Faults:

Replaced the battery at 57000 miles.

Replaced #3 cylinder plug wire at 64000 miles.

General Comments:

The car was purchased with confidence experienced on the previous KIA product.

Faults:

This car has had continual brake problems starting from 6 months after I purchased this car. The brakes would screech, clunk and make all kinds of sounds, but the car dealer has been unable to find the problem. Other individuals have posted that the sephia brakes fail completely after making noises for some time. Because of this I have now traded the car in, because I do not feel like it is worth risking my life or the life of my loved ones to save money.

The engine itself has been fine, and I otherwise liked the car.

General Comments:

Please for your own safety do not consider purchasing a Kia Sephia. The "value" of this car is not worth the known brake issue, which could cost you your life. Kia also knows the problem exist, and refuses to do anything about it.

You have many other "value" car options which are more reliable and safe (for example, a used Honda civic or Toyota echo are great cars).

I thought at first when reading these reviews regarding the sephia that other people are not maintaining the brakes correctly, or that I could just bring it in to the dealer should I hear any brake sounds. Don't make this same mistake! Even after my brakes started making sounds, the car shops could not find the problem, and I would worry every time I drove the car if I was risking my life.

Kia makes poor quality cars, and the sephia is a death trap.

Faults:

Check Engine Light came on once, disconnected the battery for 10 minutes and it turned off.

General Comments:

I drive this car every day, and have gone on four 600 mile road trips with it since I bought it in June. I change the oil every 3000 miles, replaced the fuel filter 5000 miles ago so nothing big at all except for normal wear and tear. I've put a couple performance parts in it to give it more power and speed. Now it's faster, more horsepower, handles like a dream, good on gas and sounds mean with the performance mods I've put in. I really love my car and I wouldn't trade it for any other car in the world! Well... maybe an Aston Martin Vanquish.

Faults:

Gear Shifter - Transmission. Not once, but three times in the past year. Last service 22000 miles.

At 22000 miles told the car needs complete brake job.

At 22000 miles told the car needs new tires.

General Comments:

I have not even owned this for for 3 full years at this time. Since when do you need to replace brakes and tires at 22000 miles. My past experience is that I am not hard on tires or breaks. My 1996 Toyota, Corolla (purchased in '96) needed new tires at 60000 miles and a break job is coming up at 86000 miles. Maybe KIA could learn something dependability from Toyota.

My last experience with a KIA dealer Service Department was awful.

The last repair was done Aug, 2003. The car was at one dealership for 6 days and they never looked at my car.

I had to have it towed to another dealership and it took another 6 days before the car was ready.

So it was two weeks without a car that would not start when it was in "park". When I went to pick the car up after the repair, the car would not start in "park".

I was told that I need to make sure that the gear shift is "in the right position" to get the car to start. Oh, I did not mention that I must ram the gear-shift to the dash to make sure it is "in the right place". Some times I must ram the gear-shift 3 or 4 times before it is "in the right place".

At this point I am getting the "Customer No Service" assistance from KIA Customer Relations. I am being told that I need to wait until there is a decision made that the above situation does not fit the "functioning as designed".

This is a quote from the KIA web-site. Now if only Kia could live up to ALL of the KIA guiding principles: "provide high-quality, high-value vehicles at prices well below the competition and back them up with a 10 Year / 100,000 Mile Warranty Program and a customer-first policy."