The Kia line of vehicles resemble, to me, the Toyota line. Look at a Corolla or Camry and then look at a Kia. Very similiar styling at a much lower price. However, because this is not as established a line of vehicles, the resale value is not as high either.

The Sephia gets excellent gas mileage, comfortably seats four-five people, and has a large trunk area. Mine is a four-door vehicle, automatic.

Be prepared - the batteries that come standard are defective. Most batteries (are Japanese) must be replaced within a month after the cars leave the lot (so said the wrecker driver who towed me back to the lot 2 days after my purchase). Once the battery is replaced with an American battery it does fine. KIA had a wrecker for me the two times I had to be towed to the dealership for the battery within ten minutes of my phone call. However, I don't like having to call KIA, I would rather call my dealership and talk to someone who I might actually see when I take the car in for repairs.

The car doesn't have alot of get-up-and-go but if you let it slowly build up it will go as fast as you need/want it to.

Service has been difficult, but I believe that problem is with my individual dealership. Current complaint - stereo controls not working properly, tape deck "eating" tapes. I am trying to work out something with dealership to fix this.
Again, problems seem to be with my local dealership not Kia as a whole.

The car has an inside flip switch to open the gas tank or trunk. The car has safety locks where the driver's door can control all other windows and door locks. Nice when you have kids. The backseat windows will not roll all the way down either. Another safety measure.

My main safety difficulty is with the seat belts. The webbing used on the seat belts will not hold a child's car seat as securely as needed and after a while must be readjusted or the child's seat will wobble. I had a gentleman from Children's Hospital's carseat demo install mine since he was professionally trained in installing infant seats. He said he had experienced this problem with every Kia he came across. You just have to tighten up the seatbelt every month or so. The seat belt itself "slips" over time from the pressure of the infant seat.
Amount Paid (US$): 13000.00
Condition: New
Model Year: 2000
Model and Options: LE, automatic, air, power steering, ABS brakes