Kia Problems

As we haven’t experienced the problem ourselves it’s hard to comment on your concerns, but it does sound like a design problem that should have been identified and fixed before the car went into production. Now being in production it’s very difficult to fix, but we will contact Kia and see if they can suggest something that might help you. To fix it you could look at ways of shielding the dash when the light is coming from the direction that cause the problem. One thing you could look at is window tinting.

Take it back to your Kia dealer and explain your concern to them and ask them to check it to identify if it is the lifters or perhaps something else. If they find a problem have them tell you what they plan to do about it. If you cannot find satisfaction with that take your concern higher and talk directly to the customer service people at Kia headquarters.

The Focus is a great driving car, but there are serious issues with its dual-clutch automatic transmission, so serious you should avoid it, or buy a manual. Consider others like the Mazda3, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Kia Rio, etc.

The used Captiva does appear to be great value, but their shaky reputation for reliability would lead me to consider other options. The Territory would be a better bet, but they are known to have electrical and front suspension issues in the long-term.  If you're after an SUV, a seven-seat 2006-12 Mitsubishi Outlander is smart buying at the moment, but if you're just after the seven seats, I highly recommend taking a look at a 2008-13 Kia Rondo. These represent excellent value at the moment. Hope that helps, and keep us posted with your progress.

The range of values for your vehicle is $29,000 to $32,000 as a private sale. As a trade-in it’s worth $24,000 to $28,000. With its low kays, plus the towbar and bullbar yours is probably at the top end of that range. You don’t tell us anything about your needs and wants for the car you are looking to buy, but the Kia Sportage is a good car and worth you looking at it.

It could be something as simple as a stone caught in a caliper. If you can't get any satisfaction from your dealer report the problem to Kia's customer assistance service (131542) and request their help. Hopefully you can back up your claims that it was there from day one with some form of documentation.

If you bought it from a dealer and it's still within the time limit of the statutory warranty then take it back to the dealer and request that it be fixed. If you didn't buy it from a dealer, or the warranty has expired take it to an auto electrician and have it repaired.

For reliability and no-fuss driving it's best to go for an Asian brand rather than a European one. Euros can be expensive, particularly when they get older. I would suggest a 2013 Kia Rio or Hyundai i30, both are good cars, both have electronic stability control and fit within your budget.

With your slim budget you're looking at a 2010/2011 model, which will have on average around 150,000 km. It will be hard to find anything under that sort of mileage. At that I would be loathe to suggest a European brand, given that repairs can be expensive. Having ruled out the Tiguan I would suggest a Honda CR-V or a Mazda CX-5.