This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I bought a 2000 Kia Sephia on November 27, 2003. This car has the balance of a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty and only had 15,000 miles on it when I bought it. I noticed that it was using a quart of oil every 1,000 miles and after I changed the oil it was using a quart every 500 miles. I had already taken it in to the dealer for 15,000 mile servicing and took it back about this oil problem. The first thing they asked was permission to pull the heads, after which they informed me that the top of the motor was burnt and the only cause for this was failure to perform maintenance. I was asked to produce maintenance records for the life of the car, which I did. After producing these records, the service manager at the dealership now wanted permission to drop the oil pan. I gave it as I thought my car would finally be fixed. I called the service manager and was informed that since there was sludge in my oil pan they would not fix my car, even though I had proven it had been serviced, and it was still under factory warranty. I don't know where to go for help, so am filing this complaint hoping your Agency can in some way help me.
Vehicle stalls while driving, engine light intermittenly flash off and on, also dealer change odometer to cero miles, delaer has been notified several times
The brakes have numerous problems with this car since purcahsed. Resulting in frequent repair, inconvenience, safety concerns and other problems. Was told today by a brake specialist that the reason why the front brakes keep wearing fast is that the rear brakes do not work. Nlm
When vehicle was being driven it cuts off without warning. Also, will not start back up. Consumer has to get it towed every time. Then, it is towed back to dealer, yet, dealer cannot find out the problem. Consumer states he is afraid that he or his daughter is going to get hurt. Consumer adds there is sudden acceleration then slowing down of the vehicle without brakes being applied. Experiencing fuel relations problems possibly related to the fuel box. It is also possible that the alternator and battery failed.
- Shreveport, LA, USA
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1. driving car and a piece of exhaust fell off 2. numerous times car would not start. Taken to dealer twice and they said they could find no problem. 3. while driving vehicle with check engine light on it accelerated at a high rate of speed. This happened again when backing out of driveway.
Consumer states a cloud of smoke began to rise from the hood of the vehicle, consumer pulled over and noticed that the anti-freeze was leaking when the vehicle was turned off, it was also during the incident that the engine overheated, mechanic replaced the cooling fan relay and fuse and resecured wiring connections, consumer states on a separate occasion the malfunction indicator light began to flash, in which the vehicle would slow down and then speed up, the vehicle felt as though it was going to loose power even as it struggled to reach 50 mph, vehicle began to back fire and a loud rattling noise from the engine, which forced consumer to have vehicle towed.
While driving at a speed of 70mph vehicle suddenly dropped from 70 to 20 mph without any notice.consumer has contacted dealer, and the dealer was not willing to do anything.
Oil light came on. Checked oil on 12/16/2000 & put in four quarts. Vehicle did not overflow. On 12/17/00 the oil light came on again at 65 mph on S/B 15 fwy. On 12/19/00 car went to high desert Kia where they found nothing worng with oil light. But they replaced a exhaust sensor sliencer and center pipe was replaced. On 12/20/00, I drove to work and loma linda with no problem. On my return from loma linda the oil light came back on. I pulled over checked the oil and added one quart to make sure. Oil light remained on. Drove to the 215 fwy and the car started to skip (jolt). This was at about 70 miles per hour. As I went down the fwy it became more profound. I pulled over and called tow service. Strong burning smell coming from vehicle. Bosh Kia presntly has vehicle. They still claim there is nothing wrong with this vehicle.
Engine light came on, car began to idle really high then really low and would stall. Thermostat was replaced only a week later after the dealership supposely called Korea.
Vehicle experiencing problems with running rough/hesitating and front brakes squealing intermittently; vehicle been in dealer shop on three occasion and unable to duplicate the problem. Please provide any further details:
The car will lose all power and die out for no reason, no matter what the speed: (the car can be in neutral or in gear, either idleing or being driven). The dealership says there is nothing wrong.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Carthage, NC, USA