13th Aug 2004, 11:23

I have 30K miles on my 02 Cinco, and I really like this car. No real complaints. Yes, it is noisy at freeway speeds (thank you rubberized pavement), and yes, it doesn't get the mileage of a Honda, and yes, it has anemic power (1.5L with an automatic), but it shifts smoothly, still gets 33 to 36 mpg, keeps up with freeway traffic, even with the AC on, has a very comfortable driver's seat with a well placed arm rest, and is just fun to drive. And it cost very little! The hatch is very convenient and 8 foot pieces of lumber fit inside with the hatch closed (no 4X8 sheets of plywood, please). If you don't want jack-rabbit -start capability, (and you don't need it if you learned to drive with a 67 Bug, or know how to drive, period), I would rather drive this than our 02 Golf and rather own it than my 01 Corolla.

21st Nov 2005, 10:24

I love my RIO, I have over 121,000 miles on it and up till now have, but on 2 set of tires a new battery last year, 2 sets of spark plus and I set of wires, a speed sensor which was $90.00 and cleaned the radiator and of course the regular oil changes. I love it! The first 6 months were rough, the check engine light kept coming on, after a trip tp the dealer every other week I got really ticked off, when they finally figured out that it was the tranny and they replaced it, I haven't had a complaint since then. Best car I have ever had and I'd buy one again in a heart beat. Mine was the showroom model too, I bought it in Dec. 2001.

17th Mar 2006, 13:03

I bought my 2001 RIO with 32 km on it and over the past five years have had very few minor problems. However, about two weeks ago the timing belt went on it and totally destroyed the engine. I had the first timing belt replaced at around 100 k and at 160 the new belt went. They tell me that there is nothing that I can do. I have a 5 year old car that is worthless and a company that refuses to help me. Never again!!!

10th Apr 2008, 09:21

I bought my Rio and I had some Issues and problem not even dealer know the solution. Buying A Kia is a big mistake I should of buy used Japanese car.

21st Jun 2008, 14:12

Man! Any car named Kia Rio deserved to vanish from this planet. This car is a piece of crap, this car can't even beat an old grandma in a race even if its life depended on it.

For no reason the locks on the passenger and the rear passenger broke, and now my friends have to enter from my driver side.

And when I try to go to the dealer shop and claim the flaws of this car, they give me the go around and charge me insane prices.

It is a true fact that the Kia organization does not care for their customers, but care more for the customer's money.. I would rather walk or take the bus than pay for little things that drain my money.. And deal with this piece of crap.

25th Mar 2010, 10:55

I just purchased a 2009 Kia Rio, it had 25 miles on it when I drove it home. The next day my husband and I drove it about 1 hour on the highway, got some gas and then the engine light came on. I called the dealer when I got home and she asked if I put the "gas cap" on correctly! She told me the error code just had to be cleared. Well, when I took it into the dealership that week, I was told it was the "Knock Sensor", so they replaced it. The very next time I had the vehicle up on the highway, the engine light came on again, back to the dealer. To make a long story short, it's happened to me four times and is currently in the dealership. I was told this morning that they cleared the code and took it back out on the road and YES! again the engine light has come back on... The code is: 123. Is this a lemon? I feel I should get rid of it now. Oh, did I mention that it doesn't even have 800 miles on it. I purchased it 2 months ago.

7th Jun 2011, 08:07

If your Rio is equipped with an automatic transmission, there may be an issue with the automatic locking torque converter. When the trans goes into top gear and the torque converter locks up, all is well... If the converter fails to lock, a check engine light will appear. Clearing the code does NOT fix the issue. The torque converter lock-up failure could be an intermittent, thus explaining some of the difficulties.

Of course, the accuracy of this statement is governed by the info at hand.