Medium
Air bag light keeps coming on. took back to dealer and they fixed it.
Great on gas and very dependable. Nice little car for the money.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 10th October, 2002
No major problem so far, only irritation. OK
The dash reflex badly during the day and worst at night especially if it rains.
At 5000km, the interior plastic handle broke from its place. At close inspection, the hole that was screwed together to the door is too thin. All other door have the same design. Installed a plastic washer at the screws myself.
At 40000km major servicing, the front suspension was changed on warranty. It creaks when going over road humps and during hard breaking. The catalytic converter was also changed after noises came up during acceleration and cruising.
At 42500km the gears acted-up. Sometime its held onto the 3rd gear without any change-up. Early morning drive, the gear simply do not want to change up. Another particular behaviour is when I applied hard braking and the engine nearly stalled. This issue was solved when it was discovered that the the auto-gear oil is not top-up to the required level from the previous services.
All this while averages about 400km per fill-up in mixed driving. Highway driving could returned up to 450-480km per fill-up.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 27th August, 2002
A Lemon, Lemon, Lemon!!!
After 3 months of owning the car I had to have the wheel bearing on both front tires replaced, and the automatic shifter fixed and adjusted twice. A little over a year later I needed a new transmission and had the stereo replaced. The shop said nothing else was wrong, I needed to bring it in 2 weeks later for a loud roaring noise they said it only needed some power steering fluid. 2 months later the car was brought in for the same noise, it is presently in the shop and needs to have the front Left hub replaced, and the power rack replaced (caused by the power steering fluid). You think they would have found this 3 months before. I have also had the interior side panels replaced (they just fell off while I was driving no less) and the window crank in the back is also being replaced. Please tell me if you think this is a lemon because according to NY State Law it is not.
This car is very undependable, considering it has been in the shop every 3 months since I've owned it. It gets to be very expensive having to rent a car to get to work. The reason I bought the car was because I thought it was cost efficient, and reliable. I never feel safe in this car!
Also I thought I was the only one with complaints about the Kia Rio, until I came onto this site. I feel for us all.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 26th August, 2002
Does the Kia warranty pay for all the broken stuff?
I loved my KIA Rio. It sipped gas and I never had a single problem with it even though I commute 2 hours a day to get to work and back. I even had a hub cap that I scratched replaced for free under warranty. Until the other day when someone hit my car from the back going 50 mph and slammed me into the car in front of me. Neither one of the air bags deployed and my husband was rushed to the emergency room. The car has been totaled so a recall won't do me any good. Advice for all KIA Rio owners, wear your seat belt.
The worst car that I ever had.
I bought the Kia Rio new and had nothing but problems with it. The car shimmied at 55 to 65 miles per hour. After 6 times of balancing and changing to new wheels the factory rep. changed the wheels to mag. and the problem continued, and then finally sold it. The Kia factory rep. drove 5 new cars at the dealer. All of them had a shimmy at 55 to 65. p.s. I was getting 26 miles to the gallon, which is sad for a small 4 cylinder car.
Before you buy a new car take it out on the highway and do 70 with it to see if it has a shimmy. I will never buy an other Kia product. Kia should test their products before they sell them.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 19th May, 2002
I own a 2002 Rio. Now I know I'm not alone. My car also vibrates at highway speeds. The dealer re-balanced the tires and it still does it. What I don't understand is how come this problem isn't noticed in any of the professional reviews. The average owner doesn't notice it because it's not that severe. I beleive Kia is very aware of this design fault because I read on their website that the 2003 Rio is being improved for vibration control. They are improving steering wheel and column supports, redesigned engine mounts, exhaust, and other things I can't recall. I wish I had been aware of this problem before I bought it.
I bought a 2002 Kia Rio automatic in July. In general - for the price - it's acceptable. At least it's relatively comfortable with a decent air conditioner, power steering and a nice Radio/CD. But I'm another with a shimmy/vibration problem between 55 and 70 mph. It's most severe around 60 - 65. I had the tires rotated at it's first service (6000 miles) which did nothing. I took it back today (a month after it's first service) to the dealer to have them correct this problem and they rotated the tires again! and this time balanced them as well. This has had no effect on the problem at all. In addition the transmission shifts very roughly, but I was told by the dealer at it's first service that in effect, that's just the way they are, you have to live with it. If it were not for the vibration I'd probably be happy to keep it for five years or so. But if theres no chance to fix it I think I'll be getting rid of it at the first opportunity.
I own a Kia Rio and it has no shimmy in it even at 90mph. But I have another problem and my car is currently at the dealership. I have owned this car 7 days and three times in early mornings the car would not start. It would begin to start sputter and mis and then die again. When it gets warmer out around 9am the car starts and runs fine. I hope the dealer finds the problem I really like this car 31.8mpg highway & have not done city check yet.
24th Sep 2004, 19:52
Despite the problems faced which were rectified, do you still feel it's a good car to have? Thank you.