2007 Kia Spectra
This year drew an ordinary 162 complaints for a Kia Spectra — the model's median is 118. What they were about is the unusual part: 19.1% of them mention gas, against 2.9% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 162 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 118 |
| Involving a crash | 23 |
| Involving a fire | 7 |
| Recalls | 1 |
| EPA combined | 26 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- gas — 19.1% of this year's complaints, against 2.9% across the model's other years (6.5×).
- driving vehicle — 8% of this year's complaints, against 0.4% across the model's other years (21.8×). Owners wrote it as: driving vehicle, whether, vehicle because, during rush.
- recalled — 6.2% of this year's complaints, against 2.3% across the model's other years (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: recalled, indicates.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
PASSENGER AIR BAG LIGHT IS ON AND REMAINS ON--APPARENTLY THIS INDICATES THAT THE PASSENGER AIR BAG IS DEFECTIVE. WHY IS THIS NOT RECALLED WHEN SO MANY COMPLAIN OF THE SAME PROBLEM IN THIS YEAR AND MODEL CAR?
THE VEHICLE STALLED AFTER IT WAS FILLED WITH GASOLINE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHERE THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE FUEL TANK CANNISTER FLOODED AND CAUSED THE FAILURE. THE CONTACT CALLED THE [VIN] WHO OFFERED NO ASSISTANCE. THE VEHICLE…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 11V256000 FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Kia Spectra was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2007 Kia Spectra? What happened to yours?
Loading comments…