Excelent balance between price and performance
Central lock door control failure.
My previous car were two Mercedes-Benz. I'm still surprised with Lancia´s comfort and performance. The best car I have ever had for the money I paid for it.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 1st December, 2010
Fabulous car for the price
Needs here and there a few new parts.
The kappa is a great car given the relatively low purchase price. It's fast, comfy and spacious. Fuel consumption is certainly too high. Not a great city car, but fabulous on highways. Mine has 245/35 18" tires on Aluminum rims with a low suspension, which makes it the best drive at high speeds, absolutely stable. I got a corner mechanic whose specialty are Italian cars so anything I need is (relatively) cheap. Interior is really nice indeed.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 1st October, 2006
Limo super car!
No problems at all until now even though I am pressing it very hard.
Very comfortable car, including electric leather seats and sunroof, highly equipped in accordance with other cars built in 1996. A great motor, incredible power (have kicked some *** of Subaru Impreza on the road) max speed on speedometer 250 km!!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 16th August, 2006
A basically good car spoiled by cheap details
When I bought the car (100700 Km), the car had an engine management actuator fault (repaired under guarantee, but unspecified by dealer) causing random and sudden loss of power until RPM returned to idle speed (try overtaking with that)
Internal door panel plastic cracked at 102000 Km (silly no-handle design with recess incorporated in panel stresses said panel)
Rear windscreen wiper motor failed (103000 Km)
Right hand rear wheel bearing showing signs of wear (108000 Km)
Power steering pressure hose failed suddenly (109000 Km), causing immediate loss of all hydraulic fluid and P/S function (good job I had just parked after driving down a mountain with my family)
The cabin is very spacious and comfortable, although the seats are not as good after a long journey as they were in my old '87 E Class.
This is an estate (station wagon) version, but it has obviously been based on the saloon, rather than designed from scratch. This means that the load area space is not as good as it should be, with intruding suspension towers and an awkwardly shaped load bay in general. On the plus side, Lancia have included an easily lifted false floor, so that you can put a load of shopping in, close the cover and then put a big heavy pram on top, without squashing your oranges.
While the saloon version of the Kappa has a rather whale-like rear end (which I personally don't like), the estate looks more balanced, generally better accomplished, and is actually quite nice looking, if a bit dated.
While the combination of mad blue upholstery together with plastics in completely unmatched shades of grey is not exactly attractive, it does have a strangely soothing appeal.
Performance is quite good for an old pre-common rail diesel, but fuel consumption is not up to standard (I get 9 - 13 Km/Litre), it is heavy on oil (2 litres/7000 Km) and it smokes like a 1930's train under acceleration.
The ride is good for an estate, feeling smooth and well damped, and handling is actually quite tight. Again, this is probably because the car is more of a converted saloon than a bespoke estate.
Unfortunately, general little niggles and obvious cost-cutting in manufacture, manifested in the use of very cheap-looking (and easily broken) cabin plastics, and dubious reliability, spoil what is basically a good car.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 8th January, 2005
Could you please describe the engine management actuator fault in more detail? I have the same problem, and have been going on with it for a year or two now. Thanks.
I need an opinion. I found 2.4 TDS Kappa 1996, with 230000km. The price is good, but I don't know what to do?
Can you tell me what should I expect from it, if I buy it?
Thanks.
And I forgot to mention, the man who is selling the car took good care of it, it is fully equipped... leather seats, etc.
The best car for the money you pay for second hand
- thermostat was changed at 156000 km
- sensor for Air bag faulty at 215000km
- some small things, that you can fix by yourself.
Great car, very reliable, comfortable, with a lot of space inside, luxurious but still cheap to service. It drives very well, it is well balanced, and also sporty kind of driving is it kind of driving. The basic 155 hp 2.0 engine is strong enough when rpm is higher than 4000. The engine sounds wonderful (5 cylinders). Ideal engine for this car is 2,4 , OK also 2.0 Turbo and 3.0 V6 is an extra class.
Now at 227000km the engine works perfectly and has no oil consumption. Still going strong.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 23rd August, 2004
A very sensitive buy, when bought second-hand!
Central door lock (left back door) doesn't work anymore.
My car is fitted with an LPG (or LPi) system. Incidentely, when actually driving on LPG, the info-center gives the message that there is something wrong with the 'Engine Control System'. However: as soon as I switch to normal petrol, the message disappears, so it probably has got something to do with the LPi-system.
Although my Kappa is almost 8 years old, it still looks very distinctive and not at all worn out.
The design and color-scheme for (especially) the dashboard looks a bit 'Japanese', which I do not like very much. The real wood on the dashboard of the Lancia Thema, my former car, has been replaced by cheap-looking 'plastic wood' on the Kappa.
Even after almost 300000 kilometers the Pullman upholstery of the interior (including the driver seat) looks like new.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 5th April, 2004
26th Feb 2007, 18:16
I bought a Lancia kappa 2 litre turbo built in 2000, the last year of manufacture, from a dealership. The car was previously owned by Fiat and used as an executive car. It had 2800 kilometers when I acquired it in 2002. Driving it, for almost five years, has been a remarkable experience. I often tell people it is the only perfect car that was ever made. As fast as a sports car, as big as a limousine, it is both a family car and a fun car as well as being beautifully designed and engineered. It is a spacious five-seater in which you can see the speedometer needle swing past the 250 kms/hour mark. It drives splendidly, but requires respect and care because of its power. If I had any criticism it would be that there could be less accelaration in first and more in third or fourth. It is a pity this great model was not continued longer.