13th Mar 2012, 19:40
I had one of these as a loaner while my '06.5 Optima was having warranty work performed.
The loaner Spectra was obviously ragged out. The interior was filthy, but more importantly the seat bottom was collapsed. Never seen that before in a 2 year old car with 35k miles.
Ignoring this, assuming it was due to abuse and not faulty design, I must say I really loved the car. Very impressed with its driving personality. Very zippy performance with the smooth, refined economic engine. The ride was pleasant. The steering was surprisingly firm, the way I like it. This is why I'm now considering one as a used car, along side the Optima. Loved that car too!
1st Nov 2015, 12:38
I bought this car on a Tuesday night. I was all excited to have my own car finally, I'm 17 and this Kia Spectra was my first car I personally owned. Well I didn't own it long because Thursday night, just 2 days after I got it, I decided to race my friends away from Walmart. I only hit 70 when the vibrating started; all of the sudden it was 2 days later in the hospital when I woke up. I had gone off the road, rolled the car a couple times and ran into 2 concrete walls. I only had a concussion when I woke up so I guess the car protected me. Overall wouldn't recommend this car though, speaking on the two days I've had it.
19th Dec 2010, 19:49
In 2008 I bought a 2008 Kia Spectra 5 which I still have.
It developed a vibration (felt in the steering wheel) shortly after a few thousand miles. I brought it back to the dealer several times and they would balance the wheels but it never really fixed the problem.
At around 28,000 miles with no fix, I went to a tire specialty shop and had all four tires replaced. The vibration was greatly reduced but not eliminated.
As for the vibration in detail, first off, my original tires were nylon and were nitrogen filled. When starting out after the car has been parked overnight, I would feel vibration at all speeds until the tires warmed up. Then I would feel the vibration at highway speeds starting at 50 MPH. The vibration would vary all the way up to turnpike speeds of 70 - 80 MPH.