Hey Winfred/Bill/anyone who's had a Kia...

[TC535i]

Looking at a '99-'00 Sephia for a daily driver, probably in the $2-3k range. These cars decent? Look to be reasonably reliable, and a lot of Mazda stuff in em from what I've heard?

[ryan roopnarine]

Looking at a '99-'00 Sephia for a daily driver, probably in the $2-3k range. These cars decent? Look to be reasonably reliable, and a lot of Mazda stuff in em from what I've heard?

i'm not either, but in late 2k, i was shopping around, and thought the same way you do. only some of the sephias have SOME mazda tech in them, and the amount is not much. AT MOST, some years might have 30 percent mazda stuff. it is commonly believed that these sephias are like the mazda joint productions with ford, eg. probe=mx6, 323=festiva. this is not the case, and the mazda tech only shows up in certain years, and in small amounts. if your still interested, get someone to take you to an auction. i'd be suprised if a 99-2k sephia cleared quadruple digits there, as they hold resale value terribly.

[winfred]

the only contact i've had with a killed in action was listening to a buddy that was a kia factory tech talking to a friend that was still working at the dealer, the term "rolling pile of ****" was mentioned several times, i am not sure but that can't be a good thing

Looking at a '99-'00 Sephia for a daily driver, probably in the $2-3k range. These cars decent? Look to be reasonably reliable, and a lot of Mazda stuff in em from what I've heard?

[TC535i]

Here in San Diego, a smashed up piece of JUNK will pull 1k as long as it's driveable.

I just talked to my friend's dad (owns a tow yard), looks like I'm buying a '99 for $1200.

i'm not either, but in late 2k, i was shopping around, and thought the same way you do. only some of the sephias have SOME mazda tech in them, and the amount is not much. AT MOST, some years might have 30 percent mazda stuff. it is commonly believed that these sephias are like the mazda joint productions with ford, eg. probe=mx6, 323=festiva. this is not the case, and the mazda tech only shows up in certain years, and in small amounts. if your still interested, get someone to take you to an auction. i'd be suprised if a 99-2k sephia cleared quadruple digits there, as they hold resale value terribly.

[AllanS]

Can't speak for the Sephia, but a friend of mine has a Sportage and he beats the living crap out of that thing. He took it to LA and back, from NY, with probably well over 150k miles on it right now, and it just won't die.

This in itself isn't that amazing; my 525i has almost 150k with mostly 75% city miles, but he drives like a total jackass... he doesn't understand the concept that the gas pedal isn't an on/off switch, so to speak. And when he turns, going through back roads... ho boy, that was scary. But it just won't die. So maybe it's an isolated case of the mysterious immortal Kia... I don 't know.

[bahnstormer]

i had a nice saturn - 95 sc 1 manual ... 75k miles, not a drop of oil, every electrical
toy was working ... just an alternative to a kia =]