Posted by CDSbigsby A friend of mine put this best. He used to drive a 1978 Chevy K-5 Blazer, and he said that when he was working on it and got pissed and punched the fender or something, you couldn't even tell on the fender, but he would almost break his fingers. Well, when gas prices went through the roof, he sold his K-5 and traded down in a big way to a Kia Sephia. Recently, because it's a piece of shit, the headlights stopped working, so he punched the fender out of anger and left a massive fist-shaped dent in it. You can literally see the individual fingers in the dent. (He's not the brightest)

my friend Kisha bought a 2005 Kia Spectra 5 brand new back in 2005, the same week I bought my 2005 Cobalt coupe. Since then, she has had the brakes catch on fire, the heater core go, the carpet pull away from the molding, the drivers' seat back fail (Kisha is maybe 110lbs, her boyfriend maybe 140lbs)... the car has had some many problems, as have so many other Kias, there is a big decal on her back window "mykiasux.com" (the site is down now, I believe), but she is stuck with it. I know, why did she buy a Kia? Because she is young and she needed a car and none of the other brand dealers could get her into a car. So, since most Kia dealers make a used car dealer look honest, they got her into a car.

Toyotas' reliability is exaggerated, anyway. I've had two cars as my primary drivers since I've got my license: A 1985 Chevrolet S-10 with a 305 smallblock V8 which I drove for roughly a year and a half, and a 1984 Toyota Tercel hatchback which I've driven for just under a year now. Since I started driving the S-10, I've had to replace the fuel pump and rewrap a couple of wires due to someone doing it wrong in the past. Since I've started driving the Toyota, I've had to replace: Both front struts, both front strut mounts, water pump, starter, and the brake master cylinder. The Chevy has 60,000 more miles on it than the Toyota body-wise, and probably more on the engine too.

not playing devils advocate because i despise Toyota, their ad campaign and perceived reliability, but the items you listed on the Tercel are pretty much normal wear and tear items. To only have replaced those on a car that is 25 years old is pretty good. Consider that most of those Tercels of that vintage are sitting in salvage yards or fields because they were rotboxes...

i still love all of you... hahaha

Funny, i never said i have no problems with Korean Cars ;)

Kia has huge following here in Oregon because the first Kias were sold at a dealership in Portland. My understanding is that their reliability took a dive once Daewoo went into making cars; I guess its as "hey, they can be cheap, so we can too" mentality. I dunno if they offer that $7000 car anymore but that car was fine for the person who never travels more than 20 miles anywhere in a day.

I agree with that Sam, but all the same, it sounds a bit sketchy to have to have replaced them all within 6 months or so. Then again, I don't know the car's history, so who knows. Altogether, I'm proud of it though. I drove it from Logan, Ohio to Petal, Mississippi and back and it soldiered on. That, coincidentally, is why I don't question the water pump failing.

Worries me about Kia horror stories though, as my girlfriend bought a 2005 Optima this summer. So far nothing out of the ordinary has happened though.