None Car is a junk.

Brakes are very bad and the Kia company should recall them.

The absolute worst car I ever owned. In two years, over 7 sets of brakes (I lost count) new transmission, new battery, tires went at 15000 miles, glove box handle broke off, trim fell off, headlight is full of water, car overheats, makes odd noises from rear of car,hub caps are very cheap and cracked already, radio has been replaced, two recalls, easily scratched, daughter dented fender with hand while pushing the car out of the garage so I could jump start it,light bulbs burn out frequently, seat broke, door trim on inside of passenger door cracked, right side rear view mirror fell out, trouble starting and the odometer seems to measure miles at one and one half times greater than it should.

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1997 Ford Escort, no contest, Ford is far superior

Price
Power
Handling
Fuel Economy (I'm getting 35 mpg!)

RESALE VALUE
Parts Availability
Transmission
Brakes

This is a descent car for the price. I initially didn't even consider buying a Kia until I found out the drivetrain (1.8 lt, 5-speed) is the same one used in the Mazda Protege and the Ford Escort GT. For the first 55,000 miles I didn't have any problems. At 56,000 I had to have the transmission replaced, under warranty. I also had to replace the brakes, and the rotors were warped. And I've replaced the clutch master cylinder. This all happened within a few thousand miles of each other. Up until that point all I had to do is put gas in it, change the oil, and drive it. There are no squeaks or rattles, the interior looks the same as when I bought, and it has great power for an economy car. I'm just afraid the above listed problems are a sign of things to come.

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Ford Escort
Mazda Protege

Acceleration!!!!
Transmission Response
Suspension

Brakes (I am planning to put ebc green stuff in it but haven't been able to find a set of decent rotors to match)
interior's material
Panel's strenght
They don't come in 2 doors

I've kicked a lot of Honda A*S with it (specially in uphill racing), this is great considering I haven't done any performance Mods other than installing alloy wheels.

I'm a performance freak, and other than unreliable breaking (originals seem to hold for about a year), it's perfect.

I have to change the front shocks (32000 miles, they still work but are starting to sound) but it's not bad considering I've never stopped for a pothole or speed bump in the last three years (the car just floated over them, not anymore).

It's a pity that it's almost imposible to find performance parts for this car, I'll really love to add turbo, performance brake rotors and a new suspension to it, but it handles great as is anyways.

The interiors are starting to bend from the heat (ever since I put armor-all on it, never happened while I was using black magic), the shifter went numb (it broke a little piece in the bushing), had to take to the dealer once since it broke a stabilizing bar in the back (warranty covered it and got it back the same day).

the side panels dent really easy, I may have to do some minor bodywork in it in a year or so (they are really small dents, mostly from people leaning against the car or sitting on the trunk, I should probably stop going to the same pubs).

A great buy for rally fans, excellent for the price.

Only hope there was some sort of a Kia Club around where I could get some tuning hints.

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1997 Honda Civic (Short shift but no match)
2000 Toyota Corolla (better looking but no power)
1997 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS (Way better car, but to expensive for me :) )

There are no good qualities i view with my Kia, and i honestly mean that.

Everything about the car is worthless.

The Kia Sephias are the worst cars made. They constantly need repairs, ranging from the tires to the brakes to the transmission. I took it to the shop to get a hose repaired and the mechanic was shocked to hear the car was only 4 years old. He said it looked like the hose of 10 or 11 year old car. The various pieces in the car wear out constantly and something is always in need of repair. The entire front dashbord on my model is completely coming up and peeling back. I take pride in my cars and this car is a disgrace for me to even drive. The paint on all four doors is rusting off, and the car is kept in a garage at all times, except while i'm at work. The CD player never works if it gets too hot or too cold in the car CD's will not play. Buying a kia is the biggest mistake i have ever made.

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No one can believe how many problems i have with my car, when they have cars that are older and cheaper that run 10X's better.

It is a strong car mechanically for what I need.

Most likely just my car, but my brakes squeal for the first 2-3 minutes until the car has warmed up, but that is the only problem.

