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You count on your car to keep you safe in an accident, but could the car you're driving be deadly? A new list is out tonight, naming the deadliest cars in America.
Tom Simmons calls his Chevy Cavalier reliable, but a new list calls it deadly. Simmons says, "It's just a car, it gets me around, hope it don't kill us."
But other drivers are concerned. Regina Washington drives a Blazer. She says she'll, "Slow down a little more, I'm kind of a lead foot, so I don't want to roll over or anything like that."
The five most deadly cars are a Chevy Blazer, Mitsubishi Mirage, Pontiac Firebird, Kia Rio, and Kia Sportage. But just because you drive a dangerous car doesn't mean you're doomed to die. For example, a Chevy Blazer is the deadliest car, but it's also a car that would appeal to young men, who are usually more dangerous drivers.
The best way to stay safe is defensive driving. Sergeant Joe Watts with the Indiana State Police says, "Pay attention, be vigilant about your driving habits, know what you can do with your vehicle and what you can't do."
And because a lot of deaths are caused by roll-overs, experts say you should guard against those too. Watts says, "A lot of those accidents come from people leaving the roadway and then over-correcting as they re-enter. Just take your time re-entering the roadway."
The upside? Today's cars are safer than ever. That's good news for everyone on the roads no matter what car you're driving.
For more information on the safest and most deadly cars, click on the link below. Be patient, because the site takes a little while to load.
(sorry Iluv... know you like yours.)
Wonder why Kia retained the name?
Viva Kia, bring on the new Sportsman.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Drive safely out there.
Steve, Host
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Well after having to listen to the salesman pitch which got on my nerves I found the following:
The base kia does not come with the following:
Cruise control
Keyless entry
and I think foglights not sure but I'm sure theres more differences. The Kia dealership didnt have a brochere so I may never know.
Those items on the Tuscan base I consider pretty great for a base version and all I would ever want. The price in the 17's was also cheaper then the kia I test drove by 1000.00
I also read that the kias have been having trouble with the manual trans going out early in its life . Kia reps blamed it on driver error. A copout considering the number of complaints.
I was looking at the manual and would now advise anyone looking at this suv to go with the automatic.
Basically so you have your drivetrain covered the 10/100k without any bs story about being a bad shifter.
I feel thats very important for any new buyers....
I also didnt like the dealership, kept wanting me to get a loan when I told them I would pay cash. Just a big disappointment since I told them upfront I just wanted to test drive and not buy.
Bill
My mistake it was for a Hyundai Tiburon. Not the Tuscan.
I would not purchase a manual trans because of it regardless however.
Heres a link:
apollo2005, "Hyundai Tiburon" #380, 2 Oct 2004 11:41 pm
backy, "The Forums Test Drive Team" #152, 19 Mar 2005 8:08 pm
As far as the negatives in your review, I don't think I'd worry about any of them. Remote locking isn't something I need. I will be looking at getting an LX 4 cyl.5-speed if I buy one and so it will not have the remote locking feature and that's cool with me. Your review of the ride sounds great-AAMOF my '01 Sportage is surprisingly quiet as well in the cabin. We don't have to raise our voices to talk while freeway driving-not at all. Our older model Sportage is very quiet but your report on the new '05 Sportage is very encouraging as well regarding road noise. I think I am getting the benefit of owning a Sportage that Kia had had a long while to perfect. The bugs were long gone by the time I bought mine in Sept.of 2001. I also think that the great review of the '05 Sportage shows that Kia has benefited from their alliance with Hyundai and the initial '05 Sportage will already be built well and hold up well. The stereo sounds like it will be adequate OEM and the ride and handling sound very encouraging. Thanks for the great review, backy.
Oh, all the faux aluminum trimming and touches here and there sound cool, too. I tend to kind of like this new brushed aluminum trend going on-looks good to me. Doesn't matter if it's real or not-notta big deal to me.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
waiting for the actual recall notice might take some time.
Call Kia and give them your VIN
I just picked up my new Sportage (Steel Grey FWD LX-V6) this past thursday.
Mine was made in January so it is probably affected. I'll have to call Kia on Monday & confirm. In the meantime I will indeed shut off the ESP.
I was surprised that the NHTSA remedy is described as simply a reprogramming of the control unit. If the Yaw sensor is faulty I would have expected it to be replaced. If you reprogram a control system to ignore sensor problems it would seem to me that you might have reduced system performance. This is something I will ask Kia about, it should be an interesting challenge to get more details from them.
I haven't put enough km's on it to comment on fuel efficiency but the ride & handling so far are great. I am very happy with my choice. The only real competition for me was the CRV but the glove compartment on the passenger side is so low i crack my shins on it and can't stretch out my legs even with the seat fully back. That would not be much fun on a long trip.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
The ride was comfortable enough for a cross-country if needed... (I am 6'2" 240lbs and the Sportage still "fits" me). My other vehicle (and was my only transportation for the past two years) is a 2003 Dodge 2500 long wheel base pickup with a Cummins diesel... so saying the Kia fits me is done from that perspective. I guess time will tell (as in all things) on the long term reliability, etc, but for now I am extremely happy with my choice.
Bill
Then tonight I read about the recall. Will have to get that looked at.
I've had my steel grey/V6/FWD baby now since Feb. 11. And I'm loving it. It has been working fine, and I love the way it just chewed through snow on the weekend, uphill and everything. And without my snow tires (husband jumped the gun on removing those I think...I live north of Toronto).
Mileage for me has been (now this is in kilometres) about 520km to the full tank of 65 litres. This is on the HWY. I have no idea whatsover how this translates to MPG. Sorry. All I know is that it's cheaper than my 10-year-old Plymouth Voyager.
Will keep you all posted on my adventures. This little SUV is amazing. Any questions, feel free to ask.
Happy travels...
:shades:
I bought my Kia on Feb. 4 and we had problems with the ABS and ESP sensors coming on and disengaging both ABS and ESP (see my earlier posts from Feb.) The dealer didn't know what the problem was, and for the first 2.5 weeks of owning the vehicle, it was in the shop for 11 days.
However, they finally found the problem (minute crack in the wheel hub assembly), put on a new one, and no problems since.
At the time, our dealership was giving us the runaround, and we had consulted a lawyer, who was saying it was a lemon. We were beginning to believe him. After 4 visits to the dealership to figure out the problem, they finally did.
Very happy with the car now. Very very very happy. Love it.
:shades:
I live in Orangeville. Just spent the last 45 minutes checking into the Canadian recall. Called Kia Canada, Kia USA, the NHTSA, back to Kia Canada, Kia USA, and finally KIA Canada again. Whew!
Kia USA and the NHTSA had no information about recalls on Canadian Sportages. Kia USA said that if the car was purchased in Canada, if Kia Canada didn't have the recall information, then it only applied to cars sold in the States...but that I'd have to check with Kia Canada.
Kia Canada hadn't heard of the recall.
I had to direct them to the NHTSA website!
Kia Canada then caught her breath and said that because the cars are made for different countries, that the Canadian ones may not be affected. (I can't see that the engines would be that different.)
Let me know what you find out. In the meantime, my ESP is off!
:confuse:
NHTSA recalls do apply only to vehicles sold in the US.
For vehicles sold in Canada the government body responsible for issuing safety recall notices is: Transport Canada - Recalls, www.tc.gc.ca, 1-800-333-0510
When I spoke with them they indicated that they are aware of the NHTSA recall and that Kia Engineering has been in contact with them to advise them that this condition may affect vehicles in Canada. TC (transport Canada) is currently waiting for confirmation from Kia Engineering as to the specifics. (Vin #'s quantity, dates etc.)
They suggested contacting them weekly for updates. (I was a nice surprise to deal with a government office that was polite informed and helpful; Kudos to them).
Since US and Canadian Sportages have different options packages they are likely built in separate batch runs. So the US serial number and Date ranges may not apply to Canada. But until I get confirmation I also have ESP off just in case.
Drove the Sportage downtown today, it dealt very well with the potholes and streetcar tracks. My only complaint is that my wife get's to drive it more than I do.
p.s. Glad to hear your Sportage is working better, excellent choice of colour too.
I couldn't find any other site than this one that have so many of interest on Sportage.
I got my V6 EX at 25/03 at Montreal.
and now I'm geting almost 800 km and the FC is at 13.7L/100km
I alredy called my dealer and KIA Canada but they don't have more information than we have here.
But Harold from Toronto has more information than me so Thank you Harold for ssharing you info!
so just in case I'll turn off my ESP also till foruther notice
Thank you
Kia Canada Consumer Affairs e-mailed me to confirm there are "no outstanding recalls" on the 2005 Sportage. I e-mailed Transport Canada yesterday, who mailed me back today, saying that there is no recall *currently* but that they have been in touch with Kia and "hope to achieve success shortly."
So I called Seoul. I figured, Why not? The English-speaking Kia guy was late for his shift, so I spoke to the English-speaking Hyundai guy, who just happened to be the guy in charge of getting recall information out to England (that was his territory).
He said it was his understanding that recall information went out to North America "simultaneously," and the fact that nobody seems to have info on the Canadian recall, if it exists, is probably a good sign that there wasn't one. But he wasn't 100% sure.
However, he said he'd have the Kia guy call me when he got in. Which he did. I was surprised he called back, his English wasn't great, but he was very nice. Their computer system was down at the time, so he couldn't check my VIN #. Said he'd call back tomorrow with an answer.
Kia Seoul's number is 011 82 2 3464 1114. Just ask if anyone speaks English and that you're from Canada and would like information about the recall in the States.
I'll post back and let you know if I find out anything more.
Drove my car downtown yesterday, and forgot to turn off the ESP. Made it home in one piece. Hopefully we're not affected, but mine was produced Nov. 17, 2004, so who knows.
Fingers crossed!
cause I have to remember turn off the ESP eaxh time a use the car. :mad:
That was it.
So I called Kia Canada. Same girl, said there were no outstanding recalls on 2005 Sportages. I told her Transport Canada had just e-mailed me with confirmation. She quickly put me on hold...for 5 minutes. Then came back and said that they have received no information, and because the recalls are VIN based, she couldn't tell me yes or no at this point, but that I was welcome to call back in a few days.
