Faults:

Repeated problems with CV joint ($100-$200 per incident).

Repeated problems with alignment.

Brakes failed at about 80k miles. $250 to replace, and this was a bargain. I worked for a car dealer who cut me a deal. Anywhere else, likely to cost $400 or more.

Transmission shifted hard - had to ease off gas to allow it to shift from one gear into or another or it would shift with enough force to feel like the transmission was being damaged. Dealer advised this is normal.

General Comments:

I purchased this Kia on impulse and under pressure. This is not a good way to buy any car, but it worked out.

Caveat emptor - any Kia should be bought with the intention of keeping it for the length of the loan. It depreciates quickly and you will likely be upside down if you still owe money at trade-in time.

That said, this car was a hidden gem. I worked this car hard - moving 60 miles on the hottest day of the summer, driving 1000 miles across the desert in 18 hours, daily stop-and-go driving - and this car took everything I could throw at it.

I would have liked a little more power, particularly when this Coloradan was driving into the mountains with the pedal on the floor and the speedometer barely topping 20.

Also, you do have to baby this car a bit. My ex bought the car from me. She drives a car very hard - floors the gas from a stop, drives a little too fast for the prevailing conditions, did not do regular oil changes, etc., and she had a few more maintenance issues than I did.

Overall, I loved this car and would buy another given the opportunity.

Faults:

Battery gone out at about 70k.

Alternator gone out at about 80k.

Starter replaced at about 95k.

Timing belt changed at 115k.

Axle boot replaced at 80k, 95k, 115k. Maybe I was getting ripped off by the mechanic. I fixed the thing and the wheel starts to go "clock, clock, clock" when I turn a month later.

Burned and wrinkled dash, I thought I was the only one until I read this forum.

Don't sit in the seat for a long time, your butt, back and neck will hurt.

Passenger door lock broke at 80k.

Driver side door lock broke at 95k. I have three keys...

General Comments:

Bought the thing used for $6000 out the door.

I drove almost 60K miles on it so that comes out to 0.1 cent / mile. Not too bad.

It's not a quality car, but consider the cost. It's pretty decent as a mode of transportation.

What's with all the dash messing up?!

Faults:

Well first when I got the car, the clutch went out and I replaced it with a triple disk after market ram clutch.

After that I had to replace the mass air sensor because I blew it out by having too much horse power. Then I broke a CV joint.

General Comments:

I think the KIA Sephia is a good car if you like to pay huge amounts of money too fix it up.

Right now I've got my 94 Sephia lowered with 2 inches of ground clearance.

I got a NOS wet spray system with twin t66 turbos and a 6 inch exhaust.

It has 18 inch rims with a 12 inch aluminum spoiler on it. All in all I've put over 50 grand into it since I bought it, but it's worth it, it does the quarter mile in 10.45 seconds, which is pretty good.