2008 KIA Spectra
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
Vehicles › KIA › Spectra › 2008
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
These records cover every 2008 KIA Spectra. To see whether one car still needs a recall repair, decode its VIN or check it with NHTSA.
The contact owns a 2008 Kia Spectra. The contact stated that all three brake lights failed to illuminate as intended. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the brake light switch assembly multi-connector wiring harness needed to be repaired. The vehicle was repaired. The contact found information on other Kia recalls for other years, makes, and models that described the same parts failure. The contact found information on SC077 (Brake Switch), SC298 (Light Assembly), and SC299 (Light Assembly). The manufacturer was informed of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 209,000.
After starting car, for first 15-20 mins, all normal. After speedometer go erratic (showing slower than actual speed - or - higher than actual speed) and soon after it just stops working. No check engine light. Dangerous to drive without knowing actual speed. Have to use mobile phone app like Waze or something which shows apx speed. Upon internet search, I found there are many Kia spectra Ex (from 05-09 models) reported similar issues. This situation is dangerous as driver may be following speedometer on highway and ending up driving slower than actual speed. NHTSA should issue a recall. Kia - as usual - never acknowledged issue to save money. Dealership recommending me buy a new car rather than fixing the issue or at least attempting to fix it. When declined for trade-in (or buy a new car) they demanded upfront diagnostic charges without telling me what is actual issue.
I have tires sized 195/60r15. I was having problems with shaking at a certain speed. my mechanic checked all the options that could have been mechanical and directed me to a tire shop. I brought the car in for them to check for balance. rims, etc. During the inspection, they discovered that both rear tires, driver and passenger side were separating. I had never had problems with tires until I purchased these. The third attached photo was after I first purchased the tires. The piece was shaved off and I don't know why. I had to replace it. I contacted this office on November 19, 2023, with the initial complaint about the tires. Tracking number 11555870.
195/60/15 I purchased four new tires From Prospect Tire and Wheels on September 23, 2022, with an alignment. In August of this year, 2023, I returned because of an issue with one of the tires, and the alignment. They told me after replacing the most serious issue that all four tires had "bubbles". They weren't willing to do anything except to rotate the "bad" tires to the rear of the car and sell me one other that absolutely had to be replaced. They offered me the contact information for their distributors as they had no idea which one it was they got the tires from. I contacted Cooper about the issue and the representative I spoke to, Julie, said they had no record of them because these particular tires were destined for Mexico? In my response below, I indicate when the tires were first purchased up until now, because I've had nothing but issues with them since.
Duplicate transactions that we're compromising but verified through multiple accounts that were unauthorized and purchased by another provider or driver that was added to orginal policy along with several price gouges in Individual policies that had ties to driving history altered n edited it would seem to cause infamation to the cost of the driver would be expected to pay we meaning the eight orginal known targets at first glance all were verified as fatca act needing to be filed and then problems with verification of identity and us citizenship even from. 15 states that had alternate unauthorized banking information on file to match so.e bussiness n private insurance policies bought n then deliberately bolos begin called on the victims for reprocessed purposes of a new getaway car for the villain in this scenario. We also found that multiple devices that were begin paid for were attached through pre paid account to the orginal account that was authorized user ot driver has no prior knowledge of the added account or debit card that made the transactions or the fact that the mail was begindeffered and altered to manipulate the issues further from finding the assailants that are using victims as scapegoats by the end of the fun I. Ruin my life with the damage to keep on touching and effecting everything else.
The passenger air bag has failed. The dash light stays on due to issue and the air bag itself stays off per the light on the airbag on/off alert. I contacted the dealership who quoted me over $100 just to take a look at it, but was told this seems to be an issue with Spectras that they see pretty commonly.
The passenger airbag sensor started failing when I purchased the car in 2017 and has since completely failed, which has caused the airbag light to turn on. The KIA dealership wants to charge $140 to run an airbag diagnostic and from what I have researched, I will have to replace the entire seat, which may cost more than the value of the car. My concern at this point IS whether or not any of the airbags will be deployed in the event of a collision.
Yes so my air bag light when I got the car was off an it just popped up couple weeks ago! I have tried everything possible to try to fix it an still IS on. I even brought a new driver seat an it still didn't fix the problem. My be hope has been parked since the air bag light has been on.
