Windshield
Unexplainable rattling
Bad transmission
Airbag light going on and off
Some nasty smell when the car was running
Broken seats!
My friend bought a KIA Rio in 11/2002. At first it was a perfect car! She was happy with it, her Rio was the first new car she ever owned! We went all over town in her new car. Then things started happening.
The first was she let a friend drive it to Neveda. While driving through the desert the windshield crack. No rock ever hit it, it just cracked. So she had it replaced.
Then it started making a rattle sound so she took it in, got the oil changed, and got it checked out. They said it was fine, but a few miles down the road it started rattling again. The rattling comes and goes. The dealership said "There is nothing wrong with it!"
Then her air bag light would come on then go off. It started shifting funny.
In the last few months it had developed the most nastiest smell, like rotten eggs! We knew it wasn't coming from the inside. She had the car detailed and still it smelled. But it only smelled when the car was running.
But the thing that got us both wondering was last week. My friend was driving her KIA Rio and I was in the front passenger seat, when we were struck from behind, in a hit and run. While we were waiting to be taken to the hospital, because of neck and back pain, we noticed our seats had broke!! The impact and because the car was so light (in other words cheap) from the point of impact rippled a dent all along the passenger side. So the firemen had to rip the car door open to get to me! The car maybe cute and at first fun to drive, but cute and fun don't add up to safety! So my friend is also looking to do a class action suit!
Lawsuit against who? On what basis?
As far as the rotten egg smell, that might be the battery. You might want to check with the better business bureau for the issues you have been having, especially with the seat.
As far as I know when a car crashes it is SUPPOSE to break, basic physics, if the car (s) break the people are less likely to. I assume from the limited info in the review that you guys did not have any long term problems from the crash? in any case, how much worse would it have been if the car did not break (absorb energy) and most of the energy was transferred into your body and founds its way out of it... OUCH.
It does not surprise me that a sub compact would break when hit... larger cars break just as easily, only the damage is different, the safer car depends on the kind of crash, for example a heavier car is more likely to hurt you if you hit an "in movable object" (in a way that spins or rolls the car- like tagging something at highway speed) because all the cars energy is used against you vs when that same car hits a smaller movable object (SUV+roll-over vs SUV+Rio fender bender...). A small car is safer when rolled or spun, but is not as safe in a head on collision with a larger vehicle for example.
I hope you and your friend are alright and that they find that %&$# that was to weak to deal with the wreck he or she created and the people he or she could have killed.
Newer cars are supposed to break so we don't the more it breaks the less force is pushed into us. For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.
Usually a rotten egg smell is a bad oxygen sensor, you probably smell it when the car is is under heavy acceleration. Like a minute after starting off from a stoplight. It also may not be your car. If you are behind someone else after they accelerate hard you will smell it from their car. It would be covered by the bumper to bumper warranty.
Finally, I would never let somebody take my car on a long trip. you would be surprised how some people drive. Also do you remember at any time when you first bought the car (first 500 mile) doing a screeching or hard stop. The first 500 mile break in of a car is critical.
The rotten egg smell may also be a result of the sulfur content in cheap gas. You can check out the sulphur contents of different company's gas to find the one with the least sulfur.