You are here: Forums Wagons Kia Spectra/Spectra5 Kia Spectra/Spectra5 Safety Issues

Kia Spectra/Spectra5 Safety Issues

30 messages,  Last post on Jan 17, 2007 at 7:29 AM

You are in the Kia Spectra/Spectra5 Forum. Your Host is kcram

What is this discussion about? Kia Spectra, Car Safety, Sedan, Wagon

Messages Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 Prev Next Last

Go To Msg # Search This Discussion

#1 of 30 Kia Spectra/Spectra5 Safety Issues by pf_flyer HOST Oct 16, 2006 (10:19 am)
Discuss Spectra safety here.
#2 of 30 Just to take another look at safety smashes again... by iluvmysephia1 Dec 24, 2004 (3:37 pm)
has it ever occurred to anyone that maybe, just maybe, there are people out there who don't view some guy's sling-shotting a perfectly good sedan at a barrier at 40mph as the end-all totally new world order safety test that's got to be revered and adored just because it has that IIHS title stamped on it?   How can a rig that has received "marginal" ratings everywhere be given a "first-ever poor" designation in the end? The more I look at the thing the more I think that Kia is going to leave the Spectra sedan alone and sell it as it's built. What's more, I think that with 4-wheel disc brakes and side curtain airbags standard to go along with the standard front driver and passenger airbags a person is buying a car that is decently outfitted from the get-go. The Kia Spectra actually has more safety equipment built in as standard equipment than the average bear for sale out there. Think Dodge Neon or Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla here. Replies to this message: backy (Dec 24, 2004 3:58 pm)
#3 of 30 Re: Just to take another look at safety smashes again... [iluvmysephia1] by backy Dec 24, 2004 (3:58 pm)
Replying to: iluvmysephia1 (Dec 24, 2004 3:37 pm) Kia can respond however they want to the IIHS tests. If they are smart, they will do what other automakers have done when their cars didn't achieve a "Good" result--fix the problem and ask for a retest. Hyundai was very slow to take action, IMO, but they finally did it. Other automakers, including Nissan and DC, have been much quicker to act when their cars don't get good results on crash tests. They realize that many people do look at crash tests as a buying criterion. They also know that many people value the opinion of CR and that CR won't recommend a car if it has a poor crash test result. So a "Poor" rating means lost sales--maybe not to you or some other people, but to people who consider crash tests before buying.
#4 of 30 For Consumer Reports to give the Kia Spectra sedan by iluvmysephia1 Dec 24, 2004 (4:13 pm)
a "good" rating at any time the planets would have to line up perfectly, man would have to go to Mars and live there without troubles for at least one year, unemployment rates would have to drop to 1% nationally and Pontiac would have to decide to drop it's base price of the new Solstice to $15,000. Not gonna happen. Kia has some kind of a funky monkey on it's CR back and I'm certainly not gonna hold my breath waiting for them to cough that stuff up and spit it out.   I say buy what you want, watch your speed, drive carefully and eat right.   That being said, if Kia decides to fix anything on Spectra, great. I'd like to see how the SAB and SCAB's inflate and help in a side impact crash as well as additional input on deployment in a frontal crash of those devices. Perhaps they need to make a computer sensor tweak or install another sensor of some sort.
#5 of 30 by bmcclain Dec 26, 2004 (12:54 pm)
I saw the results of this group of tests, and had to visit to see if anyone thought something wasn't right either. It looks like I share the same doubts as lngtonge18 and a few others. The Kia Spectra earned at least a marginal rating. The published results are misleading at best and corrupt at worst. It's best to keep in mind exactly what the IIHS is and does. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is funded by insurance companies to in short lower claims and increase premiums. For example: their highly publicized bumper tests have nothing to do with safety.   The Kia Spectra should do well in a side impact with the airbags. However, the IIHS's test sled is wedge shaped, and unlike nearly anything I've seen on the road. The NHTSA does not take into account head injury. I personally would not either because contact between the sled and the head is an externality of the test, considering real world probability of head contact with real world objects (or objects that are similar to these sleds/tests). The IIHS's test sled (that supposably "simulates" a large truck/SUV) guarantees contact with the dummies head (or airbag), yet does not simulate any of the pedestrian protection measures employed on real vehicles. At best, I treat IIHS results (including off-set) as worst case scenario test results. I do not let these tests keep me from buying the right car, and evaluate overall safety factors.
#6 of 30 bmcclain... by iluvmysephia1 Dec 26, 2004 (2:59 pm)
