KIA <--- girlfriend planning on buying one

[imported_KuJaX]

Heya,

Well my girlfriend finally got rid of her problem stricken Cadillac (Catera). It was the biggest piece of crap ever, and she didnt consult with me before purchasing it. She blindly picked the first car she saw and got screwed HARD. Every month it would break down, costing her more than $500 each time. Of course, she bought the worthless 3rd party warranty worth $3,000 that didnt cover any of the $2000+ problems she had with the car in just under 4 months. She had it 6 months before finally getting a buyer and she got owned because she had to sell it so cheap. Its pretty bad when you have to take out a loan that would normally buy the car she is looking at now, just to pay off the Cadilllac. Lesson learned I guess.

Anyway, she now is in debt, is only working part time and wants to go to school. She needs something cheaper than $5,000 but also has less than 60,000 miles. KIA was basically the only thing that we could come up with. We test drove a few, and she has to decide between a 2002 Kia Spectra or a 2002 Kia Rio. Both have less than 55,000 miles and the Spectra is $900 more (but didnt seem as clean).

What have your expierence(s) been with KIA? Are they reliable? How expensive are the parts/repair if something did infact go wrong? I tried to dig up information on them via consumerreports, but all of the stuff says "not enough DATA".

 

[jammur21]

How about a 1999/2000 Chevy Prizm in the neighborhood of 70,000 miles.

Chevy Prizm is a Toyota Corolla, same factory.

 

[allanon1965]

I am an ASE Certified Master Auto Technician with 25 years experience, let me say this about the Kia....DONT BUY IT!!!!!!!!! our shop sees a fair number of Kias every year and it usually is the same thing over and over....wheel bearing and hub assemblies ....these cars eat them like they are penny candy.....they are cheaply made and dont last....we even resorted to usuing the ones directly from Kia and they still dont last.....every 20 to 30 thousand they are going bad....we are at a loss, we have went over our installation process and found no fault, we followed the dealer instructions to the letter and still they fail....they arent cheap either...on some you can replace just the bearing, but then the labor costs go way up, due to having to press out the bearing...on the fronts.... plus the little buggers just seem to develope a harsh ride that cant be fixed, they rattle and pop and make all kinds of odd noises....not to mention the oil leaks.....dont buy Kia, Daewoo, hyundai or any other asian imports unless you can spend the high dollars to repair them, what you save in initial cost to purchase is quickly lost to high repair bills.....its not unusual for these vehicles to have a 500 to 600 dollar repair every time they come in. wait until the alternator or starter fails hehehe makes the caddy bills look like nothing...

 

[Legend]

Kia? Hahaha.

Get a 10 year old Honda Civic with about 150k miles. It'll last longer than a brand new Kia.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: jammur21
How about a 1999/2000 Chevy Prizm in the neighborhood of 70,000 miles.

Chevy Prizm is a Toyota Corolla, same factory.

Agreed on that reccomendation, the simpler it is the less that can go wrong and the Corolla/Prizm or even a Civic are all pretty simple cars unless you slap some Type R stickers and wings on there

 

[imported_KuJaX]

Originally posted by: allanon1965
I am an ASE Certified Master Auto Technician with 25 years experience, let me say this about the Kia....DONT BUY IT!!!!!!!!! our shop sees a fair number of Kias every year and it usually is the same thing over and over....wheel bearing and hub assemblies ....these cars eat them like they are penny candy.....they are cheaply made and dont last....we even resorted to usuing the ones directly from Kia and they still dont last.....every 20 to 30 thousand they are going bad....we are at a loss, we have went over our installation process and found no fault, we followed the dealer instructions to the letter and still they fail....they arent cheap either...on some you can replace just the bearing, but then the labor costs go way up, due to having to press out the bearing...on the fronts.... plus the little buggers just seem to develope a harsh ride that cant be fixed, they rattle and pop and make all kinds of odd noises....not to mention the oil leaks.....dont buy Kia, Daewoo, hyundai or any other asian imports unless you can spend the high dollars to repair them, what you save in initial cost to purchase is quickly lost to high repair bills.....its not unusual for these vehicles to have a 500 to 600 dollar repair every time they come in. wait until the alternator or starter fails hehehe makes the caddy bills look like nothing...

