: the contact stated the brake light on the dash illuminated and the brake pedal depressed to the floor. Brake fluid was added twice. The vehicle was driven to the dealer who could not find a leak.

- Spring Lake, MI, USA

My 2001 Kia Sportage has a defect in its design. The solenoid, & hoses that connect to it are placed in an area on the vehicle where they are subjected to the elements-&-in harms way of being damaged from normal driving conditions. I do not have the service paper work on me, at the moment (I am at the public library-doing research on Kia's many safety issues)-if you need copies of my service records, or any further info-please contact me by mail. When solenoid/hoses failed - I was unaware that my 4 wheel drive was inoperable. There were many times, in the winter months- where my Kia would slip/slide-handle erratically in the snow/rain. I have lost track of the times I lost control of my vehicle during this time frame (2001-2004). Now I realize that it was due to the 4 wheel drive malfunctioning. I was lucky enough to have just spun out-with no one else hitting me; thank god for that. The Sportage is very unsafe to drive-when it is raining/snowing-it's wheel base makes it dangerous. The first service manager refused to fix it under Kia's 10 year/ 100,000 coverage-so I had to pay $85 to fix it. It worked two more times, and now the hubs are shot (after a mere 29,000 miles). I was naive about Kia's record at the time. I have seen thousands of complaints on the internet about Kia now- and I want the truth about them to come out. I have contaced Kia about my problem(s) many times. They are very smug, and knowlegeable about what they do not have to do for you. If they spent 1/2 the money that they did on having a slick law firm write their 10 year coverage plan-as they did making a safe/reliable vehicle-many people would be much safer for it.

- Spencerport, NY, USA