Anyone with a Kia Sportage? (Recommend a $5k 4dr hatchback!)

[StrangeWill]

Anyway, looking at getting one of these. Sadly reviews for this vehicle are highly mixed so it's practically impossible to determine what is blatant stupidity (aka: I drove it till the timing belt broke, now the engine is ruined... ergo piece of shit, amirite?), and what may actually be mechanical concerns.


Anyone actually own one of these? 109k miles on it.


Edit
Or....

What we're looking for is some kind of 4 door hatchback. It's hard to find anything being as they've only really become popular in the past few years, so it's nearly impossible to find anything in our price range....

No wagons.

[StrangeWill]

It'd be tough to separate actual reliability stories vs. people who never took care of their car. You'll probably be ok, although I have heard it is difficult to get Kia parts. I don't know if that is true or not, though.

There seem to be plenty still on the roads, at least around here... maybe that means something good.

Yeah, I trust this place though in terms of stories, and got tired of digging through reviews that were mixed between "300,000 miles and still going!" and "it blew up in 5 miles and killed my family".

[FDSpirit]

It'd be tough to separate actual reliability stories vs. people who never took care of their car. You'll probably be ok, although I have heard it is difficult to get Kia parts. I don't know if that is true or not, though.

There seem to be plenty still on the roads, at least around here... maybe that means something good.

+1. I don't like to take a lot of customer reviews seriously personally. Results end up getting f'ed because some idiot never changed the oil, timing belt, or some other vital component. That doesn't mean there aren't trustworthy ones either. I just try to get a general idea by looking at recurring issues from reviews and go from there. I mean, there are some cars out there that are just bad. Either by the internet, or research/personal experience(looking at you '01 Civic Automatic Tranny. Friend had one that was nothing but trouble. Tons of complaints about it from other Honda loyalists as well).

[noob5,000,000]

digging through reviews that were mixed between "300,000 miles and still going!" and "it blew up in 5 miles and killed my family".

[theholycow]

One of the larger contributors to longevity and problems is the owner, as discussed above. Consider who owns Kias, Civics, or whatever.

My guess: A lot of Kia owners are people who bought what they saw as a disposable car (bad for the car). Some are cheap people (bad). Some are thoughtless (bad). Some are thrifty people who did the math (good). Some are gamblers (mixed). Some, of course, are every other type of owner, but they aren't a larger percentage of Kia owners than they are of other brands.

That's just a guess. To be honest, I'd consider a Kia based entirely on its current condition, its merits as it is.

[AHTOXA]

If it's the older gen - run. Run and never look back.

[FDSpirit]

[StrangeWill]

If it's the older gen - run. Run and never look back.

If I'm not mistaken they only started making them in 2001...

oh and it's a 2001.

So run?

[Rope-Pusher]

Constipated Reports sez watch out for the early ones, but the new ones are OK - but it doesn't qualify when the cut-off is.

[watkins]

Rule of thumb: Never buy a first year production model of any car ever. Except Saab 9-3, cause those are the best year.

[andriw]

Actually,

if you're living in Indonesia, best possibility is that you will buy this car. First production model is actually very good, reliable, it's a good machine. The second generation of Sportage fail badly, and it ruined KIA's reputation here (that and first-gen KIA Carnival).

However, with 109 kilos on it, it will be hell a lot of replacement. and for KIA, it means a lot of additional costs.

[FDSpirit]

Rule of thumb: Never buy a first year production model of any car ever.

This. I forgot to mention that when I posted about my friend's '01 Civic.

[nothfx]

OT - but is it just me, or did I see you on reddit the other day StrangeWill?

[AHTOXA]

2001 was not the first model year. They have been made since the 90s. However a 2001 is still a first gen, which had remarkably bad reliability issues.

They were recalled twice for an issue of both rear wheels dismounting as the vehicle was driven.

[comingbackdown]

They were recalled twice for an issue of both rear wheels dismounting as the vehicle was driven.

What... the... f*ck...

Yeah, just hearing that, I'd run for my life if I were you.

But... at least it's not a Rio...