Real review from a real owner

This car was bought in a pinch. My wife's old car before blew the rings in its engine and she needed to be back to work on a military post in two days 800 miles away. With finances in a bind we went to the Kia dealership in Huntington Beach Ca. We drove off the lot in a 2001 Kia Sephia LS (manual transmission) for a little under $14,000 AFTER tax, title, and license. Our car came with power windows, power door locks, power mirrors, CD player stereo with six speaker option, alloy rims, cruise control, alarm, keyless entry, and a small spoiler (not a dorky 3 foot job). A month later we got a nice tint job done (No cheap bubbled purple crud here) and the car looks great to this day.

Driving: It's not a tricked out sports car and isn't designed to rev at 8000 RPM while power shifting or do 10 second quarter miles, people basing their reviews on such expectations need a reality check. The car handles wonderful for what we paid. When compared to American counterparts in this class such as the Ford Focus and Chevy Cavalier it blows them out of the water in all aspects. Acceleration is ample but not spectacular. Handling during steering is surprisingly crisp with a bit of roll to smooth the ride (again, not a sports car). There is a bit of road noise on rough or textured pavement (50 miles outside of Vegas coming from LA is a good example for those in the know). Visibility is quite nice and gives good awareness of the road around you. The brakes could be a bit stronger and may wear out soon if you don't have good depth perception and or tend to slam on the brakes alot. The seats are comfortable enough to go through an entire tank of gas before stopping on long road trips (pending bladder capicity) however the initial stretch after 4 hours behind the wheel will surely goose a couple snaps crackles and pops out of your spine.

Fuel economy: The car averages 300 miles to the tank (a little under 30 mpg) with the AC on at all times in the summer to keep cool and in the winter to dehumidify the car and speed defrosting of the windshield (AC comes on automatically when the windshield vents are selected). Note: heavy feet cut fuel economy substantially.

Reliability: I change the oil regularly and have replaced the air filter twice. The tires where replaced at 45,000 miles along with a front-end alignment. The car currently has 52,000 miles on it and still has full power. I have degreased the engine twice to keep the crud down and prevent heat buildup. It drips about a drop of oil a week. The brakes are about due to be replaced; however as my 72 Chevy C20 pickup devours brakes every 15,000 miles I'm not one to complain. The paint still looks great but has a couple chips from bugs and road debris. I regularly drive this car from San Antonio Texas to Southern California. When driving cross country I average between 75 and 85 MPH with the AC at all times, the car is fully if not a bit over loaded (my wife plays a mean game a Tetris when packing and utilizing every cubic inch) and maintains speed even on the steepest hills and mountains. The suspension still feels fine, I may replace the struts in 10,000 miles as preventative maintenance or I may leave them to see how long they can go. The CV boots are still nice and supple and show no signs of cracking. The transmission still grabs every gear with ease and the clutch still feels like it has plenty of meat left on it. Note: abusive driving will most certainly have a negative affect on transmission and or clutch longevity.

Creature comforts: The stereo sounds great with my heavy metal, rap, and classical(?) music. My wife’s techno sounds great too. Nice bass response and sound quality considering there is no subwoofer or external amplification. The stereo gets surprisingly loud before any distortion is heard. The power door locks feel kinda cheap but work and have never failed; same can be said of the power windows. Keyless entry and alarm still work just fine. The power mirrors allow my wife and I to switch off driving after about 10 seconds of readjusting all mirrors, seating positions, and the manual tilt steering. Cruise control works great and has doubtlessly saved me from countless tickets (Texas cops can be jerks when they want too). The back seat is adequate for around town; the passenger side seat belt for some reason is a bit short and tends to grab and not let go of passengers, an amusing annoyance for passengers from the driver’s perspective.