2005 NAZA Ria GS from Malaysia - Comments

I have a large family, I am looking for a cheaper type of 2nd hand MPV and Naza Ria has been one of the best option. It is spacious and cheap than Japanese's MPV. But after seeing some many complaints about this car, I am kind of set back. If you still want to go for it, which year should I choose.

Hi there.

I came across a 2nd hand Nasa Ria (2003) at RM58900 with mileage of around 80k. I like the car, but I'm worry about the car's engine.

After reading the feedbacks about this car, I guess I have to pass.

I bought a naza gs in 2006 and so far it has been fairly reliable. We had several problem's such as front tyre's that only lasted 26000km.Some said it was due to poor alignment, but it was done twice. Our interior lights were out for several months before they traced it to a faulty relay and remote control CPU. We also have problems with rear brake squealing which they have no cure, so what I've done is to brake without squealing the brakes. The plastics are rather brittle and had the drivers lath repaired. The leather's stitching come apart, but most of all the leather seat's are useless. Now I understand why most mpv come with cloth covering. The seat's are a pig when it come to maintaining.

You have to drive it with a gentle right foot as this is not a drivers car that you can abuse, but if you can restain your driving style and maintain a full service record at naza authorized center, i think it will be a relatively trouble free ownership. I have opted for the 5 year warranty and hope I do not have to use it.

As a precaution I change my engine oil at 8000km and iam using tuffoil addative. This addative is great!it made my 30year old car pur like a kitten. I was also told that only certain coolant are compatible with the naza, so is the transmission oil. So its best to service at their service center. Recently I was made to understand that the oil used by OEM is of differrent spec and is not made available to the general public. Apparently their oil carry the designation LF (Long life in BMW talk).This could be the reason why some of us are having problems with the Naza's.

Lastly I manage to get a manufacturer's workshop manual, which state's that cars that are used in australia should half the service interval as compared to the same car sold in europe! (bearing in mind that some parts of australia have very similar climate to us).May be we should take this with a pinch of salt, but I've found that certain Shell station are able to test the condition of our engine oil and advice us on a new service interval. Hopefully with a new service interval we are able to prevent engine damage due to poor engine oil.

Having said all that, my naza has given my family + my parent many happy outing and hope to continue have many more. Presently there are no V6 MPV that cost rm 90,000.00 new with a 5 year warranty, for all its fault's I think is a winner. By the way it cost me Rm50.00 from KL to Taiping, i find that reasonable.

Hello there!

I'm one of the great fans of naza ria when it first came out, till I read all your comments. I still like the car, but getting skeptical with its quality. I just came back from a 2nd hand dealer who offered RM62000 2004 model. What you all think? It is clocked 63000 km. I need your advise on the things that I ought look into before buying this car. The engine looks clean and quiet. Do I need to change the timing belts and other stuff as well after buying this car? Thank you.

Hi all.

I'm planning to get a 2nd hand naza ria below rm50k, pls call if you have any for recomend.

Thank you.

Ahmad talmizi / mobile 012 9832809.

My advice to all of you don't buy a Naza Ria unless you have so much money to throw on this car without feeling any pain.

I bought a second hand 2005 model at RM62K in May 2007 and sold it last month Oct 2007. Yes I kept this piece of crap for 5 months, used it twice only and got rid of it finally.

The NAZA Ria is one hell of a spacious and comfortable car. Beside the petrol consumption, I do not have any complaints of the car. However, everytime I send the car for normal servicing, the mechanic always adviced me to get rid of the car. After reading all the comments of the car and listening to some dealers and mechanics, I can conclude the followings :

-the car consumps petrol

-the engine block will eventually gets wet due to engine defect and needs to be overhaul.

-temperature gauge do not show overheating situation.

-and yes, it is more expensive to service the car by Naza.

DO think carefully before buying or selling the car.

Hi, I am a proud owner of a Naza Ria which I acquired in April last year. It is NGV fitted and so I have no problem with it...ooohh. OK. The timing went up to more than 2,000 sometime ago and I brought it back to Selayang SC twice. The second time, they found that the NGV system was not installed properly and there were loose cables which needed to be tighten. After that, it is as good as new. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that there will be no problems at least for the next seven years or so.

I bought the Naza Ria Dec 2004, Mileage up to 150,000km now.

I had face a few problem :

1) POWER WINDOW driver side breakdown change for around RM600.

