2000 Kia Sephia LX from North America - Comments

I am trying to figure out how you were covered with a warranty at 75,000 miles for an alternator. Mine was replaced for over 500.00 with less than 45,000 miles. I have had the air fixed twice, tires replaced 2 times 3 on the front and brakes and rotors fixed at 30,000 miles. I have a 2000 sephia lx that I purchased at the end of 2000 new. I have had batteries replaced 3 times the first was in the first 9 months and was covered. Tires were not. My cv boots, tail pipe axle pulleys and cables have went as well. I also had to have the dashboard replaced as it cracked and separated in the first two years along with the seals around the rear door. I have spark plugs and now the oil is leaking and burning quickly. I get oil changes every three months and do not drive off road or up and down hills. I live in Florida. Buyer beware.

In the year 2000, I purchased a brand new Kia Sephia LS. Within the first few months, the whole brake system (master cylinder and both rotors due to them being “warped”) had to be replaced.

The windshield washer system stopped working after a year and I never bothered having that fixed.

Other various things have gone wrong: check engine coming on at 45000 miles as a result of the plugs, coils, and wires needing to be replaced, the whole belt system had to be replaced at 70000 miles, brake rotors and pads have been replaced six times due to the rotors being “warped”, the dashboard and dash vents are warped and cracked, the air vents in the center are both cracked in half, the automatic locks stopped working so now the car works as manual locks, the passenger door does not unlock from the outside, the master automatic window control only rolls down the driver side and back passenger side window, both CV boots have broken and have had to be replaced, the interior light switch fell off, the rear view mirror is constantly having to be replaced, both headlights are extremely fogged up decreasing visibility during night driving, the door sealants are cracked and come off at will, the center console switch broke off, the glove box hinge is broken, the gear shifter broke (the dealer claimed we must have spilled soda for it to do that), the brakes are constantly having to be checked, and just today I took my car in for a brake check due to the whole steering column vibrating when the brake is applied and they told me that it is not the brakes doing that, it is vibrating due to the fact that one of the engine mounts is completely broken in half causing the engine to shift onto metal and me being able to feel the engine vibrations.

This car has never broken down and has had no starter problems yet. It has been very reliable other than the fact that it seems to always have something that needs to be fixed, and it has not reached 90000 miles yet. Next time, we’ll buy American.

Wow..I feel real bad for all you guys that complain about KIA, I actually have 2 sephia's and one of them is a car show with 16 trophy's this car is a 2000 and have 155777 miles on it I have never had any problem all what I do is keep good maintenance and that is all, also I do race the car a lot and still this car is been AWESOME for me... I love it,...if I can I would get another KIA...

We had the transmission replaced in our 2000 KIA Sephia at 26,000. They replaced it with a rebuilt one. Now at 90,000, it has gone out again. Any chance that KIA would replace it for free?

I was reading some of the comments about the KIA Sephia 2000 and I have the same dashboard problem that deteriorated so fast. The dashboard looked like water damaged because it is bulgy in different spots and the vents popped out of place. We all should write to the KIA company and demand to fix this problem.

Well I have a 2000 Kia Sephia and my transmission has went out.

My front axle, alternator, front bearings, radio, gear shift have all have been replaced.

My driver window doesn't work, my locks are getting stuck, my car is over heating (thermostat, radiator, coolant fan) need to be replaced, my engine light has came back on for the third time; something wrong with my fuel tank (so they say), and all that is just half of what has happened to my Kia.

I bought my car with less than 25 miles. And to top it off, I can't afford to go the dealer to get the things taken care of, but I can't find certain parts.

The Sephia have to be the worst car ever put on UK roads. Never mind that you can get them second hand almost for free. Even then it's not worth the trouble.

I had mine with a 6 month warranty, and got the exhaust, central locking, coil, plugs and wiring fixed within the first month.

This car was sold with defective brakes, but the sales rep didn't want to cover these.

Then the central locking was fixed again.

