of power and sorts.
Another possibility to having rough idling and the car chokes and sputters when accelerating, could be a bad oxygen sensor or a vacuum sensor that's located in front of the valve cover, slightly to the left and near the battery (has a couple of thick hoses and an electrical connector plug attached). My brother has a Sportage too and when his truck goes bad, mine has the same problem 30 days later!!!
And NEVER buy the original brake pads, they seem to be made of muck, recycled chewing gum or God knows what, and fade out when they heat up after a couple of miles.
The A/C flooding the passenger side is due to the drain hose termination under the battery coming from the inside to the engine compartment thru the firewall, it's a narrow rectangular slit so I simply removed that termination (it separates easily), reverse flushed it and sucked it out with a shop-vac and I never got leaks again.
Good luck to you all, will tame this beast for a while longer... I just bought a cheap OBDII scanner off Ebay to check for codes and reset the check engine every now and then just for the fun of it.
Algarin@hotmail.com.
Hi! Interesting page =) I have a 2001 Kia Sportage, though I haven't had all of the problems that you guys have had, I have certainly had some of the major ones! The problem I have right now is with the Alternator / Charging system. Battery wouldn't recharge, so naturally assume the alternator is bad. After shelling out for new alternator and battery, the car still won't charge the battery. I read the comments about re-grounding all the wires, which I will try next (the ones I did find look like a monkey did them). Was wandering if anyone else had the same issues as this with charging system refusing to charge and was able to fix it. Problem seems to be affecting the transmission too as every so often it freaks out. Thanks. AndyK andy@f1-software.com.
2001 KIA Sportage 2 Door 4wd Convertible with 82K current Miles, Purchased used at 32K Miles in 2004. Here's my vehicle failure/resolution fact history:
1. Timing Belt jumped two teeth at 48K Miles causing engine to die requiring tow to shop. Problem caused by dislodged piece of plastic inside timing belt guard assembly causing belt to jump.
2. Car died en route to work - Battery discharged due to Alternator failure at 60K miles - Fix was to Replace alternator.
3. Annual vacuum line replacement for failed 4 Wheel drive. Resolved by installing WARN manual Hubs and discarding KIA original equipment auto-locking hubs.
4. Door Lock solenoids phantom lock/unlock while driving. Caused by faulty wiring in door.
5. Rear Hatch ajar light suddenly appeared illuminated on dash at 71K miles. Have had to manually lock rear hatch with key ever since.
6. Gas tank leaked fuel at 80K miles when filling beyond 3/4 full. Replaced entire rusted fuel tank assembly $150 + 3 Hr. Labor
7. Driver door switch intermittent causing overhead lamp to not illuminate. Replaced faulty door switch.
8. Check Engine light illuminated at 70K miles (Misfire on #2 Cylinder). Fix was to replace coils and install new plugs. Other symptoms here included rough idle (studder) at stop lights.
9. Check Engine light illuminated at 75K miles. Fault code indicated low coolant temperature. Replaced thermostat. Light remains on to this day. May be bad temp sensor or MAS.
10. Whenever car is started/stopped and run very briefly when it is cold (less than 5 minutes) - The following day it will always throw a cylinder#3 misfire code when starting. Fix is to reset code and all is OK until next brief start/stop - usually months later when I have to move car in driveway and shut it off directly.
11. Rear Door Hinge center pins frozen due to rust causing rear door to be very hard to open. Fix was to remove and reinstall (re weld/paint) new hinges.
12. Actuator for Gas Filler Flap/Door frozen and Flap would not stay closed. Fix was to replace entire latch release cable assembly.
13. Power Steering high pressure line rusted through causing loss of power steering fluid. Fix was to replace High Pressure section of line beneath the radiator.
14. At 85K miles, steering wheel has dead spots and is very hard to turn from 12 o'clock to 2 o'clock and 12 oclock to 10 oclock positions. Sometimes will operate OK, but most times it is very stiff as if there is no power steering. Suspect Steering rack, but have not reworked this yet.
15. Brake pad and rotor replacement every 12 months. Rotors always warp causing pulsating pedal when braking.
I am having the issue with the misfire on 1 & 4 with no power, it comes and goes at random. Today I drove 40 miles with it and had to stop to let the header and catalytic cool off every mile or so (It was getting Orange hot). I will be replacing the coil packs and plugs and wires tomorrow!
The symptom I can't find is; when the problem starts, the Tachometer drops to zero and when the problem stops for a bit the Tachometer is working again.
Has anyone had this issue?
Did the coil replacement solve this?
Hi Fellow Kia Sportage Mourners! I bought my 1999 Sportage in October of 2003. The car had low miles, and had never been in an accident. I thought it was just what I needed (Like a bullet to the brain!).
Since then, it continues to have low mileage (seeing as how the only place it goes is in for repairs). I seriously have over $2500 dollars of repairs into my "little darling" as I like to sarcastically call her. I wish I knew then what I know now. As of today, she sits parked. I will not drive it, because it is not safe. I also will not sell it, out of guilt. I feel that if I did, I'd be just like the con artist car salesman that sold it to me in the first place. Buyers BEWARE!
I have a Kia sportage 1999 and it runs fair though with some small problems here and there. At first before I got used to it I was scared. I drove it for 20 hours nonstop from virginia to kansas city then to desmoines Iowa with no problems and back. I had my check engine light came in for 2 months, but one day I ran out my battery and when I jumpstarted it got fixed.4 wheel drives great on road, but poor when parking, never use 4 wheel when parking. If it loses power when driving, don't force it, release the gas pedal and start again. Like everyone I leakd my water on passenger side, but It was just a pipe. my stereo is goin out, but I guess its not much.
If only I had known; My only income is from ss and got a small ssd settlement and foolishly spent in on an '02 Kia Sportage. Ran OK from Rolla MO where I bought it to Winona MN where it failed to fire when the key was turned over; mechanic says replaced "wires" got the official repair bill in glove box.
Next step KIA dealership in Duluth where clutch was replaced, fuel sending sensor, new tires, and guess what: Same thing. Starts great for about a day or so, then gradually fails to fire all the while the key is grinding away. Maybe the reason the KIA replaced the starter also as it seemed OK when I bought it.
I wanted a Honda, but thought I couldn't afford one; guess I sure could of as the total bill is now over $8000, with no end in sight. Except when my one-time source of money is gone.