I’m thinking of buying a KIA Rondo V6 2008 with 170k miles. The Kelley Blue Book value in my city shows 3000$ for the fair condition. Me being a student and looking for a reliable family car with lot of cargo space, would this be a good option to go? TIA
Make sure to involve the person of your choice who is very knowledgeable about cars.
If you have “car guru” among your friends - great.
If not - make sure to involve mechanic you trust and you PAY to make the inspection.
Do not trust the seller side, for obvious reasons.
Now, 12-years old car will require some additional cash infusions, granted.
The question how much that additional cash you will need and how soon.
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Same answer as your other threads about buying a used vehicle . Who knows ? Just pay a shop about 125.00 to look any used vehicle over for problems . That still won’t mean you don’t have repairs to be made later but it will improve your chance of buying something decent. It is 12 years old after all.
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It’s worth about three hundred dollars. 170,000 is a million in Kia miles.
There isn’t much complaints about this vehicule according to carcomplaints.com.I would get a pre -purchase inspection done by a trusty general mechanic.
My sister in law had one and liked it a lot. It was reliable for them, but they bought it new. Note that there is no cargo space behind the third row when it is in use. The in laws typically travelled with one of the rear seats down and cargo all over the rest of the car as well when going out for several days.
I would question the whole intended purpose of buying relatively big-size SUV by the student who can barely afford it, spare the ongoing expense.
I bet only fuel will make for 2 grand a year if vehicle is regularly driven, not to mention that maintenance will also be not inexpensive given it’s age and miles.
I would suggest @PhoenixSS to carefully consider financial side of his decision.
Huh?
A 2008 Kia Rondo is actually a compact SUV. Does this look big to you?
That vehicle is only 6 inches longer than a Corolla sedan of the same era.
???
my mistake, I was under impression if it is V6, it it at least mid-size
still, it is 18/26 MPG, so not exactly budget thing to operate
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/2008_Kia_Rondo.shtml
V6 is only slightly worse than 4-cylinder one
good luck getting the seller to accept $300
I’d rather take it to the crusher before accepting an offer so low, that it might be considered insulting
The Rondo was not made in great numbers. Is it essentially similar to one of Kia’s more popular cars? If so, which?
This is a reasonable price if and only if the seller can provide proof that the timing belt (and water pump, idler, and hydraulic tensioner) were changed at least once. If not, assume it was never done, and the belt is about to fail in the not-too-distant future, which is a major problem since this is an interference engine.
Also, be aware that the best online price for a brand-name timing kit which includes the water pump and tensioner is over $300 with tax and shipping, so a professional mechanic is likely to charge somewhere around $600 for the parts, and another $600 or so for labor and incidentals. So unless you think this vehicle is worth $4200, or unless you can negotiate the price down, I’d keep looking.
It should be noted, however, that the Kia Rondo when equipped with a 4-cylinder engine uses a timing chain, so as long as there is no evidence of oil neglect, it should not require maintenance during the life of the engine.
Would have shared engines with other Kia products sold here but i haven’t found out which other Kia/Hyundai’s it shared a platform.
Sold better in other markets. Basically the same size as a Subaru Forester or a Kia Sportagen Seems like a decent small car and I do see a couple around town regularly.
Some reviews compare it to the Mazda5 as a small family minivan.
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