Thank you very much for the in-depth knowledge post.

She has to spend less than $6,000 and have something reliable. She isnt buying a car to own the rest of her life. She is buying a car to get to work and school and back for the next 3 years or so. Any recommendations? I couldn't imagine buying a Hona with 150k+ miles and expect to get a "good" car.

 

[mattocs]

Check out Hyundais. My wife drives and Accent. Very basic car...but it was cheap and gets great gas mileage and is extreamly dependable.

 

[Legend]

or any other asian imports

Toyota and Honda are the cream of the crop when it comes to reliability. Nice fuel efficiency too.

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

85-92 Jetta or GTI <3

 

[yllus]

Are they really that bad? Aren't most of them shared platforms with Hyundais, which are pretty decent?

Plus that 5 year bumper to bumper warranty...

 

[Mo0o]

Mid 90s civic?

 

[Legend]

Are they really that bad? Aren't most of them shared platforms with Hyundais, which are pretty decent?

Plus that 5 year bumper to bumper warranty...

Yep. Their build is extremely cheap.

Last time I looked at reliability ratings, Kia was literally rated the worst of all makers.

 

[eminemrh25]

Get an older BMW, I just saw a red 95 325i for 6 grand....

 

[Shawn]

Korean cars aren't very reliable. Go with a Japanese car such as a Toyota or Honda if you are concerned with reliability.

 

[EatSpam]

Originally posted by: KuJaX
She has to spend less than $6,000 and have something reliable. She isnt buying a car to own the rest of her life. She is buying a car to get to work and school and back for the next 3 years or so. Any recommendations? I couldn't imagine buying a Hona with 150k+ miles and expect to get a "good" car.

2002 Cavalier.... cheap due to the perception that American cars aren't reliable. They're simple, reliable, and on the off chance that anything really does break, its extra cheap to fix.

I drove a Cavalier for 7 years.... not a single problem.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Get a used Honda Civic or Accord, Toyota Corolla or Camry, Nissan Sentra or Altima, or Mazda Protege. And don't spend all $6000 on the initial purchase!

Also, a Honda, Toyota, or Nissan with 150K miles is just broken in. Just do your homework and don't get scammed.

 

[RossMAN]

Hyundai Elantra GLS with 10 year warranty for $10k FTW!

 

[imported_KuJaX]

any more suggestions?

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Oh brother. Lemmon Laws do apply to new cars you know.

Originally posted by: KuJaX
Heya,

Well my girlfriend finally got rid of her problem stricken Cadillac (Catera). It was the biggest piece of crap ever, and she didnt consult with me before purchasing it. She blindly picked the first car she saw and got screwed HARD. Every month it would break down, costing her more than $500 each time. Of course, she bought the worthless 3rd party warranty worth $3,000 that didnt cover any of the $2000+ problems she had with the car in just under 4 months. She had it 6 months before finally getting a buyer and she got owned because she had to sell it so cheap. Its pretty bad when you have to take out a loan that would normally buy the car she is looking at now, just to pay off the Cadilllac. Lesson learned I guess.

Anyway, she now is in debt, is only working part time and wants to go to school. She needs something cheaper than $5,000 but also has less than 60,000 miles. KIA was basically the only thing that we could come up with. We test drove a few, and she has to decide between a 2002 Kia Spectra or a 2002 Kia Rio. Both have less than 55,000 miles and the Spectra is $900 more (but didnt seem as clean).

What have your expierence(s) been with KIA? Are they reliable? How expensive are the parts/repair if something did infact go wrong? I tried to dig up information on them via consumerreports, but all of the stuff says "not enough DATA".

