7.9

pretty bad
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
5,333 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2005 Kia Spectra:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

problem #3

May 012007

Spectra

  • Automatic transmission
  • 10,000 miles
2005 Kia Spectra has automatic transmission problem. Several Kia mechanics at various Kia dealerships (banner, pat peck, and Kia of slidell) say performance is normal, but it slips out of gear on the highway, almost putting our family in several accidents, because it scares us so much. Our family loves the Spectra, and takes very good care of it, but this unsafe condition has made anyone we know fearful to ride in it, when they feel it bucking in and out of gear, on the highway. Please convince Kia to stand behind this car, and repair it to the condition we were promised - thank you. The car has always done this, from what we remember, and various times Kia service people have said that this is just the way the Spectra is - the last visit, they convinced us to flush all of the fluids, to take care of any issues, once and for all, and now it is worse than ever. We are complaining to you now because it has become almost unusable for other than going around the subdivision. Some chat boards say the 2005 has a faulty tcm (control module), but Kia has not acknowledged that to us, and said the reprogramming took care of it (this did not).

- Slidell, LA, USA

problem #2

Jan 122006

Spectra 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 6,000 miles
The power train in my car shifts very hard and it seems like it is going to fall out of the car. Have had the car in to be fixed by the dealer twice and tomorrow will be the third time.

- Weymouth, MA, USA

problem #1

Feb 202006

Spectra 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
I recently purchased a 2005 Kia Spectra which has a faulty transmission--a fact not disclosed by the dealership at the time of purchase. A visit to the dealership last week revealed other Kia Spectras have a similar problem with hard shifting and that Kia has the matter "under investigation". I need to know what's going to be done about the problem.

- East Haven, CT, USA