I liked the car
My timing belt went yesterday at 74,000.
The paint on the side of my car and on the back was peeling off at 40,000 miles.
Brakes replaced 3 times.
Don't know if I should replace the engine, and does anyone have an idea of how much it would cost if I did replace it?
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 18th September, 2008
Don't buy a Kia
I have had my tires replaced once, and about to go for the second trip (that is IF they can get the thing running again).
Upon buying the car, the drivers side door handle wouldn't open the door from the outside, a trip to the dealer provided that most 03 Rio's have this problem. The problem eventually resolved itself.
The steering and car itself has always been shaky at anything above 50 mph.
My dome light only works when the door is open and the 12v. charger thing (where the cigarette lighter SHOULD go, but the dealer took mine out of the car before the car was given to me so I am left with a charger hole that won't charge anything) doesn't work at all. Another trip to the dealer concluded that it was a fuse, and they would change the fuse (my car was in for an oil change anyway). Still, no luck with my dome light or charger.
My most recent adventure with my "Krapia", as I like to call it, would be the broken timing belt which has in turn DESTROYED my engine. (I'm at just over 62 thousand miles) and the dealer doesn't want to cover it under warranty. Go figure, right. Well no one ever told me that the timing belt HAD TO be replaced at 60k, to my knowledge it was only a recommendation. Well now my car, which still has three or four payments left on it, is pretty much useless..
Sad that Kia would market a car to lower income families that has such an unforgiving defect.
And, why isn't there a trunk popper on the inside of the car? That's just silly.
What a piece of crap.
Next time I'll spend the extra money for an American made car.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 14th August, 2008
I'm sorry to hear about your car, but 60k miles is when most cars need a new timing belt. If you had read your owners manual, you would have known that the manufacturer says you should replace it at 60k. Just because you didn't do your homework doesn't mean that the manufacturer is to blame.
That's a good idea, buy an American car for twice as much, lose just as much on resale value and have twice as many issues.
So you bought the least expensive model of the cheapest car sold in America, and want to complain that it doesn't have an inside trunk popper? Do you complain that it doesn't have power windows or power locks too?
As far as your timing belt, if you had actually READ the owner's manual or had a clue and looked at the scheduled maintenance, you would have seen that there are services required at certain intervals. Did the dealer tell you you needed to actually change your oil too?
It's hard to feel sympathy for you if you ran the car a clear 2,000 km over the recommended mileage for replacing the timing belt. 60,000km is stated quite clearly in the owner's manual. Blame yourself for not being responsible.
6th Dec 2009, 19:48
It would cost thousands. More than the car is worth. And there is a lack of used engines because the timing belt issues so you will have to buy a new one from Kia. Or at the very least, have a new head installed and the pistons checked at the same time.