2) Air cond gas leaking problem after 1 year, Kia SC quote me RM1000 to change the radiator after they dismantle. I ask them to install and put back every thing. They charge me RM150. I get a outside aircond shop to fix back for below RM150. (They found the faulty parts is the leaking inlet valve)

3) I had change timing belt for 2 times, around RM1600 for timing belt, around 500 for spark plug. Second timing belt change, I had to replace the power steering fluid pump and water pump due to serious leaking cost me another RM1300.

Add up to a total around RM3500 for the second time timing belt change. They also relace the T pipe during the belt change. According to the SC, this is one of the cause of engine overheating.

4) I had facing the front air cond pipe leaking recently. also the radiator pipe "almost" leaking. Luckly, the SC technician found it. The pipe have 3 spot of rusty holes, it's crack when I hack it with screw driver slightly. (I thinks this is one of the major cause of engine overheating.)

So far, everything OK for me except the SC charges too high. I insist to use the Petronas syntectic oil and only service at KIa SC. May be this is one of the reason my car use safely up to 150,000km without major breakdown. Although the engine oil is more expensive. I saw a lot of car are using Magnatec Gastrol engine oil for cost saving in the kia SC. I guess may be this is one of the bad pratice. I recommend every driver service the car at Kia SC, because from what I observe they know some of the prevention step for major problem although expensive. But this is cheap if you replace the engine after warranty period which cause you a RM18k. I saw soo many car sent for major overhaul in the SC, because I was there every 2-3 months.

My advise Don't buy the second hand Naza Ria, if you have a choice now. Buy the new one if you really like it, prepare some extra money for the proper maintenace. or, use it as your second car with low usage.

Thanks.

Ccmccw@yahoo.com.

P/S: I check my car's price with 2nd hand car dealer end of last year. It's cost only RM48K for this 3 years car.

Brakes squealing is often a problem -- I changed new brake pads but it didn't last too long before the squealing returned.

Wheel alignment is crucial else it is uncomfortable over long distances to places like Singapore, coz it can be 'bumpy'.

I am still at my 46K mark, so hopefully water does not get into the engine to require overhaul as is reported here.

I bought NAZA RIA RS 2008 production and delivered to me on 09th May 2008, despite being warned by friends that the car is not reliable.

On 18th May 2008,around 2300H, 4 hours after I parked the car at my house and removed the ignition key, the engine rotate by itself, with smell of burning metal.

Smoke came out from the bonnet and finally I am able to stop the rotation after cutting off the power supply from the battery.

The technician came and I should thank him for working on public holiday. The car was towed to KIA service center the next day. I was told that they are ordering the starter as they found the starter to be malfunctioning. That was on 21st May. Until today, 23rd May, the starter did not arrive and wonder why it take times for them to acquire the starter.

Hopefully and pray to God that their trouble shooting is correct and no other problem/problems emerge.

I bought a Naza Ria on May 2004.

As many had agreed, the car is very good for family; especially if one has young ones.

I serviced my car routinely at Kia Workshop Selayang. At 88,000km, the engine overheated and the engine was changed by Naza Kia. Costs a bomb albeit Naza gave me a 50% discount.

Today, I went to allign and balance the wheels and was informed that the rims had shown signs of cracking. The car is 91,100km.

I would like to advise all owners to check their rims as such could prove fatal if the cars become bigger. Apparently, the tyre shop informed me that this happens a lot as the car is heavy and the local rim manufacturer did not produce rims that could carry the heavy load the car.

There is also a noise when steering. I shall appreciate if other owners can introduce me to a good Naza Kia mechanic as I do not opine that Naza workshops are good.

Take care and do check the rims.

My NAZA Ria 07 got problem after service (20,000km) at NAZA Service Centre at PJ. The service offered there are so poor as they took 4hrs to get it done, with out having the car washed too (7th to check in). Now after using it for 22,500km my MPV sometimes goes Ding Dong when turning. Any idea what's wrong with my MPV?

I am looking for Naza ria second hand MPV. Could any one help me to give good advice. email me at parasuraman@hotmail.com.

Hi.

I bought my Naza Ria in February 2004,Korean imported I guess. I have changed once the T-joint last year which caused overheating. The original T-joint was made from plastic. Other than that I have no problem. But I'll make sure that the service maintenance is done according to schedule. If at 40,000km you are required to replace timing belts, please do so. Outside workshop charged me RM750 for which Naza service centre as for RM2k for the same. Anyway my mechanic is an ex-kia specialist.

So far, I am happy with my Naza Ria and clocking 93,000km. To me, it depends on you to mend the car.