Kia Sephia Midsize | Compact

Kia Sephia Midsize | Compact 

DESCRIPTION

The Sephia is offered as a 4 door sedan with a 1.8-liter/125-hp 4 cylinder and a choice between a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic. ABS is optional.

USER REVIEWS

Showing 191-200 of 244  
[Jul 04, 2000]
Jacques
Model Reviewed: sephia

Strength:

Good acceleration(5sp), fuel economy, and handling

Weakness:

Brakes(just by aftermarket brakes when it comes out of wrranty), dash cover material changed color, front seats too stiff.

I paid 10,000, it has given me less problems than my last american product(camaro). The only reason i bought it was for a daily driver- I've got 80,000 miles on it in less than 3 years. Car has never quit running during a trip or failed to start.

Similar Products Used:

94 protoge, basically same car made with a cheaper interior.

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 28, 2000]
Mark ------

Strength:

Price was good. Nice 5yr 60k powertrain warrenty. Looks good. This car is a "pocket rocket" with the dohc 16 valve engine. good on highway. I could take a turn at 60 and not loose my composure.

Weakness:

The car seems a little quirky. Whenever I back up or start off at a standstill i hear a clunk. The a/c compressor used to make a horrible noise whenever it clicked on. The brakes have always sucked major donkey ----. This thing hates Thorntons gas. after i filled it the car had a few things to say (check engine light poor driveability) This may be a good but quirky car. The trans is ALWAYS in and out of lock up mode........annoying!!!

13,000.00 I will ONLY recommend it if you get a warrenty extension. The powertrain will most likely be O.K. You might have electrical issues. The engine seems rugged enough. I dislike any electronically shifted trannys. They seem to never hold up. if it had a hydraulically shifted trand, i'd say the trans was good too.

Similar Products Used:

Quicker than a Hyundai Elantra. Better warrenty than Focus and Neon. Cheaper than Neon with an overdrive trans. (neon lacks overdrive).

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jul 01, 2000]
Todd
Model Reviewed: kia sephia ls

Strength:

Price

Weakness:

ecu never has worked and occassionaly fixed by the dealer for short periods of time just long enough for the warranty to expire, no parts, no manual, no power with a/c, noisy after a year bad brakes, engine light is constantly on and they don't know why. it's a lemon..

12,500 after tax an licensing, i would not buy another kia or any other korean based car and i would discourage anyone i accually liked from buying one it's worth the extra money for a honda...the car if the bugs were worked out, may be worth the risk. I believe a quality used car such as a honda or nissan or toyota would be the better value.

Similar Products Used:

honda, subaru, nissan: Does not compete with these cars in anything other than price..

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 01, 2000]
Larry
Model Reviewed: Sephia GS

Strength:

Generic mellinium-look design; excellent on highway except for noise; inexpensive for accessories included in purchase; very good AC and stereo;

Weakness:

poor brakes system; noisy; faulty driver control light systems - engine and air bag lights go on for no reason; interior ceiling and visors made of plastic; dealers not knowledgeable of mechanical or electrical failures; exterior body start to rusts on metal surfaces.

$13,500; Excellent entry level car for price range and amenities but be prepared for frustration with dealership customer service - e.g., mechanics unknowlegeable with how to fix continuous brake pad repair (I had my brakes pads changed 6 times in 2 years. Although taken care of under warranty, the time to drop off, wait, or pick-up was inconveniet every other month. Car also has intermittent engine "shakes" occuring only when car is cold and coming to a stop - dealer still cannot figure out the cause. On highway, air leaks in windows create loud noises on driver side; car great for freeway driving but not stop and go in city. Volume with seats down great for hauling shopping goods. Recommend purchasing only with guarantee that thin brake pad problem resolved and "shatter"problem solved.

Similar Products Used:

Honda & Nissan; KIA lower quality mechanical & electronic devices; parts delivery and response time much better with Honda & Nissan.

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jun 25, 2000]
Ron Malone

Strength:

It has as much or more interior room as most other cars in its class. The price was also right

Weakness:

I've had the car for a little over a year now and only have 23,000 miles on it and I've already had to have the brakes and rotors replaced on the front of the car. It had a cracked exaust manifold causing the car to sound loud also. Plus the tires are already in bad need of replacing. The automatic transmission feels like it slips when you first start off and deosn't seem to want to shift out of first gear to easily, and shifting into other gears is rough also.