 

[sniperruff]

unless the kia's are under $3000, don't even consider them

actually, with $3k, i'd buy a used civic/corolla.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
85-92 Jetta or GTI <3

Umm... I like VW's as much as the next guy, but I don't recommend one for someone who wants a car that is rock solid reliable.

I'd pick a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic. I'd AVOID used Kia's and Hyundai's... the new ones come with long warranties for a reason. You'll NEED it.

 

[Whisper]

For a used car, I'd go with a slightly older honda or toyota, as has been mentioned.

I decided to buy new, and went with a hyundai accent. I've only had it since Jan, but the first 20k miles (lots of driving back and forth from LSU to Atlanta) haven't given me any problems at all. Still feels as solid as the day I bought it, which was a surprise at the time. He!!, the sound of the door closing actually sounds more solid than many civics I've been in, which shocked me when I test drove the thing before buying.

Now I'm not saying it'll end up being more reliable than a civic or corolla...but I'm not saying that it won't, either.

 

[allanon1965]

yes, toyotas and hondas are reliable in the strictest sense of the word, but the repair bills when they break are 2-3 times as much as a domestic car...if it were me, i would get a 3 or 4 thousand dollar corolla, civic or cavalier (without the 2.3 or 2.4 quad 4 engine) sunfire, and put the other 2 or 3 thousand in a savings account for unexpected repairs, beleive me, they will happen on ALL cars....take it for what its worth, my experience with these over the last 25 years....

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: allanon1965
I am an ASE Certified Master Auto Technician with 25 years experience, let me say this about the Kia....DONT BUY IT!!!!!!!!! our shop sees a fair number of Kias every year and it usually is the same thing over and over....wheel bearing and hub assemblies ....these cars eat them like they are penny candy.....they are cheaply made and dont last....we even resorted to usuing the ones directly from Kia and they still dont last.....every 20 to 30 thousand they are going bad....we are at a loss, we have went over our installation process and found no fault, we followed the dealer instructions to the letter and still they fail....they arent cheap either...on some you can replace just the bearing, but then the labor costs go way up, due to having to press out the bearing...on the fronts.... plus the little buggers just seem to develope a harsh ride that cant be fixed, they rattle and pop and make all kinds of odd noises....not to mention the oil leaks.....dont buy Kia, Daewoo, hyundai or any other asian imports unless you can spend the high dollars to repair them, what you save in initial cost to purchase is quickly lost to high repair bills.....its not unusual for these vehicles to have a 500 to 600 dollar repair every time they come in. wait until the alternator or starter fails hehehe makes the caddy bills look like nothing...

:roll:

So, what do you recommend then?

Originally posted by: allanon1965
yes, toyotas and hondas are reliable in the strictest sense of the word, but the repair bills when they break are 2-3 times as much as a domestic car...if it were me, i would get a 3 or 4 thousand dollar corolla, civic or cavalier (without the 2.3 or 2.4 quad 4 engine) sunfire, and put the other 2 or 3 thousand in a savings account for unexpected repairs, beleive me, they will happen on ALL cars....take it for what its worth, my experience with these over the last 25 years....

Statements retracted.

 

[allanon1965]

full of it? i dont think so, i make my professional living from doing repairs on all makes and models, all brands have problems, i see more cars in a year for repairs than you do i bet. once in awhile you get a good car, even from a crap maker like Kia, even Yugos had a few good ones, remeber those??? they had two blower fans, one for the heater and one for the airconditioning, which was housed in the console right under the radio!, very easy to change, they had some innovative ideas, its too bad they didnt make it. hell even chevrolet had a few good chevettes.....but most were crap....so tell me eli, what do you do for a living and what do YOU drive? My current ride is a 92 chevy caprice with the 5.0 TBI V8...easy to maintain and I dont have to remove the water pump to service the distributor cap like the caprice's with the hot 5.7 do....