FaultScore

Worst years for a KIA Sephia

Owners have filed 3,080 complaints about the KIA Sephia with NHTSA across model years 1986 to 2003. More of them are about the brakes than anything else.

Avoid

1999 KIA Sephia

749 complaints — the highest FaultScore of any year, mostly brakes.

Cleanest on record

1994 KIA Sephia

25 complaints — the lowest FaultScore of the graded years.

Every KIA Sephia year, graded

The grade compares each year against the rest of this model's own run — never against another car. Click any bar or row to open that year's report.

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded
Year Grade Complaints Crashes Fires Median miles Most reported
2003 2 0 0 Engine & Cooling
2002 6 2 0 Transmission & Drivetrain
2001 D 158 31 3 18,000 Engine & Cooling
2000 D 461 57 3 43,700 Brakes
1999 F 749 68 77 33,500 Brakes
1998 D 994 61 24 54,234 Brakes
1997 C 375 49 5 63,000 Brakes
1996 C 203 10 5 40,000 Brakes
1995 C 104 18 1 Brakes
1994 A 25 3 0 Transmission & Drivetrain
1986 3 0 0 Transmission & Drivetrain

What breaks on a KIA Sephia

Across every model year on file. Follow a row for that part's complaints and the year it was worst.

Brakes 806 26.2%

Worst in 1998

Engine & Cooling 395 12.8%

Worst in 1998

Electrical System 348 11.3%

Worst in 1998

Worst in 1999

Airbags 174 5.6%

Worst in 1999

Worst in 1998

Body & Structure 127 4.1%

Worst in 1998

Worst in 1998

Worst in 1998

Seat Belts 97 3.1%

Worst in 1997

Steering 81 2.6%

Worst in 1999

Lights 81 2.6%

Worst in 1998

Worst in 1998

Suspension 68 2.2%

Worst in 1998

Exactly what failed on a KIA Sephia

The named sub-assemblies behind those complaints, across every model year.

Gasoline 212 16.7%
Disc 184 14.5%
Automatic Transmission 171 13.5%
Foundation Components 163 12.8%
Rotor 140 11.0%
Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip 131 10.3%
Frontal 118 9.3%
Engine 56 4.4%
Pads 48 3.8%
Tank Assembly 48 3.8%

Complaints filed over time

Every complaint about every KIA Sephia, by the month it reached NHTSA.

Jan 1995 peak 133 Apr 2022

KIA Sephia problems by state

Where owners filed from. Heavier states are usually just bigger markets, but a part that fails in heat or salt shows up here first.

Compare the KIA Sephia

Side by side on complaint history. Remember that raw totals track how many were sold as much as how good they were.