2006 Kia Rio LX review from North America

The transmission is acting very strangely, lurching under acceleration and popping into neutral between gear changes. It's shifted down into the red zone for no reason several times. It's also torque-steering, something a car with this distinct a lack of power shouldn't do.

The gas gauge is a joke. It will move the wrong way randomly-and stay there. You never really know how much fuel you have.

The handbrake keeps knocking itself out of adjustment. It's easy to fix-because Kia haven't been bothered to finish the interior, the adjustment is under the rear seat drink holder.

The front brake balance valve is faulty, which means the car dives left under hard braking.

Any sort of imperfection in the road surface comes through as a sharp, rubbery kick.

The engine sounds like a diesel at low speed and a broken musical instrument at high speed. It lacks severely in power. There are five-year-olds on bicycles that accelerate faster than this car.

The rear seat leaves much to be desired. I am 5 feet 8 inches tall, and I wouldn't be able to sit behind someone my size.

The interior has the same look as a German car, but it isn't nearly as good. All the trim pieces in the interior feel cheap and fragile.

Even with six airbags, it's still a very bad place to be in an accident, especially in a side-impact.

It can be quite frightening to drive. The power steering is easily overwhelmed, as are the tires. It also feels very light and top-heavy, with a lot of rolling about in a corner. There's also no traction control or ABS, which, given the abysmal quality of tire Kia fits, can be very dangerous in emergency maneuvers.

This is a rental car that my insurance has rented me because they didn't mend my car properly, and I've driven it for around a month-enough to know that it's rubbish.