I have had a great time with my Kia. I do a lot of driving between Southern Nevada and Southern California and in about 15 months I have put about 25,000 miles on it. We are both tall, so leg room in the back is a little cramped, but overall pretty good, especially for a campact. Trunk space is great too. Other than regular maintenance such as getting the oil changed, I have never had to take the car in for anything! I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a great warranty, low price, and something to get you from point A to B without any trouble!

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Between the Nissan Sentra, the Kia is more roomy and comfortable inside. With the mustang, it is a mustang for goodness sakes, can't compare, although trunk space and back seay leg room is better in the Kia. Anything else was an SUV or minivan and cannot be compared.

Great On Gas! After 70,000 miles, it still has great gas mileage. Takes alot of abuse.

Finding Parts, No Repair Manuals, the Dealership doesn't even know how to fix the car, Paint on Plastic chipping and bubbling, Dash melted.

A good car, but it sucks when it come to repairing. Not only is it hard to find a mechanic to work on a Kia, then finding the parts is a task too. You end up paying Mafia Prices at the Dealerships. I wish someone would publish a Repair Guide for this car, it would be very helpful. I would not buy another Kia at all. And would not recommend buying one to any of my friends. Overall the ol' Sephia, is not so bad if that is all you can afford at the time, but get rid of it as soon as you can upgrade to a better car. Get the extended warranty on it too, repairs can get costly.

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I driven my Girlfriend's Saturn Sedan, Buy A SATURN, even a certified used Saturn Sedan , beats a KIA any day.

good excelleration even at 80mph-100mph.good space to work on engine(oil,etc). modfies & clubs coming.body shape good against wind.trunk is big for compact car.space inside.would look nice with race colors & spoiler

BOUGHT IT USED!!!! PEOPLE DONT KNOW HOW TO DRIVE THEIR CARS THEY HIT STUFF &DONT KNOW IT AND THATS HOW THEIR CAR GETS MESSED UP.OIL CHANGES,N ROTATES KEEP A CAR SMOOTH ALSO U CHECK YOUR BRAKES EVERY 6,000 MLES BONE HEADS.DUH

LOOK IM THINKING OF CUSTOMIZING MY CAR.ENGINE COULD BE MODIFIED LIKE HONDA,TOYOTA,FORD,CHEVY.I EVEN RACED A GRAND MARQUIE DOWN THE HIGH WAY IT HAD A V8 COMPARED TO MY 4CYLINDER.0-60 KEPT EVEN WITH HIM 60-80 HE PULLED AWAY 80-110 I CAUGHT UP. IF I HAD A SUPER CHARGER IN IT I WOULD PROBALLY HAVE BLEW HIS DOORS OFF.THES CARS COME LIGHT AND QUICK WITH GOOD CARE THEY STAY THAT WAY.INTERIOR IS GREAT DASH LOOKS NICE AND IS EASY TO REMOVE. BUMMER CUP HOLDERS THOUGH,SOON THAT WILL CHANGE.GOT A NEW CD PLAYER(ALSO LOOKS GOOD WITH DASH).WIFE LOVES IT GETS GOOD GAS MILAGE WITH 97 OCTANE. FUEL INJECTORS CLEANED EVERY 15,000 MILES AND INJECTION CLEANER IN GAS TANK EVERY OTHER GAS TANK FULL.AND LOOK HERES A BONUS OPINION I HAVE TO WORK ON CARS ALL THE TIME CARS OLDER THEN 1990'S WERE BUILT TO LAST.90'S AND YOUNGER R BUILT TO LAST AT MOST 10 YEARS SO THATS MEANS CARS NOWA DAYS MENT TO BREAK SO MECHANICS CAN HAVE A JOB.ALSO WITH SO MANY EMISSIONS AND SENSORS YOU END UP HAVING TO TAKE IT BACK TO THE DEALER SHIP TO BE WORKED UPON.SO NEW CARS WILL ALWAYS SUCK.MICHAEL BECKER....

