Should I buy a Rio? How do the dealers treat you?

I purchased my Rio 10/03 and really like it. I traded in a Ford Escort. The dealer I bought it from sucks, but I live in the Phoenix, AZ area, so there are lots of dealers in the area. The dealer I take my Rio to treats me really great.

I have already put on 20,000 miles in the first year. I have had a few cosmetic warranty fixups, but other than that, no problems with the car.

My Rio has a 5spd, single disk CD player, AM/FM radio, tilt wheel. It gets about 28-33 mpg combined.

I bought a Kia Rio Cinco 2 years ago and it is a POS....the worst car I've ever owned. Stupid things break (like the metal latch on the hatch, the rear window brake like fell off completely). It also EATS tires. I've replaced the tires twice already and need new ones again. We've also had to recharge the AC every year for some reason.

As if that wasn't enough, it just blew an engine (at 69k miles) and of course, they aren't going to fix it. So I have a car I owe $11k on that needs $4700+ in repairs...and I am stuck because my husband has to have a car to drive to work. They say I was supposed to have the timing chain inspected at 60k miles and since I didn't, they won't honor the warranty. But...since when does a timing chain blow and entire engine?

In short, I would NOT recommend buying a Kia. You'd be better off with a used Honda or possibly a new Hyundai

Chris Peabody in CA

Kia and Hyundai are the same car, different body styles

Il 2 Nov 2004 06:02:02 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (ChrisPeabody) ha scritto:

I would NOT reccommend buying a used car from such an incompetent driver. Drivers like this one could destroy the reputation of ANY car manufacturer. Franz

Energia Nucleare ??? No, Grappa !!!

I've bought a RIO RS last December and I'm quite happy with it, because I knew what I was buying before I signed the paperwork.

A KIA RIO is the cheapest car in it's class, and there are reasons for that. If you are rough with your car or you expect this car to perform like a race car or like a Mercedes then it's not the car for you.

Also, do your services when they say that they should be done, go to the dealer. If you want to make sure that the dealer honors the warranty there is a price with that and that's that you take your car to service over to them. If they didn't change the belt and you were going to them then I would have a nasty conversation with the owner...

Otherwise, well, let me tell you a little story.

Owning a brand new Mercedes is the same deal, you HAVE to read the fine print. Did you know that if you purchase a brand-new Mercedes and that you change the oil before 10k KM then you VOID your warranty? That's right,

275000$ car, warranty gone, bye bye. How do I know this? I happen to be very good friend with a top-class Mercedes mecanic, he's gave me a few tips when it was time to throw away my BMW and get myself my first *new* car and reading the fine print of the warranty was among his top 5 things that I really needed to do. So getting a 13k$ car or getting a 275k$ car is no different.

Folks, reading the fine print on the warranty paperwork is very important. I've become very good buddy with the service manager at my dealership to make sure that these things never happen. My gas consumption is good, my tires don't wear out very fast (in 10 months, i've done 30k KM) and whenever I stop by not only the service manager knows me by name but always warns me when it's time to take the car in and do a bit of maintenance.

shanetena..........sounds like the Rio did you a favor by self-destructing an you obviousy hated it anyway. The timing BELT not chain is the engine conductor that keeps everything working in harmony. You needed to follow the manufactures recommendation re maintenance.....poor maintenance equals problems that you cannot blame KIA for ..it was your negligence that created the problem and not KIA's....BTW...Honda and Hyundai also require a replacement belt at 60,000 miles.....good luck with your Honda !!!!