Faults:

The very first day I purchased the Kia Sephia, I had to take it back to the dealership and get an oil leak fixed.

Approximately one month later, my head gasket blew.

Replaced spark plugs twice within one year.

Constantly need to get my brakes/rotors fixed!

Needed a whole new exhaust system within the first year of owning this dreadful car.

Have gotten alignment adjusted countless times.

General Comments:

In my defense...nevermind, I should have known better!

This car handles like a golf cart.

The suspension is an absolute joke. If there is a bump in the road (however small it may be), my car will let me know about it.

The seats are very uncomfortable.

When driving, the whole car shakes terribly... like it's possessed.

My dashboard is coming apart.

Faults:

The front axles had to be replaced at 100,000 miles.

General Comments:

Other than the axles I have not had to do anything to the car other than routine maintenance.

Handles very well, I live on the back roads with curves that you are supposed to slow down to 20 MPH.

Very surprising performance for a four door 1.8 liter.

Faults:

We just got the car and I don't know if it was worth it. The check engine light doesn't go off sometimes.

The overdrive is sometimes flashing.

You have to press hard on brakes.

The dashboard looks as if sun had burned it.

General Comments:

The car runs really good otherwise.

The car parts are very expensive.

We thought we had to buy a sensor for it because the air conditioner was not cooling and we found out the car part will cost us over $300.

Faults:

Spark plug wires had to be replaced frequently.

Car jerks on acceleration - transmission is bad and needs to be replaced to the tune of $1900USD.

Check Engine light came on after engine was serviced - oxygen sensor needed replacing, but dealer didn't notice (!)

Oxygen sensor malfunction caused damage to the catalytic converter which both now need to be replaced to the tune of $1300USD.

Very low trade in value. Car is presently worth $500 in trade-in, and $1000 private sale - but who wants to buy a car that needs about $3500USD worth of repairs and is worth so little?

Speakers blew out early on.

A/C quit working early on.

General Comments:

I bought this car on the advice of my dad. Kia is an upcoming car company that makes "good cars," he told me.

I traded in a car that was very good to me, although was about to throw a rod, for this 1997 Kia.

Kia's good point: It got me from point A to point B reliably for 2 years.

Car is comfortable for short trips only.

Faults:

The main problem is the check engine light CONSTANTLY comes on. I found out after the 3rd or 4th time that it was due to the gas cap not being on tight enough. From then on, when the light came on I would ignore it. Once, about 5 minutes after the light came on, my car broke down. So now I don't know if the "check engine" is a real problem or not.

Recall on seat belts because they made "clicking" sound like they were buckled, but actually weren't. Problem got fixed very easily and quickly.

If you drive for a while without stopping (like on a highway), once you do stop, car usually won't go smoothly into 1st gear without giving it a LOT of gas.

Leaks have been very common, but none have been a big deal.

General Comments:

My KIA hasn't had any major problems, but the small problems are starting to add up.

The most frustrating part is that even when the "problem" gets fixed, the same thing keeps going wrong.

However, this is my first car and something about it I definitely love. It's fun to drive (as long as I don't want to go above 85 MPH) and generally pretty smooth and quiet.