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CIVIC EASIER TO BREAK NOT DURABLE MOSTLY IN FRONT END.MAZDA PROTAGE ELECTRIC PROBLEMS NONDEPENDABLE INTERIOR(SEAT,DASH,ETC.)GAS GOOD FOR ALL 3

The car was a great deal cheaper than the honda civic dx or the toyota echo. (I only paid 6,100.00 cash for it.) It seems to accelerate well off the line but tends to slow down a bit at higher speeds. It has a pretty good miles per gallon ratio and a great deal of space in both driver and passenger seating. This car can really burn'um up it its forced to.

This car has some kind of squeaking noise coming out of the rear drum breaks other than that it seems to work fine.

This is a moderately priced car that gives you only what you pay for and nothing else. I purchased the basic model sephia which consisted of nothing more than a shell, seats, steering wheel, and engine. I haven't driven the car much but it does seem to have a break problem at only 15,000 miles. It squeaks a great deal of the time its driven, although I am yet to take it to a shop I Know from past experiences with cars that it is a break problem.

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I had a honda civic before I aquired this car. My honda is not as fast as my kia but it does have alot more features which include good brakes and a better all around engine. The only dissadvantage to having a kia is that there is no performance or car clubs that provide information on how to tune a kia into a street racer.

NONE

RESALE VALUE SUCKS, everything breaks, it dents with the slightest bump, and it is expensive to fix anything, i think the trans was about to go, I sold it for a 2001 Toyota Echo, i barely got a down payment out of it.
JUNK JUNK JUNK

JUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Never ever ever buy one!!!

Price, reliability, styling

Hard to work on, parts hard to find, no repair books available, no cup holders in 1994 model, the paint on the plastic parts is beginning to bubble and flake off.

I bought my 1994 Kia Sephia GS used with 16,500 miles on it. It drove like a dream then and drives like a dream now. That's not to say I haven't had some problems, but what vehicle doesn't experience maintenance problems occasionally? I have only had 2 sets of tires on this car since I bought it 5 1/2 years ago. I, too, had problems with brakes wearing out every 6 months, but being from an automotive family, I asked the shop if they were adjusting the other set of brakes when they would service one axle. I was told that they only did that if requested by the customer. This makes absolutely no sense to me since that was always considered part of the service: work on one pair then adjust the other pair. Since I've begun requesting they also adjust the pair of brakes they DIDN'T work on, I have had NO PROBLEMS with my brakes wearing out. Under warranty I did have the timing belt replaced along with a few other rather large items. Since it was under warranty, I wasn't too bothered by it. Recently, however, my car had begun stalling, surging, and refusing to start once the car had reached operating temperature and then left to sit. Three weeks ago it reached the point where it was unreliable enough to take it to the shop. I switched to another repair shop as I had lost all confidence in another shop to work on my car. The shop I took it to has been the best decision I could ever have made for myself and my Kia. Granted, the last 3 weeks have not been the most fun, with my car in and out of the shop, but we began replacing items on the car and ran diagnostics until it looked like my Sephia was on life support. And granted, I spent a goodly amount of money over the last 3 weeks (around $1000) but since I have not spent that much practically in the whole entire time I have OWNED this car, I am not about to complain. And as of yesterday, the problem was resolved with a coolant temperature sensor and ignition coil and lots of blood, sweat and tears on the part of my auto shop. I could not be happier with my Kia Sephia and The Auto Shop. It is more fun than any other car I have ever owned (except maybe my 1967 Mustang but that car was broken down most of the time and it's a Mustang so it isn't really fair to compare the two!) It has been reliable, it is quick, has power EVERYTHING, and we have taken this car through snow when other vehicles turned back, taken it on long trips without fear of failure, and just love to drive it. My biggest complaints about this car are that parts are hard to find, there are no Chilton books available, and there are no cupholders in the 1994 model. However, if that is the worst I can come up with, then life is good!

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Drove a Cavalier while my Sephia was in shop... no guts, ugly but the a/c was ok.
We had also rented Geos before we bought the Kia and besides being unstylish, we found that on trips through mountainous highways, we best not be slowed down by other traffic or we would never get over 25 mph again until we began going downhill. Interiors were amazingly cheap looking.