1st Dec 2004, 19:10

My Mother Had a 1998 Sephia. She was going up a hill and the gas pedal got hung-up.She ended hitting a house and the air bags never deployed. The car was totaled with mild little damage done, Because the insurance agent said that a Kia cost more to fix then they are worth. All she got was 31 hundred dollars for a car with 23,000 thousand miles on it. She had to have the brakes replaced at 20,000 miles, Exhaust system replaced at 19,000 miles, Battery dead at 18,000 miles Paint was chipping very bad on back bumper te car dented easy. Had many recalls done. After all this she still like the car. It had good power on the road, Gas mileage was real bad.

9th Apr 2006, 21:59

I own a 1999 Sephia, and up till now have had no real major problems with it other than brakes. But now it seems to only start when it wants to, and nobody knows what is wrong with it. I have taken it to local mechanics who have checked fuel pump, fuel injectors and compression stating that there is nothing wrong with any or them. I am slightly confused as to how a car can start one day and run fine, but not start another day. Now, I never know if it does start if I am going to get back home. It is very irritating, not to mention, nobody knows what is wrong. Any ideas?

15th Mar 2007, 06:23

I have a 1998 KIA Sephia and "knock on wood" I haven't had any major problems with it!

I've had it 4 yrs now. It has 160000 miles on it. I've only replaced the alternator, water pump, brake jets, a spring I broke (I like to fly over bumps and pot holes), and normal things like spark plugs, oil filter, air filter, belts, brakes, tires.

Its great on gas, I can make it to North Carolina with a tank of gas and still have gas left over (I went on a road trip)!

I don't even take very good care of it.I've even let it run out of oil. I beat my car up and so have my friends.

I love my KIA and I will never get rid of it as long as I can fix it!

20th Nov 2009, 09:26

My 1998 Kia Sephia is great on gas, and the only real problem I had was the timing belt, and as for a dead battery, check the cables for shorts... Battery cables are bad with shorts in the cars from the 90's... and Mazda did make some of the "bad" parts for the 98 Sephia... so go complain to Mazda about it...