25th Nov 2006, 22:39

My 2002 Kia Rio has had no "oomph" when climbing hills in Ca. Gutless in an emergency. Power fading when less than 5 mph. Actually stalled in front of a city bus yesterday. Had to drive with hazard lights on.Also hear the grinding, crunching noises, no mechanic acknowledges. Bumping noises like a flat tire as well. A smell like burnt rubber from the inside vent. 43,000 miles todate. MY Kia should be brought to task for such an unsafe car. Not much recourse for the driver. Class action perhaps.

11th Dec 2006, 11:32

I have a 2002 Kia Rio - after a few months I had the fuel sensing issue that many others have had, but Kia fixed it quickly and correctly.

Last week, my timing belt failed. The 2002 Rio has an interference engine, so it took out the valves, pistons, etc. Total engine replacement is required - the quotes I have so far are ranging from $4000 to $6000. Obviously the car is not worth this much.

My Kia manual states specifically that the timing belt is covered in the powertrain warranty up to 100,000 miles or 10 years, but Kia will not honor their warranty. There was a technical service bulletin put out in January of 2005 suggesting stronger timing belts for the Rio's and Optima's so Kia knew about the problem. The dealership will not help, the regional Kia rep will not help, and the nationwide Kia service will not help. Actually, the nationwide Kia service rep I spoke with said that "There are more complaints about the Kia Rio online than there are Kia Rio's on the road". That just about sums it up for me!

So, I do not recommend buying a Kia for their warranty - they do not stand behind it at all. When you are left on the side of the road with a $5000 repair bill even though you are under warranty, it is a sad thing. If anyone else has had this problem, please contact me ASAP. I am interested in a class action suit or personal lawsuit against Kia. I have contacted a lawyer who says I have a good case. My email is t.curtis@prodigy.net.

Thanks!

-Tim Curtis.

12th Jan 2007, 19:40

Re. the above post...

Just had MY timing belt snap, sending the pistons pounding through the valves, destroying the head, so I too had to replace my engine. But your estimate is absoloutely ridiculous. New engine (my rebuild had 90,000kms on it) costs around $1100. Standard fee for labour to install engine should be around $600, plus taxes, my bill just came to $2100 CDN.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one with these problems.

List of complaints:

*Dealer acknowledged the CD player in my model was defective and that Kia got a discount on them, so they won't replace it (but did replace it for another defective one?!)

*Breaks were VERY noisey, dealer "shaved them down" because they had too much metal in them???!!!

*Alternator went after a little over 2 years

*Has shifting problems that I mentioned felt like the gear box was outta line or needed tightening in that area, dealer decided to replace the clutch (not covered, obviously) and recommended I learn how to drive (F-U A-Hole, I drive a manual better than anyone I've ever met, thank you!)

*Pain rusted off front and rear wiper arms

*Car delivered to me WITHOUT rubber rain gutter fillers

*Tire iron SNAPPED and broke (yes, METAL!) the first time I had to use it (4 years ago and Kia STILL hasn't replaced it)

*Engine light was a weekly occurence, dealer even said drive around a few days, hopefully it'll go out on its own

*Front flex pipe went (But that's an acceptable cost since it happened near 100,000KMS)

*When my mags began to corrode, I learned that they are not true alloy wheels, like Kia boasts, but rather alloy coated (they basically sanded them and repainted them). The dealer guy even had the gall to tell me that the corrosion was MY fault (Wow, how did he know that corroding fake alloy mags was my secret hidden obsession?!)

The best part is, since I have basically replaced the car to new (ish), to avaoid losing anymore money, its best to hold on to it... I feel like I'm holding a grenade and someone jas pulled the pin...

KIA IS USELESS>>> bite the bullet and go with Anti-Korean cars. I'll never make the mistake again!

3rd Mar 2007, 13:31

I just bought a 2002 Kia Rio not even 4 weeks ago.. I've already replaced the brakes, rotors, plus it needs new tires... And a week ago today it sounded like something just fell off my car in the front end.. It sounded like something just fell out and shattered on the highway.. I went back to see if I could find anything and NOTHING!! Then when I made it home that night my car had this grinding clicking sound as I was turned my wheel into the parking lot.. So now I need a new CV joint which is gonna run around $85.. I previously owned a 94 Dodge Shadow that I bought when I was 16.. It was my very first car and it has 200,000 miles on it and it is still running fine.. I miss my Dodge, it's just too old to be that reliable car I need.. I was literally told that the Kia Rio is an excellent car and very reliable.. I went to this dealership with my son.. I am a single mother of a 2 year old boy.. They had the nerve to tell me that knowing my situation and let me pull off the lot in that unreliable car.. I'm very disappointed and I don't know what to do.. Maybe it's just cause I'm a 23 year old single mother!! ( ( (female) ) )

12th Mar 2007, 05:12

Add me to the KIA bashing posse, and to the last commenter that seems to know KIA warranties in and out, please can you please describe what a KIA extended warranty is?

I don't know what applied to a 02 model Rio, but go to http://www.kia.com/ and read the 110 page warranty document for the new Rio.

The 06 conditions are about the same and equally confusing, and I am having problems with an almost new Rio, and I am suing under the lemon law. Reading this document, it's no wonder that both the consumer and the dealer may be confused. Even the people at KIA legal department seem to not know.

There are seven categories in the limited warranty. Moreover, there are even more categories for emission problems, both federal and for CA where I live.

In addition there are special conditions for more or less every state in the US. In addition, for each warranty category there is a long list of what is covered and what is not covered.

So far things are in the clear, since this car is not yet 12 months old, but I am afraid about when that passes and the basic warranty category kicks in. But I hope that the dealer will take the car back before that.

I am suing under the lemon law, since my car has been in for repairs more than ten times in under a year, and the dealer is not able to correct periodic problems on the car. I think the problem is in the ignition, but nobody knows.

Before you buy a KIA, please read the warranty conditions for this car, and see if you easily can figure out what the warranty covers.

I think KIA is dishonest. My Buick had a 3 year and 36,000 miles warranty that covered absolutely everything. They even changed the brakes for me free of charge when the warranty expired.

With Buick, you have less years of warranty, but at least Buick will stand behind their cars whatever happens.