1996 KIA SEPHIA — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 118 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: SERVICE BRAKES (26 complaints · 22.0%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 9
  • Fires 4
  • Injuries 17
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 1995 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution SERVICE BRAKES appears in 26 of 118 owner complaints (22.0%) in this vehicle snapshot. SERVICE BRAKES: 26 complaints, 22.0% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 26 · 22.0% · 4 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 16 complaints, 13.6% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 16 · 13.6% · 2 fire reports ENGINE: 10 complaints, 8.5% of reports ENGINE 10 · 8.5% · 1 fire reports SEAT BELTS: 10 complaints, 8.5% of reports SEAT BELTS 10 · 8.5% AIR BAGS: 9 complaints, 7.6% of reports AIR BAGS 9 · 7.6% · 4 crash reports STRUCTURE: 8 complaints, 6.8% of reports STRUCTURE 8 · 6.8% POWER TRAIN: 5 complaints, 4.2% of reports POWER TRAIN 5 · 4.2% · 1 crash reports VISIBILITY: 4 complaints, 3.4% of reports VISIBILITY 4 · 3.4% SUSPENSION: 3 complaints, 2.5% of reports SUSPENSION 3 · 2.5% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 97 complaints, 82.2% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 97 · 82.2% · 9 crash reports 4 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
SERVICE BRAKES 26 22.0% 4 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 16 13.6% 0 crashes · 2 fires
ENGINE 10 8.5% 0 crashes · 1 fires
SEAT BELTS 10 8.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 9 7.6% 4 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 8 6.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 5 4.2% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 4 3.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 3 2.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 97 82.2% 9 crashes · 4 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Apr 1996; the first recall shown was reported in Aug 2002. 1996-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 1997-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 1997-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 1997-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 1998-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 1998-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 1999-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 1999-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 1999-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2000-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2000-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 2000-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2003-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2003-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Apr 1996 Oct 2005 Recall campaign 02V216000 ◆ Recall campaign 02V216000 Investigation PE02051 ● Investigation PE02051
  • Campaign 02V216000 was reported 2,145 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1996-Q2 Owner reports 3
1996-Q3 Owner reports 2
1996-Q4 Owner reports 7
1997-Q1 Owner reports 1
1997-Q2 Owner reports 6
1997-Q3 Owner reports 8
1997-Q4 Owner reports 5
1998-Q1 Owner reports 7
1998-Q2 Owner reports 4
1998-Q3 Owner reports 2
1998-Q4 Owner reports 6
1999-Q1 Owner reports 3
1999-Q2 Owner reports 9
1999-Q3 Owner reports 6
1999-Q4 Owner reports 4
2000-Q1 Owner reports 6
2000-Q2 Owner reports 9
2000-Q3 Owner reports 1
2000-Q4 Owner reports 4
2001-Q1 Owner reports 3
2001-Q2 Owner reports 2
2001-Q4 Owner reports 1
2002-Q3 Owner reports 1
2002-Q4 Owner reports 3
2003-Q1 Owner reports 5
2003-Q2 Owner reports 1
2003-Q3 Owner reports 3
2004-Q1 Owner reports 1
2004-Q2 Owner reports 2
2004-Q4 Owner reports 2
2005-Q4 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 02V216000
Defect investigation 1 PE02051
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 02V216000

    Report date
    Component:
    SEAT BELTS
    Consequence:
    IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH, THE SEAT OCCUPANT MAY NOT BE PROPERLY RESTRAINED, INCREASING THE RISK OF PERSONAL INJURY.
    Remedy:
    OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN DECEMBER 20, 2002. OWNERS WHO TAKE THEIR VEHICLES TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER ON AN AGREED UPON SERVICE DATE AND DO NOT RECEIVE THE FREE REMEDY WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME SHOULD CONTACT KIA AT 1-800-333-4542.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 118 complaints · page 1 of 5

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources