Car thread

So I recently spent a lot of time (and money) servicing my Kia Sportage 97...plugs, wires, air filter, oil filter, oil, fuel filter. Plugs and wires are a huge job (3 hours) as they are located within the top of the rocker box (go figure! Korean design) and once in I could see the rocker gasket was leaking so that needed changing too. But misfire fixed......

....for a couple of weeks......

...now it's misfiring again! Which probably means another $100 to change the MAF sensor. Also the CEL is intermittently coming on, and the codes say I need a new EGR valve...another $150.

But the happening this week is the sauna effect in the cab (steaming up windows in mid summer!) and aromatic smell of stale radiator water and coolant. Apparently my heater core has gone. Doesn't sound to bad huh? $150 to purchase the part, but you literally have to strip the whole dashboard and all its components out...at minimum 14 hour project or $1000 to get the stealership to do it plus parts costs.

These are just the problems I know about as of today. Was figuring on getting a new one (or one-year old) next year, but with all this cost and time (that I have neither of) I'm thinking of getting one sooner, than later, hoping that this might be better way to invest money than in a 10 year old SUV.

 

Wow...I came to that conclusion before I even finished reading!! That's what my grandfather used to say...going to hell in a handbasket!! Sounds like you must really like the vehicle to hang onto it that long...I get bored of them after a couple of years!!

Roger

 

I do really like the vehicle, hence why I am planning on getting another newer styled model. They are not too gadgetty to work on myself, unlike a lot of cars, even if some of the procedures are a PITA. I know the engine well now, so why learn another one. Every car/motorbike has it's hated tasks.

 

Hey, that's excellent that you can still work on your own car!! A lot of people nowadays don't even know how to find the dipstick!!!!

Roger

 

haha but you know also nowadays somepeople ask me how many sparkplugs they need for there V6 or V8 motors lol

i was working on a car (it had a burned up motor) and i asked the person when was the last time they checked the oil and was it low. and they said it uses oil? i say people should not own a car unless they know afew things like oil, coolent, tranny fluid and when a tire is too low to drive on lol.


My ant had a sportage i think about the same year but she started to have problems like yours and the dealership bought it back at full price she paid. and i still dont know why they bought it back. she got her self another but it started to do the same thing so she sold it and got her self a nice little Jeep Renagade.

 

That one is easy, Roger.....usually behind the steering wheel



@NJ...keeping my options open at this point too

 

I had a 92 Civic that I really enjoyed working on. Towards the end it started having a lot of problems, and after 253,000 miles I just couldn't keep up.

I had a lot of fun in that car, though.

 

Wow...I'm having trouble keeping up at 72,000 miles! Good for you Cochese

 

I can't take all the credit, Hondas are really great cars, or at least that one was. I would probably have another one if I didn't drive a truck for work.

 

And I'm currently looking at Civics and Mazda 3's.

Update: Tonight on the way home my heater core completely gave up and leaked it's contents all inside the passenger footwell. I stopped to get gas on the way home, having refilled the radiator reserve tank, and the radiator deposited it's contents all over the garage forecourt. Car seriously out of commission now and I'm car hunting.

Enough is enough me thinks.....

 

Lev, the 14hrs sounds high for a heater core. The instument panel on most vehicles comes out as a complete assembly (sometimes less the steering column) leaving the heater case attached to the bulkhead. Sometimes you can flop it back onto the seat and work around it.

 

Hehe..yeah..that's what I thought, but 14 hours is actually the minimum for this rig. It doesn;t surprise me...everything on it I have done has been ridiculously laid out for hardest access possible. I visit 2 Kia forums regularly and even their experts say this task is extensive and the only short cut is around the A/C - which my rig doesn't have anyway.

I think the Koreans designed it for revenge

 

The early Kias had pretty lousy reliability ratings. New ones are better, but still not as good as most. Don't know if they've improved access to things any. Your current shopping choices should be MUCH easier to keep running. Good hunting.

 

They are sweet and great mileage...direct competitor to the Civic. We hadn't planned on changing my car until next year, so I'm now fast-tracking everything. I will repair my old rig at my leisure and sell private when it is back up and running.

@GT - so glad to hear they are somewhat more reliable, but I understand the engine design hasn't changed much so accessibility is still an issue. To say they are no longer that much cheaper than their competitors, I think I'll take my money into the "more reliable" market

 

Seems like this is going to be my new ride.....'06 Civic LX with added alloys. Hopefully pick it up by tomorrow. Better photos to follow once I take delivery

 

Cant go wrong with the big H arguably the best engines in the world

 

...unless in a motorbike

(Yes...that IS the voice of repeated experience )

 

Just heard...taking delivery this afternoon. Yayyyyy

 

Nice ride!
(that's not your parking job is it?)

 

HAHA...noooo. I noticed that too. I haven't touched the car yet. My dealer friend has been handling it all.

 

It would've been excusable, considering not having driven it before. My wife has an Accord and loves it, hope the same to you.

 

Car safely home! I love the feature whereby the faster I drive the louder the stereo cranks up....AC/DC sounds great at 120mph down the freeway <just kidding >

More pics I took....

 

Looks sweet Lev. Hope you love it as much as your old Kia. I know it will love you better than the Kia did.

 

It's an automatic - where's your sense of adventure??!!!

Looks nice from the outside, I'm more for the retro look inside personally

 

My Kia was a stick shift, but my 3 cars before than in the UK were auto. I got into auto when my left hip started playing me up and the M5 turned into a parking lot everytime I tried to travel from Taunton to Gloucester to see my boys. Automatic made sense. Having used the stick shift for 2 years here, it was time for another auto - the I5 is a long, loooooong road.

You like retro McA? You would LOVE our dealer friend's place who set up the purchase for me. Link to website below

http://www.executiveauto.com/index.php?page=cars&cat=classic

I love the Model A coupe on page 2...it even has purple plug wires and a funky little light under the hood which is also purple and makes all the chrome glisten purple Cool or what? (Can you tell I am addicted to purple )

 

It's awesome with it's double panel view. I feel more like I'm commanding a Boeing 777 than a car lol. I love the digital speedo.....and the gas guage leaves me in no doubt that I need to tank up!

 

Not sure how to take that TimW....

Working from home today.......I will take her for a spin later hehe

 

Thanks Tim

My thinking is a little cloudy today, as my boys returned to England yesterday, and it's always very hard for a couple of days after. Thanks for the clarification - appreciated

 

Nice job on the new ride Lev!

I used to have a Honda Civic, back in the seventies, in the U.K. (showing me age again! )

 

I dont know if you'v seen this honda ad,aird in England a few times

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7062298019548710033

118 118 is telephone directory enquiry in England,they made this skit of it

cracks me up

http://media1.yourdailymedia.com/files/j9N7ZPFfQrpr.wmv

 

That Honda ad has been around sometime - I saw it last time I was in the UK, whihc was nearly 2 years ago now. Cool ad. The other one.....ROFL...never seen that before...good call Rikky

So today, I started stripping the Kia down to fix it. Took 8 hours just to get to the heater core, which is causing all the problems. The attached photos show the stripped down dashboard/bulkhead and the heater core in all it's leaking glory (for those of you mechanical types that like to see this kinda stuff).

 

Love the new Honda Lev.....

The steering wheel is on the wrong side though!
Will the warranty cover that? hehe

Happy motoring!!!