I paid total of $13,400 for this car and for the money I would have been better of buying another cheap car such as a plymouth neon. Because of the problems I've had in such a short period of time with this car I would not recommend buying this car

Similar Products Used:

None

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
3
[Jun 25, 2000]
Brandon Katcher

Strength:

it looks nice, pretty cheap car. Looks like a great deal at first glance. Decent power for the price.

Weakness:

reliability, reliability, reliability

At first glance, this car looks like a steal. Thats how the dealership suckered me into getting one. The first few weeks were fine, until the whole car started breaking apart, literally. The engine and the brakes were making noises, one window broke, the radio broke, etc. The warrenty has only paid for half of it too. Certainly not "bumper to bumper coverage". We are now trying to sell this car, and buy a second honda. I would not recommend this car to anyone. You could get a used honda with 300,000 miles that would be more reliable then this.

Similar Products Used:

Honda Civic (Much better investment)

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Jun 27, 2000]
Melissa
Model Reviewed: /Sephia

Strength:

Cheap Price, Looks-Cute little thing, isn't it?

Weakness:

Hmmm...EVERYTHING ESLE. The brakes and rotors kept warping, the trany had to be replaced two times, the car never started after a rain. The odometor was off 1.5 miles to every mile, and any small problem it could have had turned into a fiasco.

Luckily, my dealership felt my pain. KIA bought back my old car and put me into a 2000, same model and package for the same loan term and payments. Hopefully KIA did something right with the 2000. If not, I will just fight until I am done paying the car off. Life sucks I guess.

Similar Products Used:

BUT a Hyundai-they won't mind. Hyundai owns 51% of KIA

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 15, 2000]
Patty Fox
Model Reviewed: Kia Sephia Sedan

Strength:

I like the look of the car and the way that it is detailed

Weakness:

The brakes went out at 6,500 miles, starter went bad they had to install a Flex Plate, the battery died at 6,000 miles. The lights are dimming in and out. The Exhaust had a Split in it, and so on. The car only has 10,000 miles on it.

13,740.00, If you like a nice pretty car, then I would recommend it, but if you are going to purchase a KIA, I would definetly purchase the extended warranty. The reason being, is because you are going to need it. Now I have heard that the 2000 Kia's are good, But I have owned 2 1999 Kia Sephia's Sedan, in the past 6 months, and they have been horrible. Don't get me wrong, I love the car, but I can't put up with it being in the shop 24x7.

Similar Products Used:

Dodge Neon ***, Caravan*, Dodge Sportage***, Chevy Cavalier**, Grand Am**

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
3
[Apr 17, 2000]
Marc

Strength:

absolutly nothing.

Weakness:

this car is horrible. we got rid of it, paid the extra money to get out of the loan, and just bought another car. always needing repairs. half the problems couldn't be repaired (door light on, check engine light on, etc.), the other half could be repaired, but then needed work again the next month.

cheap car up front, but the repair costs will make up for it quick. the warranty "bumper to bumper" seems to not cover much. for the love of god, don't buy this car. I hated it so much, I want to see Kia go bankrupt.

Similar Products Used:

we got an older honda civic, which is incredible compared to the kia. it runs fine, never had a problem.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Mar 10, 2000]
Cathy Harvey
Model Reviewed: Sephia

Strength:

Interior room, head room, price

Weakness:

Complained for 2 winters it wouldn't start below +10 degrees F. before dealership "found" TSB. Since has had 2 TSB's & 2 recalls done. Needed front brakes replaced at about 30,000 miles (never had to have brake work done on any other previous cars before 75,000...lots of highway driving). Have bumper to bumper 100,000 mi. warrenty but dealership says it doesn't cover brakes, now htey're making noise again (65,000 mi.). Dealership now reports pipe between muffler & catalitic converter needs replacing to the tune of $260 (bumper to bumper?).

Initial price may be resonable, repair cost & down time are not...the dealerships seem to know they have gotten into a bad situation & are backpeddling to get away with whatever they can. It took complaints to the new car Kia phone surveys and constant inquireries for block heaters for the Sephia that finally pushed the dealer to admit there was a TSB addressing the problem & " out of the goodness of their hearts" they made the repairs even though they weren't covered under the warrentee(?) at no charge.

Similar Products Used:

poorly... '94 Eagle Talon didn't need brake work till 117K mi...'91 Colt Vista 4wd over 90K. etc.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
Showing 191-200 of 244  

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