Kia-Forums.com is owned and operated by AutoForums.com, Inc. Kia-Forums.com is an ehthusiast website dedicated to the discussion of Kia Vehicles, Kia Family Cars and Kia SUVs. Kia-Forums.com is completely unofficial and is not endorsed in any way by KIA Motor Corp, its affiliates, or its subsidiaries. KIAź is a registered trademark of KIA Motors Corp. in Canada, the United States, and in other countries around the world. No challenge to the status of KIAź's registered trademarks is intended.
My only complaints so far would be the a lack of a fifth and sixth gear on the auto transmission (had to get the auto so the wife could drive it). The 4-spd seems to go gear hunting every now and then in city driving. Also would have liked to have 15 inch wheels as standard (they do now, but didn't in '06 when I bought it). But hey, at least 14" tires make replacing them cheaper for me! Also, they didn't offer a moonroof as an option in '06 and go figure, now they do.
I wish I was getting better fuel economy, but then again I do most of my driving in rush hour with lots of traffic and I'm not exactly slow when I'm out on the open road so that probably explains it. Still, way better fuel economy than my previous car, a 2001 Altima.
Overall, I love my little Rio5. I plan on taking good care of it and keeping it as a 2nd car when it comes time to get a new one. Maybe even pass it down to my son when he get old enough... another 7 years. Think he'll want a 10 yr. old Rio? It'll have well over 300,000 km on it by then.
My only complaint is the ground clearance is too low. I wish it were about 2 inches higher because I like to climb mountains. I don't wanna go offroading in it, but when I go to my mountain, I park off the shoulder in the grass and finding a spot to enter the grass where my front end doesn't scrape the rocks is pretty difficult. Also, little dips in stripmall entrances and housing areas usually have me scraping the bottom of my car. And that's with NO passengers or NO cargo weighing the car down. I'm not asking much. I just wish it were as high off the ground as the Optima is.
only complaint i have is no ESC. Kia can give me 8 air bags on my base model but no ESC? I think ABS should be standard as well. But for 9500 i dont complain to much. I plan to change it all anyway.
__________________
*Megan 4-1 header
*Custom Designed CAI
*NRG torque dampner
*P&P Head
*colt cams (coming soon)
*Full high flow 2.5 exhaust
*Megan racing CF muffler
*CF Seibon Hood (trunk coming soon)
*Custom Body and interior work through out
Wow. I thought the center console held a ton of stuff. Plus, besides the glove box, there are plenty of places to store crap.
There's plenty of room, but I would've liked a center console that you could close.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BAM588
The comparative vehicles like the Aveo, Fit, Versa, and others are just ugly, cost more, and still don't come with most of the stuff that you want.
I completely agree with that! The Rio5 is much better-looking than any of its competitors, in my highly-biased opinion. Of its competitors I kinda like the Versa, but it's still too "bubbly" looking, if that makes sense. I think that all of the other cars have a Japanese look to them, while the Rio5 looks more European.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Silver08Rio
I dont really understand why you would need a compass and an outside temp readout.
The temp gauge isn't necessary, but I tend to get lost more than I'd like to admit, so a compass would've been VERY helpful for me.
Overall, I'm completely happy with my purchase and would recommend a Kia to anyone who asked me. I bought a used Sportage a few years ago and I unfortunately had to have several thousand dollars worth of repairs done on it in the five years that I owned it, but every penny of those repairs were covered under warranty (and as a 2nd owner, my warranty period was shortened). After getting such great service on my Sportage, it was a no-brainer to stick with Kia when I needed another car.
The comparative vehicles like the Aveo, Fit, Versa, and others are just ugly, cost more, and still don't come with most of the stuff that you want.
I actually like how the 2008+ Aveo sedan looks. Even the Yaris sedan looks sweet! If I didn't have a maxed out orange Rio sedan w/spoiler, I'd have a maxed out orange 2008+ Aveo sedan w/ spoiler. There are alot of car 'enthusiast' web sites out there who love to trash the Rio and Aveo because they're not car 'enthusiast' vehicles like the Corvette or the Lambourghini, but we 'economy' car fans know our cars get us reliably from point a to point b in style with $80,000+ dollars left to spare! The Yugo is dead, long live its successors!
As they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like the tooks of my RIO, but also think the AVEO looks preety cool too. Course my 72 Vette I always thought pretty good also. Guess I'm easy to please.
Drives: Kia Rio '08, Austin Mini '69, Kawasaki KLR650 '07, Honda Fit '09
Gallery:
0
Window winder knob came off in my hand - snapped right back in. Plastic fuel door is a cheesy touch. So they're my only complaints since getting the car in April. 3300 miles so far.
I actually like how the 2008+ Aveo sedan looks. Even the Yaris sedan looks sweet! If I didn't have a maxed out orange Rio sedan w/spoiler, I'd have a maxed out orange 2008+ Aveo sedan w/ spoiler. There are alot of car 'enthusiast' web sites out there who love to trash the Rio and Aveo because they're not car 'enthusiast' vehicles like the Corvette or the Lambourghini, but we 'economy' car fans know our cars get us reliably from point a to point b in style with $80,000+ dollars left to spare! The Yugo is dead, long live its successors!
TopekaMan has a Rio5 so I was comparing his car to the other economy hatchbacks such as the ugly Aveo5. Yes the Aveo sedan is not that bad, but the Aveo5 is bubbly and ugly. I never thought about it, but I agree with him in that the Kia looks more Euro and the others look Asian.
The comparative vehicles like the Aveo, Fit, Versa, and others are just ugly, cost more, and still don't come with most of the stuff that you want.
Just checked out the 2009 Honda Fit this weekend at a local auto show. Wow, they've made some really nice changes to that car. The styling is similar to the old one but much, much nicer. It's not as cute and bug-like, but now more angular and aggressively styled. The interior materials and ergonomics are very impressive for an entry-level car and the versatility of the interior is astounding. I haven't driven it, but I'd say that I'd be leaning toward that car if I had to replace my Rio5 anytime soon.
Don't get me wrong, I love my Rio but Kia/Hyundai are going to have to step it up a notch or two with the next generation Rio/Accent if they want to remain competitive.
.
Linear Mode
