2001 Kia Sephia Sedan from North America - Comments

Front driver's side seat sits at angle.

The car is hard to shift into 2nd and 5th gears. When you put the car into second gear, it feels as if the car wants to shut off.

The car wobbles at 25 MPH. When you put the car on the interstate and get up to speed the car vibrates. The car was in the shop 3 days after I bought the it for the vibration, the dealership did an alignment on it. Which only worked for about 6 days, then it started to vibrate again.

The driver's side window is hard to get up.

To top it all off, the radio display goes in and out, mostly when it rains.

The car should be a kids toy that has the bent wheels on it, and wobbles. I would not suggest anyone to buy a KIA. I know that I will never buy KIA again.

I live in Australia and our cars are much more expensive than what you Americans and Canadians pay for your cars. I mean our standard Ford Falcon (a Taurus equivelant) costs $35,000AUD. $35,000 USD gets you into a nice new BMW in North America so what I don't understand with your new and used cars so damn cheap why you would buy a Kia? In Australia we have no choice as cars are too expensive, but in the US you can buy prestige cars dirt cheap. In Australia you are paying between $15000-$18000 for a Kia Rio, I bet in the states you could buy a 2 year old 3 series BMW or C-Class Merc for that.

This is a comment on the last comment. I don't know how the Australian economy is, but in America we sometimes view $18,000 as a lot of money. You couldn't buy a C Class for that (even a two year old one). Some people who are on a small budget here in America buy cars like KIA as an alternative to used cars, but you could buy a used car that costs up to $5,000 less and get better reliability. I bought my '92 Mercury Topaz GS fully loaded for (including the V6 engine) for $12,000. It was two years old and it was in such good condition that when I first saw it I thought it was new.

13 Aug. 2001.

I believe that the last two comments have missed the one basic point. That is Australia uses $ and the US uses $, but they are far from being the same $. The Australian $ is worth only 1/2 of the US $. Everyone in this new world economy should keep exchange rates in mind before making any financial comments.

By the way my Kia Carnival II/ A.K.A. Sedona cost me 1,200,000.00, (Yes ONE million), does that make it expensive? No, actually it is about $2000.00 US dollars cheaper than in the US or Australia.

Jim.

I have a 1998 Kia Sephia. I can tell you that it is infact an economical car as far as buying price. What hasn't been economical, however, have been the repairs. This is a horrible car, and I have read some terrible reviews on it from consumers. It is now in the shop for the 12th time and has 8 different problems. It has 52,000 miles on it, and here is what I have had fixed already:

1.) plugs and wires at 10,000 miles.

2.) Brake pads and rotors at 4,000 miles.

3.) Interior light didn't work

4.) Wiper motor.

5.) something else wrong with wipers... then finally recalled the third time.

6.) flange gasket

7.) Exhaust front to back once

8.) Catalytic converter (seperate exhaust repair)

9.) Valve cover gaskets three times.

10.) Heater (I live in Alaska by the way)

11.) Fuel valve

12.) Cam shaft gasket

12.) Timing belt (before maint. requires)

13.) Tensioner

14.) Dash has broken in three places

15.) Oil filter leaks between changes

16.) Alternator

17.) Starter

18.) Battery

19.) Rear right door switch

20.) Steering lock switch.

I am sure there is more, I lost track by now. I would NOT refer anyone to a Kia dealer to purchase anything, not even a map!

I have a 2000 Sephia and I've had to have the entire transmission changed already.

I wonder if any of you and any problems with the automatic transmission not wanting to change gears when it should?

I have a 2001 kia sephia 80,000 miles never had 1 problem.

I don't own one, but there is a kid in my hometown that drives one and I can say I've towed it to my garage many a time for little fixes

powersteering pump, alternator, brakes, shifting, trans, the belt, wheels FALLING OFF due to bearings falling apart, and the most recent which was two hours ago was the emergency brake wouldent come loose so I wouldent buy one if it was free.

I have a 2001 KIA Sepia with 90,000 miles and have never had a problem with it. I would defintley buy another one.

To The last comment made. You obviously work for the Dealer. Kias are awful.

I have had my 2001 Kia Sephia since 2003 (obviously I bought it used) and I rarely have trouble with it. The most recent is that my battery light and brake light came on at the same time. This resulted in the lights going dim and the car to jerk forward while driving. Supposedly there is a defect in the alternator that causes the battery to lose voltage - just thought everyone would like to know or if this has happened to anybody else, what did you do to fix the problem? Other than this problem, I have never had another problem with the car, in fact I'm thinking of trading in my Kia Sephia for a Kia Sportage.

NEED CODE FOR KIA RADIO 2001 SEPHIA HAD WORK DONE BATTERY WAS REMOVED NOW Can't PLAY RADIO CAN ANYONE HELP? CONTACT bgcrown@hotmail.com.

I have heard a lot of negative comments about the Kia Sephia. I am a poor college student who needs to commute from home to school to work. The commute is only 5 to 10 minutes long and it is local in the city traveling. I saw a 2001 Kia Sephia for sale and I don't see anything wrong with it. It is priced at 1,995. Should I go for it? I only need it for about 1-2 years.

I agree with the person above me :)

I mean I don't have a lot of money - I'm just a sophomore in high school, but I am going to need a car to travel throughout the school year, as simple as going to the grocery store -- as big as going down to north carolina which is about 4 hours from where I go to school to visit my boyfriend and friends. I want a reliable car but I'm pretty sure once I graduate from high school I will have saved up enough and have the credit to get a brand new car.

So this is just to last me a few years. the one I was looking at on the other hand was a mere 3,000 and it's a 2001, I really think I might go for it???

I need code for the Kia radio on a 1996 Sephia. Had work done, battery was removed, now can't play the radio; can anyone help?

Contact enochtrosky@yahoo.com