Avg. Price Paid:$8,199 - $11,653
Original MSRP: $15,900 - $22,895
MPG: 23 City / 28 Hwy
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Kia Sportage Recalls & Reliability

These scores and this review are from when the car was new.

Scorecard

Overall: 2007 Kia Sportage U.S. News Best Cars 7.7
Critics' Rating: 8.1
Performance: 6.5
Interior: 7.1
Safety: 7.6
Reliability:
How we calculate scores
Research analyzed for this review

Pros & Cons

  • Responsive steering and handling
  • Stylish interior, roomier than most compact SUVs (in both front and rear)
  • Great bargain in its class
  • Lackluster performance from the base four-cylinder engine

Research Other Years

Review Last Updated: 5/2/08

Recalls

There has been 1 safety recall issued from NHTSA.

EXTERIOR LIGHTING:BRAKE LIGHTS:SWITCHRecall Date: 04/15/2009
  • Consequence: THE MALFUNCTION OF THE STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY INCREASE THE RISK OF A CRASH.
  • NHTSA Campaign ID: 09V130000
  • Potential Number of Units Affected: 139844
  • Summary: HYUNDAI-KIA IS RECALLING 139,844 MY 2006-2007- SEDONA, SPORTAGE, SORENTO AND MY RONDO AND AMANTI VEHICLES. THE STOP LAMP SWITCH IN THE VEHICLE MAY HAVE BEEN DAMAGED DURING THE ASSEMBLY PROCESS. AS A RESULT, THE STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY MALFUNCTION CAUSING ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS TO EXIST: THE BRAKE LIGHTS MAY NOT ILLUMINATE WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED OR MAY REMAIN ILLUMINATED WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS RELEASED. ON SOME OCCASIONS, WHEN THE VEHICLE IS STARTED, THE SHIFTER CANNOT BE MOVED FROM THE PARK (P) POSITION. IF THE VEHICLE IS EQUIPPED WITH ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC), THE ESC LIGHT MAY ILLUMINATE INDICATING "ESC OFF." IF THE VEHICLE IS EQUIPPED WITH CRUISE CONTROL, DEPRESSING THE BRAKE MAY NOT DEACTIVATE THE CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM.
  • Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STOP LAMP SWITCH TO ELIMINATE THE POSSIBILITY THAT THIS CONDITION MIGHT EXIST. THIS SERVICE WILL BE PERFORMED FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING MAY/JUNE 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT CONSUMER ASSISTANCE CENTER AT 1-800-333-4542.
  • Notes: HYUNDAI-KIA RECALL NO. SC077. OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .

Reliability

Our reliability score is based on the J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) rating or, if unavailable, the J.D. Power Predicted Reliability rating.

Dependability Ratings1 2007
Overall Dependability
Powertrain Dependability
Feature & Accessory Dependability
Body & Interior Dependability

1These scores come from consumer ratings of their vehicles after three years of ownership.

  • Key:
  • Among The Best
  • Better Than Most
  • About Average
  • The Rest

J.D. Power and Associates Power Circle Ratings do not include all information used to determine J.D. Power and Associates awards. See JDPower.com for more information on Power Circle Ratings. Your experience may vary.

All information provided by J.D. Power and Associates is proprietary information owned by J.D. Power and Associates and is protected by U.S. and international copyright law and conventions. Reproduction of this information, in whole or in part, by any means is prohibited without the express written consent of J.D. Power and Associates, other than printing copies of the J.D. Power and Associates content by site visitors for their personal use. J.D. Power and Associates® is a registered trademark of J.D. Power and Associates.

Warranty

Similar to Hyundai, Kia offers class-leading coverage, including a five-year/60,000-mile limited basic warranty. Kia also supports the Sportage with an impressive 10-year/100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty.

U.S. News reviewer Rick Newman writes that the Tucson and Sportage are "solid vehicles worthy of consideration by mainstream buyers, a view backed up by the Koreans' rise in J.D. Power surveys and other measures of quality."

A number of other reviewers agree with this sentiment, noting the Sportage's improved reliability ratings. However, there were also those, such as the reviewer at MSN, who says, "My test Sportages felt tight, but long-term reliability and resale value remain question marks, compared to established, highly rated competitors such as the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Ford Escape and Jeep Liberty."

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