3rd Dec 2006, 12:20

Just as an update I finally got a chance to take the car to the dealer after complaining to Kia Corporate and I got them to check out the car. It turns out that there is a leaking fuel line that caused the issue in my case. If you have the smelling gas coming from inside the vent the leaking gas line might be your problem.

8th Dec 2006, 20:15

My dad bought a 2000 Kia Sportage, it looked nice, reasonably priced, so I too went out and bought a 2001 Kia Sportage. He has had nothing, but problems with it, one problem being a squealing heater that, as he was driving, began to smoke and fill up the car. He immediately opened the windows and shut off the heat. I too am now experiencing the squealing of the heater and the loud humming noise of the fan. I am quite nervous to drive it now as I await a part in the middle of a cold north winter.

30th Mar 2007, 11:34

I received a 2002 KIA Sportage as a gift for graduation in 2004. It is still under 100,000 miles and I have had nothing, but problems with it. In the first year of having it I had to have the exhaust system fixed, there is a constant rattling noise under the car that sounds like two metal pieces hitting each other (the mechanics cannot find the cause), the rear axle fell off the back of the car and I was stuck on the highway, and the air/conditioner has a crunchy noise when you turn it on. I do not suggest that anyone purchase this vehicle.

27th Nov 2007, 10:40

I have a 2002 Kia Sportage that I purchased new in August 2002. I have several "little" things go wrong in the first year or so, but had no problem having them repaired at my local Kia dealer at no charge. One big problem in that first year was that all my wheels (hub caps) started to turn black. I contacted Kia and within a couple of weeks all of my wheels were replaced and have been fine since. My complaint about this automobile is the squeaking belt. I was told it was a design problem and that was one of the reasons they stopped making it after 2002. Of course no one told me that when I was purchasing the car. If the belt is replaced it is OK for a couple of hundred miles. But then it starts to squeal again. You can hear me coming miles down the road. Although I have not had any MAJOR problems and it now has 90,000 miles on it I will probably never buy another Kia.

22nd Jan 2009, 18:22

During my senior year of high school, my dad decided to get me a vehicle. Finding a "great" prices on a 2001 Kia Sportage, my dad didn't hesitate to buy it. However, it's been almost downhill since then.

The first night I got the car home, I had little manual transmission experience. Needless to say, the clutch was fully broken in seven, count, seven places. The transmission was also almost totaled. After getting the clutch replaced and driving it, we then found out about the transmission being destroyed.

So after replacing all of that, the first winter of using it rolls around. My four wheel drive stops working, so my dad buys a pair of WORN manual lockout hubs. So, living in Michigan, I thought that I had conquered everything. Well, as anyone that owns a '01 or '02 Sportage knows, there are gas fume issues when it's cold out. So, when we had a huge temperature drop a few weeks back, my gas lines started freezing, as well as the stock battery stopped working. So now, I've missed two of the first weeks of my winter semester in college, plus I have to have the car towed to a mechanic's shop to have the gas line fixed.

I will never, ever, EVER buy or recommend a Kia product. EVER.

6th Mar 2010, 10:56

2002 Kia Sportage: Stay away from Kia. Low quality / terrible gas mileage. In addition, low wheel base & no power result in dangerously low traction in wet / icy environments.

- The garage we bought it from told us it got 24MPG, but after a clean air filter and tune up, we could never get more than 15MPG.

- It wasn't uncommon to find metal particles when changing oil.

- Wheel bearings went out / repaired in 2007.

- 2 fuel injectors broke / repaired 2007.

- Rust begins on back tire rack.

- 4x4 broke in 2008. Apparently the 4x4 is held in place by suction!

- Fan blade recall in 2008. (Known to break apart and cause damage)

- New battery / short / repaired 2008.

- back latch on tire rack fails. 2008.

- Brakes went out in 2009 / Had to get fully repaired.

- AC and heat broke in 2009.

- Head / gasket split in 2010.

- Radiator broke because of gasket 2010.

- Cost to repair damage, greater than value of vehicle.

Our Kia Sportage 2002-2010 (RIP)

3rd Jan 2011, 20:12

2002 Kia Sportage. I see nothing but negative comments. Have had mine for 6 years and other than routine stuff, no major problems. Currently need to get cold start gas smell looked at, but it's a great little 4x4. I live in southern BC and I use it a lot.

23rd Feb 2013, 13:46

We just bought a 2002 Kia Sportage. It is a nice car, but has a gas smell and no one seems to know why. Any help?

29th May 2014, 10:57

These vehicles are jokes with wheels. Personally I will initially state that although I'm biased towards American cars/trucks, I do acknowledge that if a car is built right, then it needs the respect it deserves. BUT, this is not the case with my 2002 Kia Sportage. My wife and I got this vehicle for 800 bucks. Which, at the time seemed like a deal since the vehicle was booked at 3,900 dollars. But, in the 6 months we have owned it, we have put over 1,000 dollars in work into it and there's still things going wrong with the car that are dog piling with what was wrong with the car when we bought it!

The wheel bearings fail after about 3,000 miles.

Cylinder 3 spark plug has blown out multiple times due to poor quality metal in the already poorly designed aluminum cylinder head.

The electronics in the thing are crazy on a good day, with a radio and clock that work when they want to, airbag warning lights randomly showing, on top of the fact that regardless of what we do, the thing still has a weird idle.

There's no power in the thing to go over anything larger than a speed bump, and it sucks gas worse than my 1-ton Powerstroke! I get 23 MPG in my diesel and 22 MPG in this... yeah, that's an issue.

I hate this vehicle, and no dealerships want to even take it on trade. When this vehicle finally goes, I plan on having it crushed, or possibly sit it out in the pasture and let the cows do what they want to it.