I anticipated some eventual actual logic like your post above in helping to explain these IIHS test results. It's good and helpful to read. Looks like a small handful have done a little extra wondering about the Lund report and found it to have almost as many hangups as a dry cleaners. It does. I notice that Kia isn't wetting themself and posting all kinds of "sky is falling" statements about the Lund report. I, too, feel that a "worst-ever" rating is unwarranted and is inline with a lot of the bogus flak levelled at Kia Motors and in particular the Sephia and Spectra.   To this day I still appreciate my '99 Kia Sephia as a great answer to the mundane Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla and a breath of automotive fresh air. The '01 Sportage 4x4 has been a great rig and is well-built and still very perky at 90,100 miles. Tomorrow is 90,000 mile service time for the small 4x4 SUV. Replies to this message: backy (Dec 26, 2004 9:11 pm) alpha01 (Dec 27, 2004 8:24 am)
#7 of 30 Re: bmcclain... [iluvmysephia1] by backy Dec 26, 2004 (9:11 pm)
Replying to: iluvmysephia1 (Dec 26, 2004 2:59 pm) It's not a "worst-ever" rating. It's the worst measured by the IIHS on the frontal offset test since '01.
#8 of 30 Re: bmcclain... [iluvmysephia1] by alpha01 Dec 27, 2004 (8:24 am)
Replying to: iluvmysephia1 (Dec 26, 2004 2:59 pm) iluvmysephia-   Why dont you call or write an email to the IIHS since you are so adamant about the results? In the past, when I have contacted the organization, they have responded fairly promptly. I do understand why are you are quick to defend Kia, and I agree, the organization should at least explain why a "Poor" rating was assigned without any actual poor marks in any of the categories.   However, the fact remains that the Kia has performed more poorly in this test than any other small tested in recent years. Regardless of the overall marks, the injury measures and kinematics metrics should be an embarrasment to any auto manufacturer in the year 2004/5. When buyers comparison shop the Kia against the likes of the Elantra, for example, for which reason exactly should a consumer choice the Spectra over the similar, but more well realized vehicle? Kia has made leaps and bounds in the US, but it is obvious that the cars are still not at the top of the class. No biggie. Just dont assert that every negative review/performance is a result of bias.   Bmcclain- The bumper tests of the IIHS are not very well publicized at all, in my opinion, and there are no claims EVER made by the IIHS that it is a 'safety' test. I have never understood the logic behind the argument that the fact that it is a group of Insurance organiztions coming together to REDUCE the COSTS OF INJURY AND REPAIR PAYOUTS means that the organization is corrupt in anyway.   If manufacturers are capable of designing vehicles that mitigate fatality, injury, and in the bumper crashes... severe damage... what detriment is this to the public? Hardly one at all, in my opinion.   With respect to the side impact test, you state you have never seen a barrier shaped as the one that the IIHS uses. Have you seen one that is shaped as NHTSA uses? The barrier is designed to simulate an SUV, which isnt a bad thing at all. Theres a gentleman on the Camry threads whose wife nearly lost her life because she was broadsided by an SUV in an impact very similar to the IIHS test, a scenario that occurs in different iterations at many intersections. The SUV test is demanding, and it should be. As a result of these tests, it would seem, automakers have come together themselves and stated that they would introduce life-saving technology such as side impact airbags and curtains on their vehicles earlier than would have occurred without government intervention. Honda's Accord is a good example.   ~alpha
#9 of 30 I was at my Kia dealer today, and in talking to a by iluvmysephia1 Dec 27, 2004 (8:30 pm)
salesman there, the topic of the Kia Spectra frontal impact test came up. He said that Mr.Lund actually used an older Kia Spectra model-the lower-slung one that replaced the old Sephia model. Only it was a 2004 Kia Spectra. He said they conveniently left that out-that it wasn't one of the new Kia Spectra models. Did anybody see the front of the test Spectra on TV? Was it a new world order Spectra? Replies to this message: spectraman (Dec 27, 2004 11:46 pm)
#10 of 30 Re: I was at my Kia dealer today, and in talking to a [iluvmysephia1] by spectraman Dec 27, 2004 (11:46 pm)
Replying to: iluvmysephia1 (Dec 27, 2004 8:30 pm) I am in full agreement that the car in the video IS the new generation Spectra.   I also must add that it's car salesmen like the guy in your post that gives the car sales profession a bad name.   At best this guy was extremely misinformed (and too lazy to look up the facts to verify them for himself), or at worst he was purposely misleading (aka: lying to) the customer hoping that the customer would not have the wherewithal to verify his claim.   Not as a knock on KIA specifically, but as one on the profession in general, my money's on the latter situation.   Trust, but VERIFY! (As Ronnie used to say about the Russkies!)

Messages Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 Prev Next Last

Go To Msg # Search This Discussion

You are here: Forums Wagons Kia Spectra/Spectra5 Kia Spectra/Spectra5 Safety Issues