2002 Kia Rio from North America - Comments

Flex Pipe blew with only 47,000 miles very expensive need make a universal part for it at a cheaper rate.

Windshield wipers are crap with the safety devise that KIA claims is on it. Very his wind they stop. to much rain they stop or to much snow they stop. If you are driving and using them and they stop and you don't have wrench to fix them Too bad.

Tie rodes went out.

Have had to replace front tires 3 times now.

Inside seals are awful. Winds fog bad and ice covers the window on the inside in the winter.

We have 2 KIA's a Rio and a Sadonia and we have had nothing, but problems out of both of them. On the van there has been 2 can plug that have blown and there is nothing that can be done about it. Not sure of the reasoning as to why. The brakes have been bad and expensive to replace. To replace a headlight in the van is a task within itself. We thought that these would be a couple of good cars to get us through till our kids graduate from school, but that isn't going to happen. My brother that works on cars tried to tell us to not get them and we should have listened. Now anytime he has to fix something he laughs and says that he told us so. Body wise the cars are in great condition, but the rest is crap. Our next car will be Chevy or Pontiac.

You know this Kia Rio was based on the 1994-1997 Ford Aspire.

Ford Aspire was made by Kia in South Korea with Mazda drive train and the Rio is a continuation of this vehicle, but the Rio and the Aspire has nothing in common besides that. Different body/chassis/drive train etc. Please check your facts.

My little rio has 70,000 on it now, and the following problems.

1: that flex pipe thing IS a severe pain. mine's trashed and has been for almost a year. Well, at least my car sounds liek those kids try to make their civics sound.

2: the clutch cable was held to the floor/firewall with... ONE bolt stud. ONE! My jerry-rigged setup is far more secure, and involved drilling, metal screws, and a permanent use for a vise grip. The original setup pulled through the firewall in 07.

3: (my fault) my rear struts are nearly shot. I suppose I am actually praising my kia here. Towing a loaded class 2 u-haul halfway across america twice is fairly decent for a cheap 1.5 liter. Both times I got the same look "you towed what with a what?" I may be the only kia rio with a tow hitch out there.

4: (also my fault) forgot the fuel filter change-out until 60k...blew a fuse, which was NOT at ALL in the service manual so a relay and a pump later, I finally find it. Poor marking, but again, my own silliness.

So far that's it. 3 fender benders, one requiring frame straightening. No drive train issues, no major suspension issues, a front bearing that got noisy for a while at 15,000 and worked itself out.

Using bosch 4+ plugs and whatever is the cheapest synthetic oil at the time (SCREW regular oil after 2nd oil change) standard gas, sometimes fortified with injector cleaner.

I bought my 02 Kia Rio in 03. Only 5 miles on it. At 48,000 miles the Flex Pipe went. Can only get it thru dealer, not auto parts store. Hood starting to rust. Is there a recall on the Flex Pipe? The replacement should be gratis.