Faults:

The trailing arm in the rear is cracked. The dealer wanted $900.00 to fix it. I have been driving it for a year like that. Why fix it now!

There isn't a lot of room inside. But it is a smaller car.

General Comments:

I drove this car to Ottawa (600 ks away),it was wonderful. Last summer 5 of us drove to Orlando Florida (5000 ks there & back).Very easy on gas. I spent $200.00 US.Can't go wrong there. It was a very nice trip all in all.

It handled the mountains very well for a small car & motor.

Faults:

There were 4 recalls on this car. It needed a new transmission at 28,000 miles. It had a timing belt that skipped teeth, stalled for no reason, the engine light would come on every few months, and it made very loud noises when I went to start it when it was too hot outside or too cold outside.

General Comments:

This car did give me a lot of grief, but at least I had the warranty to fix the problems.

Faults:

The first year of owning this car I had to have the back bearings replaced, I was traveling at the time to the US.

I could never stop the car from shaking after 100km/hr.

Wears tires out like I wear out my sneakers. Gas mileage was great in the beginning, but a month after it got harder on fuel. The second year I had to replace the plug wires. I had only 50,000kms on it. It is not covered on warranty, and they are $100 for four! The Air bag light comes on and off. The engine light came on three times before I hit 70,000kms. The gas light is on and I have a full tank.

General Comments:

At least the warning lights work!

Faults:

The driver side front car door jammed failed at 45,000.

The car shut off for no reason 3 times in the past 9 months.

Car shakes with A/C on.

Paint chips very easily.

General Comments:

I brought my 2001 Kia Rio used 9 months ago. So far it has been really a good investment.

It drives very well and get good gas mileage. However, the car shakes badly when the A/C is on full blast. So far, I have had no major problems with the engine.

The only major problem I had with the car is when my driver side front door jammed all at once. I was able to open the door to drive, but I could not get out. I had to take it to the car dealership. I was told that all kias (including used cars) were still under 5 yr/ 60,000 mile warranty. However, I had to pay for the door myself due to the fact that it was not due to normal "wear and tear".

It`s a decent car even for a used car for the true needy.

Faults:

Turn signal failed at 3,000 miles and needed replaced. This required some of the interior to be pulled out and it never really fit together correctly afterward.

A recall for stalling occurred around 10,000 miles. The repair helped the problem, but afterward I felt the car lost a little engine power. As well, the car would still stall periodically at startup.

Around 15,000 miles the head gasket/ head cylinder blew. The head gasket/head cylinder failed a second time approximately 6 months later then approximately 6 months following the second head gasket/head cylinder failure it happened again! This third time was pretty bad as it failed quickly without warning. I noticed that the engine smoking on my way to work and had to have it towed to the dealership because "it could catch on fire".

General Comments:

I knew the car was one of the cheapest alternatives available, but I decided to give it a chance. My experience with this car made me a true believer of "you get what you pay for".

The dealership seemed to think it was not a big deal to ask me to continually give up my car for weeks at a time in order to have major repairs done. I got the impression they were used to having to replace parts on these cars! The car was only 3 years old with less than 30,000 miles when I got rid of it and it had already gone into the shop at least 5 times for major problems.

I went ahead and paid off the gap amount owed on that car by adding it to my current vehicle because the trade-in value was pitiful and falling rapidly plus, I really wanted to get rid of the thing before it caught on fire and injured someone!