I was driving to work on 7 march 2020. As soon as I turn to park in the parking lot of my job, the car turned off. I try to crank it on 3 times it wouldn't let me. So I went in to work, thank god I made it to the parking lot at least. After running to auxine to see what's wrong with it (they were no help) I made few calls between friends and car companies. Turned out it was the timing belt that snapped and it's because it wasn't change for a long time and I only had the car for 3 years. So with the timing belt messing up, it mess up the engine also. I am now with no car juggling between rides and taxis to take to work. I really love my KIA and I am so sad this happened. I don't even know what to do. This happened at zaxbys parking lot (where I work at) in wilson, nc.
TL* the contact owned a 2008 KIA spectra. The contact stated while a passenger in the vehicle travelling at 45 mph, the vehicle was hit on the passenger side by another vehicle as a result the passenger and driver side air bags as well as the passenger side air bags failed to deploy. The passenger and the driver of her vehicle sustained back, head and arm injures while the driver sustained neck and back injuries that required medical attention. The contact stated that the occupants of the other vehicle sustained no injuries. A police report was filed. The car was drivable as the air bags failed deploy however, the vehicle was deemed a total loss. The approximate failure mileage 185,000. The vin was not available.*dt*jb*dt*dt*jb
The metal covering on the interior door pulls IS peeling off. This jagged metal cut my finger. There are other reports of injury from this on line also. further, the driver side door will not open with the interior door pull if the door IS locked.
Cruise control won't set.
Will randomly stall. Been to the mechanic several times and we can't find the problem. Doesn't matter if your going down the road or just idling in the yard stalls out.
Driver side air bag light IS on
Air bag light (red warning light) started to stay on constantly. this means that air bag will probably not deploy in case of crash (to best of my knowledge when searching on google about this issue). before this light turned on (red light on air-bag), I experienced an issue with "passenger air-bag off" light staying on - despite someone IS present on passenger seat (meaning that air-bag will not deploy as computer IS not sensing anybody seating there). I would need to stop-by on road side, then turn vehicle off completely, asked a person on passenger seat to go out - wait for a while - and then restart the vehicle and request a person to get back on seat. later on, this way no longer working. computer reset no longer working. friends warned me that - it IS sign of air-bag system failure and KIA should get it fixed (it comes under safety). this issue IS constant irrespective if vehicle IS stationary or in motion.
Speedometer keeps going out. it will work first thing in the morning, but mid day it drops to zero
My car IS revving, even in park. If it occurs while driving, the brakes are hard to push as well.
When going down the interstate, it feels like I hit something (i did not). My speed decrease so much that it turned off my cruise control. Glad no-one was behind me. It started feeling very slugish with high rpms. I stopped for about 20 minutes. Restarted my engine light came on, and it would not shift out of 3RD gear. I stopped again this time for over an hour. Started my car and drove another 15 miles. It shift fine. Chwck emfine light was still on. Next, morning started my car and drove. I had no problems. 4 days late, driving my car 38 miles and had the same problem. This time with the same issue, take off IS very very slow. This IS not a constant problem. I never know when the problem will start.
The car randomly starts. When the car IS finally started sometimes the power steering goes out, the windows randomly roll down, the locks randomly lock and unlock themselves. I have taken the car to several mechanic shops including electrical specialist and the dealership. None of them are able to determine what the problem IS.
My airbag light IS staying on when occupied. I'm at almost 60,000 mls. Thought I saw something about a recall sometime ago so l was surprised that I couldn't find any considering the complaints l've been seeing. I don't have to many passengers as my children were always in back and just started riding in front. So I'm not sure how long it could have been going on. Just wanted to let someone know another 08' s light IS lit. Thanks for your time.
Right front passenger opened passenger-side door with interior door handle. door handle/metallic coating separated at seam and cut/pinched occupant's right ring finger. handle seam now separated/sharp. vehicle was stationary in driveway.
Takata recall was running the paper route for the telegraph and a deer ran out in front of my vehicle insurance said loss cause but air bags never went off and some how ended up in salvage...
I test drove the vehicle and it drove fine. After I signed papers to buy the vehicle, I drove it home. On the way home I was doing the speed limit which IS 65mph but I always stay a little under that speed limit. I got to about 65 and boom it was like the transmission had come through the floor and it felt as if I was going to be ejected from the car! That scared me to death!!! After that it started dragging so I had to exit the highway and drive the city streets with my emergency flashers on because I could do no more than 35-40 mph. I got the car nov 2016 and this happens everytime I drive it. its doing the same thing just sitting in a drive through. It kicks back so hard it hurts my neck. It feels like someone hits me from the back everytime. I would really y like to know where I can have this repair taken care of because this IS very dangerous. I have read a lot of reviews online and a lot of people have the same issue. It's been doing it since day one and I need it fixed because it hurts really bad. I didn't do this to the vehicle. It happens no matter what speed you're doing and then acts like it's stuck in high gear and takes off slowly after it jerks.
