Used 2003 Kia Spectra Consumer Reviews
Used Spectra for sale
Good and Bad
susiebelle, 12/17/2008
2003 Kia Spectra GSX 4dr Hatchback (1.8L 4cyl 5M)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Car is cute, gets great gas mileage. I bought my car new. Had to change the tires by 30K Replaced brake pads and rotors twice. Replace battery. Driver side locks broken & sometimes won't unlock and I have to crawl through the passenger side. Driver side window roller broke, Alternator going out. Problem with steering system. Hatchback cover broke within a week. Rear window brake light is falling apart from sun damage (I live in Indiana & typically don't have this problem). Brake lights are a pain to change..have to remove whole back panel of car. Very lightweight car and blows around on windy day
Yet another big mistake
dswanson1, 04/11/2013
2003 Kia Spectra LS 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl 4A)
1 of 2 people found this review helpful
We bought it and withing 3 months had to put a new transmission into it. That was under 100000 miles. It has been back into the shop 6 more times so far and we are only at 106000 miles. Nothing but issues left and right. Everything seems to break. Unfortunately we financed and are stuck with it for the next 2 years.
2003 Kia Spectra for sale near you
Showing 3 of 3 listings
- LS SedanMSRP: $3,999506 mi away
- LS SedanMSRP: $2,9881,051 mi away
- Base SedanMSRP: $3,4001,234 mi away
The worse vehicle I have ever owned
silky99x, 12/20/2003
2003 Kia Spectra 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl 5M)
1 of 2 people found this review helpful
I mistakenly gave this vehice a good rating back in June 2003. Now just 6 months later, I'm about to take it in for a warranty repair for the 2nd time. The brake Master Cylinder went bad in NOV 2003. Now the Power Steering unit is leaking. So far, all is covered under the warranty. I gave the local service center a poor rating since it took them 4 days to get and replace the Master Cylinder. They told me to take my care somewhere else in the future to get warranty work. How bad can a major car dealer be. The worse. Never again, will I buy a Kia. I should have stuck with a Toyota.
KIA Spectra GSX : A Pleasant Surprise
EarlA, 11/14/2002
2003 Kia Spectra GSX 4dr Hatchback (1.8L 4cyl 4A)
1 of 3 people found this review helpful
Purchased a 2003 for my daughter, who was moving to Arizona. She flew out, but I drove the KIA, hatch loaded to the gills and a fully-stuffed roof carrier, 2500 miles from NJ to AZ, averaging 31 MPG at speeds of 70-80 MPH. Had to downshift a few times going over the Continental Divide, but generally the power was adequate. I think the 2003 model has more torque than the 2002. The car was comfortable, too. Only request would be for a little more "grunt" from the AM side of the AM/FM/CD player; max volume was overwhelmed by road noise at 70 MPH! The hatchback design is very versatile. Car has performed flawlessly so far.
Fell apart (& short of expectations)
pfft, 02/16/2010
2003 Kia Spectra 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl 4A)
0 of 0 people found this review helpful
I bought my Spectra used with about 100,000 miles on it and put 80,000 on it before the transmission completely blew (more expensive to fix than the KBB on the car). The seats were really uncomfortable and it wasn't good for long trips because the steering wheel couldn't be adjusted so it touched my knees the entire time. Little things started breaking (both sun visors fell off, the weather stripping completely dropped off two windows, all but one speaker blew out, heat/air conditioning issues, glove compartment latch broke, dome light switch got touchy, etc). The oil changes were nearly impossible to do at home due to inaccessible location of oil drain. The car only lived for 6 years total.