Kia Mentor Saloon SLX 4d (1999/S) Owner Review
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Economy
Value
Needs better carpets and plastics plus a radio that works!
Costs
Change oil and filter every 10,000 km and that's about it.
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On the road
Driving
Well balanced and good at high speed cornering with bf Goodrich tyres, found the shockers too soft for Australian conditions, but this car will take a hammering and I mean it literally.
Performance
Engine puts out 135nm torque from 3000rpm, so go easy on take off or you'll smoke your tyres. Mid range power is lacking, so use 98 octane to boost power a little.
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Living with it
Reliability
Driven this car all over Australia in 40 deg heat many thousands of km's and no break down. It's done 130000 and still using original brake discs (they're still good). This car will not lay down and die even the battery is 6 years old and still working.
Image
Has nice paint so it polishes up really well, even though it's 6 years old it still looks like new.
Comfort
Needs more foam on the seats and better shockers.
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Security and Service
Security
Not much really but most thieves hate this car so I guess that's a deterrent in itself.
Service
It was from a ford dealership and they are as bad as you can get. other Kia dealers maybe good to deal with but keep away from ford if you can.
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Problems and Ownership
Problems
Engine
Other
Leaking slave cylinder, fogging light, brake shudder. Volvo put new pads on which took away the brake shudder. The slave cylinder only needs the odd top up so even though it leaks it still works fine.
Ownership
Did you buy the car new?
Used
Would you buy the same model again?
No
Did you buy from the same manufacturer again?
Yes