Comments: 1-15, 16-17
Nothing, this appears to be a well built little truck.
This is a recently purchased 2002 Sportage and has only covered 2000 kilometres to date, so these are first impressions.
Build quality is very good, body panels fit properly and paint finish is excellent.
If you are looking for a sports car then the Kia Sportage is not for you. It is slow off the line because the gear ratios are low and it's pulling a lot of weight. Once rolling and into third gear, and up, it is quite nimble and has plenty of torque. The 2.0 litre four loves to be revved and can easily reach, and cruise at, 140 kph without problem. It does not handle like a car because it is built on a truck chassis. You need to know how to drive to get the best out of this little beauty.
The manual 5-speed gearbox is surprisingly silky, one of the best I have ever encountered. The Sportage has a proper 4 wheel drive system that is easy to use, although the transfer case whines a little, this appears to be a normal trait. The steering has good road feel.
Yes, this truck is a little noisy and you have to be careful in cross-winds. Body roll is acceptable and it does suffer from a little understeer.
Fuel consumption is reasonable for this type of vehicle.
All in all I'm happy so far, but will have to see how long term reliability holds up.
Wait until a few more miles friend, you will see that these cars are absolute junk. They also depreciate rapidly. I fear you would have been better throwing away your money on the horses.
I disagree with the above commenter.
Your first impressions are correct. This is one hell of tough little suv and it's inexpensive.
The Kia Sportage is a great little car. My only criticism is it's a bit thirsty, but that is to be expected. It uses tried and tested, if old technology from Japan.
For the money, who could complain?
Yes, you like your Kia now. I liked mine when I first got it. It was fine for a couple months. Then problems started to happen, and haven't stopped yet. Everyone I have talked to hates theirs, and you will too. Give it time!
I've had mine for 2 years now and I haven't had a problem yet. It's a well built vehicle with a great price tag. Other people in the area that have one also love theirs. It's like any vehicle, you always get lemons and if you buy used it's like the saying goes, Buyer Beware.
I disagree as well. My Sportage is a pile of junk. Guess when my 4WD broke? In the snow! Go figure. The dealer refuses to do anything about it. I bought a 2001 and the clutch was of such poor quality that it burned out in 25,000 miles. Congratulations to Asia for importing more crap to the States.
I just bought my 3rd Kia.. I started with the Kia Sephia 2000. IT was a good little car.. Then we bought a used 1999 Kia Sportage. Again no problems.. I decided to trade them both and by a new 2002 Kia Sportage.. Unfortunately I had it 1 month and took it to the shop for ticking noise. That was 24 days ago. Still there and now they tell me today they are replacing the transfer case and still don't know if that's it.. I always liked them before this.
I have a slight miss in the engine when I am idling. It is a standard. I think I may take it to dealer and have it looked at. I am afraid I will get my first dose of why people hate dealerships when I do and they tell me there id nothing wrong. This is my first new vehicle. I bought it with 9 miles on it and in august and still haven't gotten a payment book on it as I have signed 3 different contracts for the financing. Guess my credit was bad and they didn't find out till I had it for a month.. SO I am driving it free for the first 60 days..
I loved my Kia Sportage until about ten months ago. This car is been nothing but trouble!It was towed to the dealer 4 times for oil leaks, rattle noise, exhaust fumes inside the car, etc and every time has something else done to it and now two weeks later from the last visit it just starts and dies. The car is only 23,400 miles, but just ran out of warranty because is 3 years old. When I bought the car the warranty was 36,00 miles or 3 years and 2 weeks later kia changed the warranty for 10 years or 100,000 miles and at that time I contacted the dealer to see if anything could be done to change my warranty and I was told that was too bad, but nothing could be done! This car is costing a lot of money in car rentals, time lost from work and aggravation. I wrote 2 letters to Kia Customer Service on the last 6 months and I'm still waiting for an answer. I tell everybody that I know not to buy Kia and I ask people to pass the word around that the Kia Sportages are a piece of junk and Kia has a very poor Customer Service.
Kia Sportages are the BIGGEST PIECES OF JUNK that I have ever owned!
Don't buy Kia!
I have a 2001 Kia Sportage & 2002 Sedona Van..
The Sportage is two years old and has 53,000 miles on it. I drive it about 50-100 miles a day four times a week. In two years I have replaced a radiator, ox sensor, gas cap and trans sensor. All covered by warranty. Warrany has been great on both vehicles (dealership is key). To help the lack luster power I have installed a K&N cone filter charger, and Ravin exhaust system... (dealership was shocked at performance difference) Gas mileage on the highway is almost 24mpg at 65-70mph.I did a lot of interviewing people before buying and most had very few problems... (performance #1 issue) My nieghborhood has 3-sportages 5-Sedona vans, and about 6-8 spectras... I bought the Sportage for a work vehicle and it has done that very well... for less than 20,000 dollars. (also worth noting... In the chicago area my insurance rate was less than any other brand in its class, I quoted them all..Tracker, Gr. Vitara, Rodeo Sport, Rav4 and CRV.. was very suprised)
The Sedona Van has been a great replacement to my Chrsyler Van.
I have a 2001 Sportage. It has 55000 km on the clock. I have one year left on the lease. I can't wait to get rid of this thing. The problems started at around 15000 kms. For starters all the power locks on the doors were replaced at one time or another and the exhaust has rotted out twice. I bought a four cylinder car for the fuel economy. I get better fuel mileage with my Ford E-350 van. It has a 7.2 ltr engine. It has power to spare. My Sportage could'nt get out of it's own way. I had a Chevy Z-24 with almost 300,000 kms and it did'nt make half the squeaks and rattles that this Kia does. The list goes on and on...
I am presently in the market for another vehicle. Even if I have to pay $1000.00 to get out of this lease early, I'm gone... I'm glad I did'nt buy the thing, I can still walk away...
Got a 2002 Kia Sportage and a 2004 Kia Optima. Both are great to drive, good on gas & look and run good. No problems at all. I drive 800 or more miles a week. Warranty is great even though I have never used either one.
I have a Kia Sportage 2001 and honestly, it's been great - so far. You say wait a while? Well, it's 4 years old and has 81,000 km's on it and it still purrs like a kitten - no problems.
I like my 2002 KIA Sportage. It's great on gas for what it is, a 4 banger 4x4! It has 37000 miles on it and it had brake pads replaced and a tailpipe so far.
I pulled more expensive 4x4 S.U.V'S out of trouble they couldn't get themselves out of. As far as the 4x4 system, it is tough and true.
For the money, I think that KIA builds a great product.