Try The tricks I suggested for the carpet... You might have $10 in it. My 06 Spec had only 24k miles on it when I bought it "salvaged". The front seats from the SX are the same and you could probably buy a clean set cheaper than re-upholstering what you have.
The gray cloth does hold a lot of dust and dirt. I can't see why you could not replace the carpet with some from another Spec. The carpet is molded into the rubber backing so "laying down" replacement would look tacky. Most of the smell is probably in the carpet and the cleaning I mentioned gets down to the pad. The Awsome product is very strong and really breaks the dirt up/pop stains/and grease. My car looks like new inside. The paint and clearcoat is in great shape also in the areas that were not originally damaged. The paint job is finally going to happen this September. Mine's "Spark Blue"...
I also put Michelin tires on my Spec...Had Rikens on it when I got it and they were junk at 30k miles. Car now has almost 40k and is still a baby and runs like new.
The blower motors are starting to go in Specs with 120k miles on them but the new replacements are only $40 with shipping on ebay.
Get hold of cobra259 in a pm for parts. He's a parts manager at a Michigan KIA dealer. With parts and shipping he did MUCH better than my local dealer... He's a "good guy" and I call him a friend also...
The engine (2.0L) is from an earlier Mazda design that is now in it's third update...(theta) and in most new Forte' and Soul models. Ours is the beta version and it's a proven engine.
You did the right thing getting the TB replaced...now if you got an automatic replace the fluid... KIA/Hyundai Type III is about $7 a quart (5 quarts needed) and you don't have to worry about compatibility problems.
There is a good sticky posted for Sephia/Spectras that goes into problems with the Mazda/Ford tranny has that is used in Spectras as when it gets up in miles with out fluids being changed. Another "good guy", Loyale 2.7 T explains how he revived his tranny.
http://www.kia-forums.com/kia-cerato-shuma-spectra-forum/77522-kia-spectra-shifting-problems.html
I have a link in this thread to the original Ford forum that explains what and why things go wrong with it... It is a good transmission and Mazda just revived it for their Mazda2 cars.
Enjoy!
Dave