has anyone heard anything bad about the kia rio .
I worked in Malaysia for some time and one of my colleagues bought one. He taught maintenance so he kept it in good condition. Basically an OK car, but handling and ride not up to Honda Fit level. In the hands of and average US driver and with typically little maintenance, this is a 6 year car; don’t expect it to take any abuse.
A better choice would be a Hyundai Accent, a similar but more proven car. Kia is working hard to get their reliability and durablity up to the parent company’s (Hyundai)level. Would I buy one for my wife? No, there are better choices for the same or little more money.
in the uk,im sure the kia rio has an old mazda engine,and is very reliable!
stephen; it’s the rest of the car that will fall apart before it’s time. In the US cars are typically bought loaded with automatic, Air Conditioning, power windows, etc. These things usually don’t last on cheap imported economy cars and in North America we expect cars and their accessories to last 250,000-300,000 miles!
One car that did well in the UK, but was a disaster in North America, was the Rover 2000 TC. The engine was good; the rest rusted or fell apart long before the cheapest of Chevies would start wearing out. Both the climate and driving distances in Europe are much more benign than in Canada and the US. As you mentioned in another post, 100,000 miles is considered high mileage in the UK. The average Vauxhall Firenza lasted about 4 years in the salt laden environment around the Great Lakes.
the kia rio was imported into the uk as a basic 5 door hatchback,costing around ?5000 ,but i agree the build quality was only average,its been superceeded by the kia ceed,which is twice the price!needless to say i havent seen any kia ceed s on the road,because theyre just too expensive.for ?10,000 you can buy a new ford focus,or a vauxhall astra.rusty cars nowadays are far less common in the uk,new cars have better rustproofing,so last much longer,ive seen 10 year old cars that look like new!and as for rover,im glad they went bust,because their cars were mediocre at best!
Glad to hear European manufacturers are seriously into rustproofing. The rust warranty has been legally required in North America since the mid 1970s Class Action lawsuit by the Rusty Ford Owners, started in Canada and spread to the US.
Japanese cars in the 70s were real rust buckets, especially Nissans. The Japanese listen and learn real fast, so now rust is no longer the big problem it used to be, but cars around the Great Lakes and in the North East still don’t have the long life of those in the rest of the continent.