My car has approx 145000 miles. drives great except for in the last few months it has a transmission problem. I googled the problem and numerous people have the exact same problem. After driving the car after sitting all night for about an hour you can be driving 5 mph or 60 mph the car will jerk hard...from the transmission. I have had the car inspected and fixed numerous times. Mechanic's say the transmission IS in good condition. They have fixed numerous items on 3 different times with the transmission; flushed, welded, etc . mechanic said that after googling problem that may be a computer download that IS needed. as stated above numerous people have same problem with 2007 thru 2011 KIA
TL* the contact owned a 2008 KIA spectra. While driving approximately 35 mph, the contact applied the brakes while approaching a red light. The engine shut down, and the steering and brakes failed. The vehicle crossed the intersection and crashed into the rear driver side of another vehicle. The brake and steering lights indicators remained illuminated. The vehicle was destroyed and towed. The air bags failed to deploy. Two injuries were sustained, which required medical attention. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000.
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened these reviews into vehicles including this one.
The subject vehicle population is MY 2007-2009 Kia Spectra vehicles.Consumers report that the SRS (air bag) warning light is illuminated in their vehicle.The focus of the investigation was the failure of the front seat passenger Occupant Classification System (OCS) sensor mat.This sensor mat is embedded in the front passenger seat cushion and is intended to detect child seats and small statured occupants who could be harmed by deployment of the passenger frontal air bag.The OCS may develop a failure due to an open circuit in the sensor mat caused by the mat cracking during use.An open circuit in the OCS sensor mat is detected as a fault in the system by the air bag diagnostic. A trouble code will then be stored in the air bag control unit and the air bag warning light will be illuminated.If this fault is detected, the OCS will not suppress the front passenger air bag and in a crash of sufficient severity the front passenger air bag will deploy regardless of the nature or size of the child seat or occupant in the front passenger seat.The report counts shown above include only those reports that specifically address the issue covered by this investigation, failure of the OCS sensor mat.Reports alleging only that the ?air bag light is on with no cause stated, or where no cause was otherwise identified, were excluded as the air bag light could be illuminated for system faults other than an OCS malfunction.Kia's assessment was that the cracking was caused by owner abuse.The subject vehicles have been in service for an average of approximately eight (8) years.An analysis of Kia's warranty data for the subject vehicles, including a comparison with other agency and manufacturer data pertaining to similar OCS failure investigations, indicates that the subject vehicles experience a comparatively low complaint rate for this issue given the number of years the vehicles have been in service.Kia has implemented an extended warranty program for the OCS sensor mat providing for free replacement for 15 years regardless of vehicle mileage and will send owners of the subject vehicles letters notifying them of the potential hazards posed by OCS failure as well as the terms of the extended warranty.Consumers whose air bag warning light is illuminated will have the opportunity to have their vehicle diagnosed and, if a fault is indicated, have the OCS sensor mat repaired at no charge.In view of the comparatively low complaint rate and Kia's implementation of an extended warranty with owner notification, ODI has tentatively concluded that the actions taken by Kia mitigate any unreasonable risk to safety posed by OCS sensor mat failures in the subject vehicles.Accordingly, the investigation is closed.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist, and the agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by new circumstances.Details on Kia's extended warranty program, including a copy of both Kia's letter to the consumer and Kia's letter to their dealers, for the subject vehicle population will be available in the public file for this investigation. The ODI reports cited above can be viewed at http://www?odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/ SearchNHTSAID under the following identification (ODI) numbers: 10789130, 10787308, 10785138, 10777856, 10765359, 10745773, 10746133, 10745528, 10721336, 10715846, 10712140, 10712046, 10706009, 10705387, 10681321, 10677080, 10673071, 10654873, 10654522, 10652472, 10651525,10643205, 10639671, 10638251, 10627289, 10621507, 10620724, 10615883, 10609000, 10607838, 10606252,10577842, 10568029, 10564527, 10561224,
Technical service bulletins and other communications the manufacturer sent dealers about this vehicle. Ask a dealer for the full document by its number.
Bars are owner complaints, dots mark years with recalls. Select a year to open its report.