Kia Spectra
Owners filed 906 complaints across 10 model years of the Kia Spectra. The 2007 drew the most (152).
Which Kia Spectra years should you avoid?
No Kia Spectra year stands out. Across the 9 model years old enough to judge, none drew twice the complaints of a typical year (about 100), and none shows an unusual share of fires, crashes or deaths for its age.
How this is worked out: each year is compared with a typical year of the same model, which takes most of the difference in sales out of it, and its share of serious failures is compared with every other car of the same model year, because older cars were complained about differently. A year needs 25 complaints to be judged at all. Complaints are unverified owner reports. Full method →
Every Kia Spectra model year compared
Complaints per year| Year | Complaints | Relative volume | Recalls | Fires | Crashes | Most reported | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 114 | 0 | 1 | 16 | Air Bags | Fatalities reported | |
| 2008 | 121 | 0 | 3 | 20 | Air Bags | Fatalities reported | |
| 2007 | 152 | 1 | 6 | 22 | Air Bags | Fatalities reported | |
| 2006 | 100 | 1 | 3 | 28 | Air Bags | Routine | |
| 2005 | 103 | 2 | 1 | 23 | Air Bags | Routine | |
| 2004 | 71 | 1 | 1 | 16 | Power Train › Automatic Transmission | Fatalities reported | |
| 2003 | 90 | 0 | 1 | 15 | Power Train › Automatic Transmission | Routine | |
| 2002 | 92 | 0 | 2 | 25 | Air Bags › Frontal | Fatalities reported | |
| 2001 | 40 | 0 | 1 | 13 | Air Bags › Frontal | Routine | |
| 2000 | 23 | 0 | — | 6 | Air Bags | Routine |
Data: NHTSA complaint and recall files, October 2026. Complaints are unverified owner reports.