2003 Kia Rio review from North America

Windshield washer pump ~60K.

Front wheel bearings repeatedly fail because they were improperly serviced earlier.

Nice car. I consider it to be fairly reliable, but the front wheel bearing failures are quite a pain.

These bearings are prone to failure, because few if any dealerships bother to use the special service tools to fix them properly.

Unfortunately, the special service tool to measure the spacer needed between the bearings is not available to anyone outside the dealership, or I would simply fix it myself. Improperly sized spacers cause the bearings to fail repeatedly.

I called corporate KIA to try to find a solution to the problem, and had to talk to some know-nothing individual who asked me what I would like the dealership to do. I explained the situation, but doubt any good will come of it.

One life lesson learned - Warranties are only as good as the service/product providers. In this case the dealers. My local dealerships refuse to do this warranty work, so I have been forced to drive some distance outside the city to have it done under warranty. The dealerships I have dealt with have been quite good, except for treating me like a knwo-nothing customer, and ignoring my polite suggestions.