Worst Car I've Ever Owned -- Kia=Krap Imported to America

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Date Posted: 08:18:46 08/23/08 Sat
Author: Marc (Pissed)
Subject: Worst Car I've Ever Owned

Two years ago my girlfriend's (now my wife) car died and we decided to find her something better. To make a long story short, we settled on Kia because we'd heard so much good about them. Good gas mileage, very reliable, etc. So we went to KELLER KIA OF GRAND RAPIDS MICHIGAN and bought a used 2001 Sportage 4-door with 65,000 miles. It looked decent, drove well, and seemed like a pretty good deal. The following day we drove the car out to her parents' home to show it to them. I was shocked to find out that, even with the transmission on 'economy' mode, our little four cylinder Kia sucked down $30 in gas each way! (for comparison my 2007 Chevrolet Silverado full-size longbox pickup uses $15 each way). Not only that, but the fuel gauge started acting funny on the way back.

The following Monday we took the car back to Keller. They diagnosed the problem and determined it was a fuel sending unit and told us it would cost $850 to fix! We had only owned the car one freakin' day! The coward salesman who sold it to us, BRIAN SPENDOW, hid in his office and could not be reached for comment. I felt at least part of the bill should have been thier responsibility. I argued with the service manager--no help. I even went as far as to call the owner of the dealership--left four messages and not a one of them was returned. After much stress and arguing, they finally agreed to split the cost with me.

I swallowed my anger and figured at least everything would be right now. Wrong. When we went to pick the car up and cough up our $425, it made an awful rattling noise when my girlfriend started it in the service lot. Pissed once again, we went back inside and stated our problem. Thier response? "Well it must have been that way when it came in because we didn't do anything."

Then there's the transmission issue. Ours is an automatic, but seems to shift only when it's good and ready. Even with a 10-15 minute warm-up, it usually won't shift out of first gear until the tachometer is well past redline. Sometimes not even then. Sometimes you have to 'play' with the gas pedal, snapping the necks of whoever is riding with you, until it finally decides it wants second gear. Shifting it manually does absolutely nothing. If I didn't still owe money on it, I'd be very tempted to just hold the gas pedal down and let the SOB grenade itself.

Then, after about 2,500 miles of ownership, I noticed the tires starting to wear unevenly under normal driving. So back into the shop it went for an alignment and new front tires (the passenger side front was worn right down to the cords on the inside).

Then last week it began to start erratically. Usually starting was the one thing it did well, but all of a sudden it will sometimes start right up, and other times crank and crank and crank forever before it finally starts. I've absolutely had it with this car and the myth that Kias are such great automobiles. Whenever somebody stops me and asks how I like my Kia (which happens a surprising amount) I never miss a chance to tell them what a total turd they really are.

-One VERY pissed Kia owner in Grand Rapids, Mich.

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