Has anyone else noticed that the Kia Rio has started to make some noise in the automotive market? I’ve been working with Kia lately and everyone has been talking about the JD Power award they recently won. It came a shock to me cuz I like Kia cars but its not something from them that I expected. However, it is cool to see a car company working hard on improving their cars and their image for real. Anyone know what I’m talking about and agree with me?

Totally im glad to see they have picked up there act aswell but it will take a while before they are trusted as much as Hyundai my pop would never buy one his neighbours rios gear box fell out going round a round about and this is an elderly woman that never got the rev over 5 so that steered him away from kia.

i'm liking the kiaRio5 ... is built off the hyundia platform.. hopefully that means it will last longer than 3 months?

KIA makes reliable cars.
They are very popular in Europe as well as in certain Asian and African countries.

Have you looked at Kia Ceed?

I'm not sure how that elderly woman took care of her car.

Kia is just new to us market.

my sister has a 2000 sportage and she loves it! its built like the chevy tracker (i think) so it can tip pretty easily...other than that, not one problem!

My step son just bought a 2002 Kia Spectra based on my recommendation and my check out of the car. the 1.8 liter engine is a Beta derivative from the Elantra 2.0 liter. Similar ease to work on. While the interior finish is not as good as an Elantra, the car is good basic transportation at a good price.

Hmmm...reminds me of when I bought a Honda Accord in 1978. My first new car. No one hardly knew of Honda back then. That car had the CVCC engine in it. I developed a cracked exhaust manifold, but no other problems in 120,000 miles when I sold it. That is the stage of maturity that Kia has in the US marketplace.

If you want a Hyundai engine and transmission for less than Hyundai prices, the Kia brand is not bad.

I wouldn't recommend Daewoo yet.

Byron

My brother brought the Kia optima , I think it's the sonata twin from hyundai which I have but his is a 2004 and my sonata is a 2007 and he say it's solid and he drives it everrywhere. Anyways that why I brought the Sonata because he swore by hyundai /kia makes. I took a chance 2 months ago and I have been enjoying it. I got a 2000 dollar rebate too and the car is great on gas. It does cost about 45 dollars to fill up but I drove it to my family in wva from dc and It got 420 miles to the tank, I am impressed. I drive like a bat out of **** too!

Daewoo's suck. I bought one as my first car in 05. I never knew they had timing belt problems. 6 months/1,000 miles later the belt snapped on me. I had 82,000 miles. Otherwise it wasn't a bad car.

Kia is coming a long way though. From what I can tell at work, Sedona's sell alot better than Entourage's. We still have the very first Entourage we got in a year ago.

I didn't care for Kia back in the day before Hyundai controlled them, but now I'd give the cars a chance. The Hyundai-derived models are pretty good. I'm really a fan of the Rondo, it's hard to beat the combination of room, interior flexibility, ability to haul 7 people and still get good mileage. For all intents and purposes, it's just a 7-seater Sonata wagon. I'd love to have one someday, but I would probably prefer it being a Hyundai. The Rio was on my list before I bought the Accent - same cars, save for some exterior sheet metal and some bits inside.

But the dealers around here are horrible to say the least so that will keep me from ever trying the brand out. High pressure, deception, and tacking a few grand on top of MSRP for garbage add-on's (and in no way do they let you get out of paying for 'em) is their thing. Like this cheesy $1200 security system they charge you for that they have installed, even on cars that already had one from the factory. Yup, I really need redundant security systems my Kia! I ended up with the Accent since the Hyundai dealer made it feel like I was buying a Lexus, at the Kia shop it was more like I was at a buy-here-pay-here lot.

On the Rios on their lot now, we have a bit of a discrepency. On the windshield in huge letters, it advertises "44 MPG" meanwhile the EPA sticker shows 38. And on TV, you hear "and the Rio gets 44 MPG,WOW!!!" Sure. I've got the same exact car, and the most I've ever been able to milk it for to date was 40 MPG. Maybe the 44 MPG comes from the help of an additional $5,000 dealer add-on! :P Or maybe if I want to see that kind of mileage from my mechanically identical Accent, I just need to replace my Hyundai and Accent emblems with Kia and Rio. :grin:

Maybe Hyundai can smack the Kia dealers around, kinda like Hyundai recently told a bunch of their US dealers to shape up or ship out. Then, I can get the Rondo. :grin:

This post has been edited by hoosieraccent: Jun 26 2007, 06:15 PM

I feel that I would take a KIA rather than any non-luxury anerican automaker

I just recently got rid of my 99 Sephia LS. That car was a work horse--got rid of it at 135,000 miles.....it probably would have went another 100,000 easy.

This and that started to go, and the cost of repairs started being more than what a payment on a new car would be. So I let it go for $1,000.

The only major problem I had with it during my 8 years of ownership was the alternator went, taking the battery with it. Other than that, it was just the normal repairs and maintenance.

If it were 1999 again, I would definitley purchase the vehicle again.

This time around I went for the Accent SE. Saw it and fell in love with it. If it gives me teh same service that the Sephia did I'll be overjoyed.

At first, I was a die hard Hyundai fan, but now I am beginning to like Kia more.
I started to write a kia blog. You can check it here:
www.kia-world.net

Kia has some fine cars. The problem I've observed and experienced is a lousy dealer network.

KIA is good but it still has the *cheap* reputation. Hyundai has now overcome this and now KIA is growing fast too!

daewoo are the worst cars on the road as well as the smart cars the daewoo have the most basic car ever :)

well I can tell you that I love KIA. I own 2 and have owned 3 in my life. Right now I have a 2000 KIA Sephia and a 2007 KIA Rio. Love them both. Easy to work on and parts are cheap. KIA is gaining attention and is starting to get to where Hyundai was a few years ago.

KIA=Kill In Action
erm...no thx lol

wow. now that was original......

Kia's design really looks good! But the problem comes to long lasting performance...

______________
Stick shift stillen body kit

I think it's more of overall performance if anything. I know a guy that has over 350,000 miles on the first engine, and I still have my 2000 Sephia and it's a champ.

The problem is KIA has a horrible reputation in the United States. In 2000, and a little into 2001 there were a lot of problematic cars. Everything from the Doors staying open to timing belts and engines falling apart in the first 40,000 miles.

KIA has come along way, now they are not nearly where Hyundai is but they have come along way. If KIA would offer half the performance mod's that Hyundai does then they may gain a little more momentum but for some reason they haven't so for now the people that mod KIA's are forced to use Hyundai parts or build them ourselves.