Used 2005 Kia Spectra Consumer Reviews
Used Spectra for sale
Versatile car, fun to drive
Mary Brezinski, 10/06/2018
2005 Kia Spectra Spectra5 4dr Wagon (2.0L 4cyl 5M)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
I bought this car with 104K miles, so I can't give a full review. It had two previous owners before me, and, I believe that if I had owned it from the beginning, it would be in better shape now. For instance, it was not garaged, which led to my biggest problem with it: rust. Unbeknownst to me, who was new to the snowy midwest!, this car had incipient rust (over the rear tires) that I would have been able to detect if I had known what I was doing. Despite my efforts to control it, it has only gotten worse and, well, rust is hopeless. The car has taken to burning oil without an obvious explanation: it doesn't smell or leak but it just disappears between by regular 3,000/mile oil changes, if I have taken a long road trip or if I do a lot of highway driving. Now that it needs new tires and new front brakes, I'm going to buy a new car because it just doesn't seem worth the investment. As far as I can tell, it has no resale value whatsoever. That said, I liked the peppiness of this car, especially the manual transmission. I like the spacious back compartment. I'm not super picky about cars: I mainly want them to turn on when I put the key in, but I really enjoyed the ride of this one, the convenience of the hatchback, and the spaciousness of the cargo area. I replaced the back brakes at 120,000 and the fronts are just now in need of replacement.
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Great little car.
J.D., 04/30/2018
updated 11/02/2020
2005 Kia Spectra LX 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 5M)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
I bought this new. What sold me was it, actually, had an ashtray and lighter. But more important was it's tight corner handling and spunky acceleration. You have to know that handling depends a lot on the quality of tires. It was a little squirrelly at 70+mph with a cross wind or highway speeds during the rain. But a set of quality TOYO tires solved all that. It handles like a sports car now. It has a standard trans. And it gets 35mpg without the AC running...about 30mpg with it on through all ranges of driving. During the winter I take out the AC relay, in the under-hood rely box, to prevent the AC from coming on when I turn on the windshield defogger/defroster. I wish there was a switch to turn it off from the inside. The warranty was useless, due to the dealership, There was a broken middle air register when I bought it and it's STILL broken. The cabin blower motor went out at about 6 months. They wanted me to leave the car for a week. I replaced it in about 45 minutes. And I still had to pay for the new motor. I still have the car now in 2018. It still runs as if it was new. And it's still all original except for tires, brake pads and scheduled (70,000 mile) timing belt replacement. I rode in my daughters 2018 Kia 'Forte' and it seems like just as good-solid car. It's 2020 and I still have the car. Still runs great. Runs as good as it always had. I gave it to my youngest daughter. It is now cleaned on a regular basis and has a nice warm garage to live in. The thing is still running like new. My daughter loves it.
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2005 Kia Spectra for sale near you
Showing 3 of 8 listings
- LX SedanMSRP: $2,895583 mi away
- Spectra5 WagonMSRP: $4,777595 mi away
- EX SedanMSRP: $6,9951,179 mi away
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Great quality
trick1, 03/17/2011
2005 Kia Spectra EX 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 4A)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
I bought this car new in 2005 for my wife and outside of general maintenance issues it hasn't missed a beat. It's rolling up on 80k. This car has been so good that I'm considering buying another one for a commuter car since I'm having a hard time justifying driving the SUV with the current fuel prices. The car seems to average about 30 on mostly highway miles so it's right up there with similar sized cars for mileage.
Kia review
bepell, 02/13/2008
2005 Kia Spectra EX 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 5M)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Overall a quality vehicle. May not be a popular brand, but gas, comfort and reliability is very good. My wife hit another car, messed his car up pretty good and all we messed up was our bumper, which can be replaced. After the accident, the car doesn't shimmy, shudder or ride funny. It's a well built car. I haven't had one problem mechanically. I even went more than 6 months without changing oil to see what would happen and the car didn't skip a beat. Maybe a more sleek design, but that's stretching.
Fun to zip around!
Elaine, 01/12/2005
2005 Kia Spectra Spectra5 4dr Wagon (2.0L 4cyl 4A)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Have not had any trouble getting up hills, keeping up with traffic. Love the ease of parking. The CD player is great. When I turn the heat or air conditioner on there is no long wait to feel comfortable. Most of all, the mileage is excellent.