10.0
really awful- Typical Repair Cost:
- No data
- Average Mileage:
- 61,000 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 2 complaints
Most common solutions:
- not sure (2 reports)
A ten year old Kia Spectra with 42,000 miles on it and no problems for ten years had a sudden involuntary acceleration that was terrifying. At an intersection, going from the gas pedal to the brake, the car suddenly lurched forward powerfully. With two feet standing on the brake it still pulled into the intersection with me wildly waving at the cars surrounding that I had a problem. Finally put into neutral and the engine roared like it was going to explode and then it calmed down. I crept home slower than all the traffic around me and have refused to get in the Killer Kar again.
Had it towed for $75 to the local Kia dealership where the mechanics have found nothing wrong with it. I had sent with the car a collection of online complaints from other drivers for this same problem. Mostly from Kia Sedona owners and found that the 2005 Kia Sedona was recalled for this same terrifying problem.
The dealership head mechanic said their diagnostics failed to find anything wrong! And then he insultingly suggested that maybe I was wearing very heavy boots that day on the gas pedal, or else maybe the mat became wedged under it. This is Kia dealership lack-of-responsibility and acknowledgement of a legitimate problem bullshit!!
I do not know what to do next with this car. I do not want to drive it again. And could sell it only if I also revealed the problem and gave the new owner the printed material of other owners. I have also filed a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and hope that other Spectra owners experiencing this problem do so also. The Kia Corporation needs to address this problem before more people are injured or killed by a run-away speeding Kia car.
- Laine F., South Bend, IN, US
Other than the fuel pump and the tie rod, it has been an excellent car.
- frietzsche, Indianapolis, US