I've had an endless amount of problems with starting, and there is something wrong with the wiring of this car, since the fuses burn all the time. If the engine is warm, it will not restart. I have to wait for a couple of hours. Really practical. When I put petrol into it, I can't stop the engine. See my point?

Now the gear box is gone, so this car is put off the road. It's not worth mending. Besides I don't think it'll pass the MOT for several reasons, including unsafe brakes and a broken front spring. Not even 7 years old and broken down.

Bought my Kia in July 2000 brand new. Its been a pretty reliable car for me. The only thing I would complain about is premature wear and tear on parts, but the warranty covered some of them. It has 80,000 miles & 7 years later its still going strong. I think I'm going to be selling it though because I really don't need a second car.

I bought a 2000 Kia Sephia used with 112k on it two months ago. I should have known to be more cautious when the seller handed me a maintenance record the size of War & Peace. The car has had the coils, spark plugs, brakes, & tires ALL replaced. It's had the transmission worked on. In TWO months I have taken it in 3 times to get the brakes worked on. I also had to replace the entire fuel line because it started leaking & busted. I went to start my car this morning & there was nothing & now I'm being told that my alternator must be replaced. On top of that I can FEEL the transmission dying...it's so rough to shift. I will never buy a Kia ever, ever again.

After reading all three pages of posting's, here is a little bit to add. I own a 2000 kia sephia my mother bought it used with like 35,000 miles on it with a full warranty, and gave it to me. At first there was no problems, and then boom the heat/cool control switch inside the car went and every now and then you have to manualy adjust the heat for winter. The driver side seat is ripping on the seam. The driver side door handle is broken the door does not open from the outside or inside so now I'm stuck climbing thru the passanger side very annoying. I can't use the key to open the trunk have to use the trunk release inside the car. About six months after owning the car we had to replace something (the car was shakeing really bad, was hessitating to drive, and at times would not go) don't remember what the heck it was just remember what it was doing, but regardless we had to pay like 500.00. Then the transmission completly went, so the warranty covered most of it??? I ended up paying 200.00 out of pocket which I don't understand if I had the bumper to bumper warranty. After transmision rebuild the check engnine light, and the O.D. light continue to stay on about a week after the transmission was rebuilt I took it back to shop and they told me it was a faulty code after taking the transmission out and checking everything they even replaced wires leading to the transmission. Then the starter went out, had to replace that early on. And now I'm having problems with the transmission agian doing the same thing that it did before I had it replaced. And now two days after it started acting up a second time the car will not start I don't know why. But the car is cranking over you here everything wanting to start, but then it doesn't if anyone has anyideas about this please email me, its almost like the engine has gone out and there is only 116,000 miles on it Thanks my email is wishmaster 525605 at yahoo please any help would be great or ideas.

We own a 2000 Kia Sephia that for the most part has been a very good reliable car, save for the occasional regular maint.

There is however a recuring theme here.

1. Dash warping from heat damage and also snapping the defroster vents.

2.Hard to start, usually 2-3 times. Regardless of sparkplug and wire changes.

3.Doors having issues closing or opening, especially during the colder months.

My wife bought it new in 2000. She used to drive it like a banshee. Mornings, she would not allow it to warm up, then pedal to the floor, and of to work she went.

This caused oil blowby, which means, the rings in the engine, which contain the oil from reaching the ignition chamber, have worn down to lack of lubrication.

Cold engines do not have oil where it is needed most at startup. It all runs to the pan during the evening.

To cure the blue smoke that was apparent during highway driving, and also low oil levels. You simply use a product called Lucas oil treatment, it comes in a quart bottle.

You substitute it for one of the quarts of oil that would be used during an oil change. This keeps the engine components lubed during early startup, and stops the blowby.

As for the door issues, her drivers door would not close or latch on cold mornings, this can be cured by spraying W-D40 or another brand of lubricant into the latch mechanism.

The dash Is just poor quality material, which I will be replacing, as soon as I find a new one.

Proper maintenance goes a long way.

Good luck.

I have a 1996 Kia Sephia. I like this car very much. I have the 1.8 engine. Very good car; cheap on gas, I get 32 to 35 mpg.