Whatever.
Then I called Transport Canada Recalls and Defects (1.800.333.0510) Talked to a really nice, on-the-ball guy there. I told him about my frustration, saying that we all knew about it, it had been recalled in at least England, Germany and the US, and yet Kia Canada claims to know nothing about it. He said that the Consumer Affairs person I spoke with would be the last person to get any information on it. Kia Engineering Canada had been touch with Transport Canada, and had informed the government about the whole thing. Except which VIN numbers are involved.
He said the process takes about a month, by the time they write the software to fix the ESP, mail out the CDs, etc. I told him that was nuts. These fixes are already available in England. He really wasn't sure what would cause the lag time.
Anyway, after all that, I gave him kudos for getting back to me so quickly with the confirmation. For a government agency, I too was pleasantly surprised.
Oh, by the way, my dealer also hadn't heard anything. Time will tell. ESP is still off in my Sportage. Wish they'd get this all sorted out. I love driving that thing.
Of course if you read my earlier posts in February, I received a new and reprogrammed computer, when they were figuring out my ESP/ABS light problem. Whether that fixes this particular ESP problem remains to be seen.
That's it for now, will let you know if/when I hear anything more.
Saw the Tucson up close yesterday. Looks like a shortened Sante Fe from a distance. Like the look of the Sportage much better.
Come on, all the ESP are the same for every single SPORTAGE, the road are made the "same way" Sportage or any car run in asphalte. So, if at STATE, UK, Germany they already recalled and fixing the problem, I can not understand why here in Canada we are "SPECIAL".
now I got 10.3L/100km on highway the short trip that I made this last weeked to Ottawa. and city mixed highway at 12L/100km.( now 1450km AWD XE V6
How about your's?
hoping to hear about any news concerning the canadian recall. :sick:
And Yes the ride is not difference than Nissan X-Trial or CR-V (I tested)
Enjoy it !!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
The salesman at the Honda store tried to knock the Hyundai and Kias by saying only people form the lower socio-economic class buy those products, therefore their opinions mean nothing. How demeaning and stupid? The guy does not know me from Adam. I could be on welfare. Really turned us off to Honda.
For the record, I am one consumer that proves that the Honda salesman you spoke with is full of excrement!
I am a data systems professional pulling down $80k+ annually, and living in a $300K+ home. I am a professed "car nut", and previously spent nearly 10 years working for one of the "Big 3" as a contract programmer.
What car did I purchase 9 months ago, and am extremely satified with?
A KIA Spectra EX!
Always, ALWAYS, cast a jaundiced on ANYTHING a salesperson says about the competition.
Thanks for sharing that info, artgpo!
-SM
Kia has a new Sedona coming this Fall and I for one will be waiting to see how it works. First though, the Sportage will have to prove itself to me.
deceit.Word of mouth is the best sales tool.I get a ton of junk mail and don't even look at it.I use consumers report to get the truth.I had a Honda CRV and after
2 years it was wearing out prematurely so I traded it for a Highlander.I expect a
car to look and feel like new after 5 years if taken care of.My Acura TL is of this caliber.60K miles and not a rattle sqeak or drip.Honda can make good cars and
so can Hyundai.Maybe it comes down how the dealer treats you after the sell. :
Also since both come with 10 year/100mile drivetrain. I'm stearing away from the manual. As I have heard from Hyundai Tiburan customers that dealerships are trying to blame early clutch failure on bad driving and not covering them. Why take a chance and not have the 10/100 cover everything by getting a 5 speed.
I like 5 speeds as well but taking a chance on not covering a part is more important to me. Hope its helpful
Chenk it out!
By the way, you should check your VIN # with Kia USA to see if it's part of the recall there. Kia Canada still isn't saying anything official to owners, even though Transport Canada has told us that yes, there is a recall.
Go figure.
I love my Sportage. People all over town are asking me about it. It's kinda funny. What a joy to drive. I had a ten-year-old Plymouth Voyager, so to me this is like a luxury vehicle!
Janet
:shades:
Steve, Host
Thanks,
Jeff
Something interesting he noted about financing. He bought his at Lou Fusz Kia in St.Louis. They sold him a program where, if you pay an extra $20 a month, whenever you trade in again(for another Kia, of course!)they will waive any negative equity you may have at that time. Good program! So, on his '05 Sportage that he bought with 72 months of payments(same way I buy, my Scion tC or '05 Sportage purchase, whichever I decide to buy, will be 72 months of payments also)he will owe no negative upside-down equity at next trade-in time. I like that a lot and will probably get it if I choose an '05 Sportage as our next rig.
The Sportage loooked bold, aggressive and beautiful. Kia has done a fine job on this new pup.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
The Sportage is also has a very quiet interior. The seats take some adjusting to find the correct position but the driver's adjusts 8 ways so there just has to be a comfortable place for you.
Kia will make some tweaks over the next few years but the Sportage is going to be a huge winner if:
1. It is durable
2. When crash tested by IIHS it has high scores
3. Consumer Reports scores it high.
Art