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.
Good heavens man - you're driving a rental - what do you expect?
It doesn't matter if it is a rental or not, same car that is one the lot. Not quite sure why people buy these cars.
Rio 2006 is a good car and your problem is, because its rental car.
I agree...Don't buy rentals. People like me like to slam the gas pedal all the way to the floor and slam the brakes. We common people do not care because it is not our car. To keep cost cheap, rental company just fix rental cars as long as they are running. Cheap huh?
Hey 10:51...I bought one rental that was the best car of my life. All car rental drivers aren't like you trying to drive a rental into the ground. Actually, your negative comments on rental cars, should be addressed at yourself, as someone who abuses things that don't belong to you.
Hahaha, Apr 14 comment... I know many people that abuse those cars. I am just amazed you trust those cars. Probably a reason why they sell them with low miles, ever thought of that?
<<Hey 10:51...I bought one rental that was the best car of my life. All car rental drivers aren't like you trying to drive a rental into the ground. Actually, your negative comments on rental cars, should be addressed at yourself, as someone who abuses things that don't belong to you.>.
How can you possible prove that all rentals aren't abused. The average rental has hundreds of drivers before it is resold and it is statistically impossible to say that all those hundreds of drivers are only using it to go to church on Sunday.
AMEN 17th Apr 2007, 08:17----Thank you.
Well, I have a new one. I haven't had the other problems as mentioned above, but I must say that the brakes ain't that good. The Rio's tires screech when you apply the brakes more often than when you're in another car (high speed runs when I was late for school). The brake biased thing, I'll look out for that, maybe try it out.
Tom
I agree with April 14, 2007 about the Rio. I bought a rental that was the best car of my life. The guy complaining about rentals, showed his disrespect for cars by his actions.
Has anyone ever went to a Honda dealership and looked at how much they want for a Fit? If you get one with any options, they are in the low 20's.
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