When I bought the KIA Spectra, I was told it had a safety frame. The first week I had it, I got into an accident (not my fault) and when I got word from my insurance company as to how much damage was actually done, it totaled to nearly $5,000.00. about 1/3 what I paid for the car, and it was new. The man who caused the accident, only had $250 dollars of damage from his bumper.
It turns out that this safety feature has a major flaw. when you are Hit head on or dead on from the side, the frame should keep your car from folding, but when you are hit at a angle, the frame tweaks. This is what happened to me.
To paint a better picture, I was going no faster than 30 MPH when we hit. He may have been going 15. with such a slow collision, it should not have cost me $5000.00.
I am not a fan of Kias, but the big damage may have been due to the crumple zones that they engineer in these small cars that absorb the impact so that the energy does not make it into the passenger compartment, so sometimes a lot of damage can mean a lot of safety!
I don't see how life-threatinning this might be!!
I only want to note that my Toyota Corolla was totaled in a similar accident (only I was going slower). This has nothing to do with KIA, it's just how many modern cars are made. In an accident their goal is to save your life, not your money.
I have a 2003 Kia Spectra, it is a bit out of ordinary in that it only has 28K miles on it, and that's only cause I've started driving it more the past 6 months. In May '07 it had 18K.
I have owned it since new and have to say it is a great car. It's got great brakes and good steering. Obviously a bit of rolling tin can effect and lots of road noise, but a very good car for daily driving and long distance day trips.
No issues at all thus far, for the price if it lasts to 100k, it'll have been well worth it.
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