Kia Sportage 1998

Kia Sportage 1998 Q&As

Check out real-world situations relating to the Kia Sportage here, particularly what our experts have to say about them.

• The engine in my 2022 Kia Sportage rattles

  You’ve paid for a car with a factory warranty, so make the most of it. The first step is to have Kia look at the car, listen to the noise it’s making and come up with a plan from there. Convincing the dealership mechanic that there’s a noise that shouldn’t be there might be difficult, but you could also have the car independently inspected (try your state motoring club) the noise noted in writing, and present that to Kia as a way of proving there’s a problem.

  In our experience, Kia has been pretty good at getting this stuff right and keeping its customers happy. So start with the dealership and if that doesn’t work, you can contact Kia’s Australian customer service department. After that, it’s a job for the ACCC, but it shouldn’t come to that.

  The bottom line, however, is that this car is (or should be) still under factory warranty, so it’s Kia’s problem to sort out; a process that should not cost you anything.

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• Does the 2018 Kia Sportage have a timing belt or chain?

  It doesn’t matter whether you have the two-litre petrol, 2.4-litre petrol or the two-litre turbo-diesel engine in your Sportage, they all use timing chain technology rather than the toothed rubber timing belt. As such, the timing chain fitted should be good for the life of the engine and should not require periodic replacement as a timing belt does.

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• How does an expired warranty affect the sale price of a 2018 Kia Sportage?

  For a lot of second-hand car buyers, the opportunity to purchase a car with a year of factory warranty remaining is a big deal. It’s great peace of mind and that means a lot to some people who are sometimes a bit spooked by the level of technology in modern cars. On the basis that you’ll be selling the car in the next 12 months or so, perhaps now is the time while that warranty is still there to attract would-be buyers.

  However, you must be able to prove to a buyer that the car has been serviced correctly and at the appropriate intervals. A car without a full, correct service history is, effectively, a car without a warranty regardless of how old it is. Make sure the service handbook is fully stamped and in the glove-box. By the way, your car’s warranty started when you bought it in late 2018, not 2019 even though it’s a 2019 model-year vehicle.

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• What is the towing capacity for a 2021 Kia Sportage?

  The 2021 Sportage range covers a variety of towing capacities depending on what engine and transmission are fitted and whether the example in question features all-wheel-drive or front-wheel-drive.

  So, in no particular order, the Sportage with front-wheel-drive can tow up to 1600kg with a braked trailer, the AWD petrol can tow 1500kg, the AWD diesel has a towing maximum of 1900kg and the facelifted 1.6-litre petrol with the dual-clutch transmission can cope with 1650kg (all with the same braked trailer).

  With a trailer with no brakes, the maximum towing capacity for any 2021 Kia Sportage is 750kg.

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