1999 Kia Sephia LS from North America - Comments

Brakes were bad when I drove it off the lot.

Door handles freeze up really badly in NY winters, every year.

Makes this horrible sound every once in a while when it's been sitting for awhile. It will make the noise from 1st to 2nd gear and of course the dealership can't replicate the noise when we take it in. We don't know what the noise is ourselves though.

We also now have a very bad vibrating in the steering wheel which we are taking it into the garage for soon.

Starter died leaving my husband and I totally stranded.

Don't receive recall notices.

Lots of little things wrong with it: the trunk cover (over the spare tire) caved in, the heat turning knobs get stiff and stop working, the passenger side stereo speaker does not work.

Kia dealerships are horrible. They don't want to hear all the little things wrong with it. They basically tell me not to complain, that I got what I payed for. What a way to do business, heh?

Do NOT finance through the dealership with Kia.

Kia tells us all these problems with our Sephia are unique. Most sephias don't have these problems. But obviously this is not true.

My Sephia actually got hit while parked at the dealership in Syr. and the dealership didn't want to pay to fix it until I made a fit in front of customers looking to buy their cars.

If "the brakes were bad when you drove it off the lot" then I have to ask why did you drive it off the lot?

I have had my Kia Sephia since it was brand new and I must say that some of the problems that you have listed are problems that sound a little more like your problems than the car's problems. My Sephia has given me few worries and I plan on keeping my car long after I have finished paying for it.

And you must be, the dealer? Kia salesman? I have a Kia problem too. Other than a mechanical problem, one thing that really really bother me is the seats! If you spill water on it, it turns dark dirty color and it becomes stains. Even sweats will stain it. So you can't clean it with water. I tried shampooing, but the stains reappeared. We have kids and the seats, back and front, are filthy, but it is stronght. It is a very strong material. The dealer said, it's a life time material, probably true. None the less, we want to sell it when it is paid off... only 3000$ left to go.

The first two commentaries on this car must have been from a dealer. I just got my Kia 3 months ago from the dealer and it's already a nightmare. I cannot drive it and the dealer won't cover it and of course the remainder of my powertrain won't cover it. I will never buy one again and the dealer will be lucky if I don't picket their lot, looking into getting a permit now.

I have a 1997 kia sephia ls and echo a lot of complaints... dashboard gone... sensors haywire... bad breaks.etc... and now it can't pass the safety inspection... I am in the process of filing a report to the consumer protection agency and emmissions safety board... please help!... I will join in on a national lawsuit against kia motors inc... i kept all my repair receipts and state safety inspection reports.

99 KIA Sephia with 58k. Door seals fly loose on the highway. I have already had to replace the transmission. Dash lights burned up causing major problems.

Car stalls on the highway. Horrible shaking while trying to accelerate. Dealership says nothing wrong with the car.

I have a 1999 Kia Sephia, and I must say that I know now that it's not just my car. These cars are just horrible. Everything that can go wrong with it will!

My brakes are sticking, have replaced the CV joints, spark plugs several times and brake pads several times, it's one thing after another.

And it's off and on. Sometimes the car runs perfect, and while I'm driving something goes terribly wrong. It's the biggest lemon I've ever driven, and I will never ever buy another Kia again!