Faults:

Factory tires suck. I replaced them with decent tires and they've held up fine.

The paint scratches very easily. Around 70,000 miles the car wouldn't turn on at all and the battery went dead because of the alternator.

I had the transmission replaced at 50,000, but it was under warranty.

Automatic transmision has trouble switching from second to third gear. Also, sometimes when I put the car in reverse, the engine stalls.

General Comments:

I can't imagine that the people who buy a KIA expect the car to be great. For $8,500, who would?

It is very noisy on the highway. Also on the highway the car gets blown around like it's in a tornado.

Hubcaps are very noisy.

When you turn the heat or A/C on, the whole car vibrates.

However, it is awesome on gas. Every serious problem I've had has been under warranty.

Most of the people who bought this car didn't do any research on it. I knew it was a cheap car when I bought it, so I expect that it has problems.

I would not recommend buying this car used!

Faults:

The car door locks have completely stopped working, I couldn't get in my car at all!!! Transmission is very loud and hits hard between gears. Very uncomfortable to sit in for a long periods of time. Sound quality is terrible, speakers are blown. Oil leak after oil leak, after oil leak...

General Comments:

I really feel that Kia's in general are priced very reasonable. I think this is why people buy them, however don't be fooled!!! Pay the extra money and buy something decent, Kia's are one problem after another.

Faults:

The only thing that got bad is a strange beating noise coming "PROBABLY" FROM steering gear. I went to kia service they sad its not a defect yet.

General Comments:

A very-very handsome car, comfortable, petrol saving, not causing big problems, practical.

Faults:

The original tires are very cheap. I had a sidewall blowout while going around a corner... they were very thin corded tires. I immediately put on Toyos.

General Comments:

I bought this Rio used for less than $5000 and have put nearly $60,000 miles on it over they last three and a half years without a problem. I commute 57 miles a day and get 37 miles to the gallon. I am extremely happy. So much so that I went out and bought a Kia Sedona van.

Faults:

This is a tiny piece of crud. I only bought it because my previous car a wonderful never fail me Mitsubishi Lancer got wiped out by a taxi. Well first things first. It was extremely hard to get into gear, once it was in first gear it was hard to get into second gear... and so on.

I took it to the dealer where I got it, mind you driving half way across town in second gear because it refused to go into third. The dealer is a smarmy bugger, didn't believe me, jumped in the car and couldn't get it even it first (victory to me!). In the end under warranty it got a new gearbox and clutch.

Second thing, I was driving to pick up a pizza, and clunk bang, all this metal falls on the ground, oh gee the Kia disease has struck again, this time it was the clutch plate CABLE!!! It's the sort of thing you don't even think about in a car. Anyway that got replaced and it's been so so since then. But, I don't know how the Australian Government even let Kia sell their rubbish here. The name says it all K_illed I_n A_Ction!!!

General Comments:

Rattles a lot.

Sounds like a house with no furniture, hollow and empty.

No guts.

Cheap Korean crap.

Plastic wheel caps whirl around waiting to fly off and injure an innocent passer by.