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Hi everyone,

There's a car dealership here in town that is offering a ridiculous price on new 08 Kias. I've never driven one, nor know anyone that has any experience with them. Does anyone own/owned one of these vehicles? How was it in terms of reliability?

I'm specifically looking at either a Sportage or a Rio5. The payments will be less than the car I'm driving now (PT Loser as my friends call it), and I'm tired of the bad gas mileage in this car. Thanks for all your help!

I don't know much about the Rio but anyone I know that has a Sportage loves it. If you're one that runs your vehicles until they're dead, you can count on some pricey parts down the road (Todd, I'm sure, will confirm this). With a deeply discounted price, they are certainly worth serious consideration. That being said, make sure your expectations are in line with what you're looking at. A Sportage will never look/drive/feel like a Navigator or an Escalade (or an Explorer for that matter).

ASTuba wrote:Hi everyone,

There's a car dealership here in town that is offering a ridiculous price on new 08 Kias. I've never driven one, nor know anyone that has any experience with them. Does anyone own/owned one of these vehicles? How was it in terms of reliability?

I'm specifically looking at either a Sportage or a Rio5. The payments will be less than the car I'm driving now (PT Loser as my friends call it), and I'm tired of the bad gas mileage in this car. Thanks for all your help!

I would buy one. I used to own a Ford Festiva (which was made by Kia) and it was a great little car. From what I've heard, they've only gotten better.

If good gas mileage is what you are looking for, then go for the Rio5. This car is basically a re-badged Hyundai Accent. My wife currently owns a 2006.5 Kia Optima. Kias are a lot of car for the money. Since Hyundai entered the picture, Kias are no where near as crappy as they used to be. At my job, there were 3 of us that have owned a total of 6 Hyundai / Kia cars between the years 2000-2008. No major problems with any of them that weren't caused by dumb teen-aged boys. One was traded in at 150k miles, I traded mine in at 105k miles. My wife is the only one that traded in one at less than 100k . At 88k miles she traded it in for the Optima. None of us regrets any of the purchases. Oh, did I mention the 100k drivetrain / 60k "other stuff" warranty and the 60k mile roadside assistance? I used the roadside only once. They picked up the car and paid for the rental while I was on vacation in South Carolina. Very cool.

BTW....TubaTinker.....How's the Rondo? I'm thinking about getting one.

Kias were absolutely horrid when they first came out, but have been pretty good vehicles for the last few years. As Steve pointed out and I will now confirm, parts (beyond regular maintenance stuff like filters and brakes) are more expensive and, even worse, very difficult to find. Many parts are dealership only when you get into things like a rack and pinion or suspension parts.

So, like any other vehicle, it's a crap shoot. The lower price is great right now, but if you get a bad one it will bite you in the *** later down the road with repair costs. That said, a quick perusal of user reviews of both the Rio5 and Sportage were mostly positive. Good luck with your decision!

Don't know about the Rio or Sportage but I bought a 2007 Rondo in November of 2006 and it's been a very good vehicle. I have about 35,000 miles gone on the 100,000 mile warranty and it hasn't cause any trouble. Being a larger 'cross-over', it hauls multiple tubas nicely!

The mileage

ASTuba wrote: I'm specifically looking at either a Sportage or a Rio5. The payments will be less than the car I'm driving now (PT Loser as my friends call it), and I'm tired of the bad gas mileage in this car. Thanks for all your help!

Andy,

According to their respective manufacturers, the Kia Sportage and Chrysler PT Cruiser get very similar gas mileage. The Sportage is likely even a bit worse.


--Christian

cjk wrote:The mileage

ASTuba wrote: I'm specifically looking at either a Sportage or a Rio5. The payments will be less than the car I'm driving now (PT Loser as my friends call it), and I'm tired of the bad gas mileage in this car. Thanks for all your help!

Andy,

According to their respective manufacturers, the Kia Sportage and Chrysler PT Cruiser get very similar gas mileage. The Sportage is likely even a bit worse.


--Christian

Christian,

Good point. The fact is though that the Sportage has much more room than the PT Cruiser, and I'll take more room and an even trade in gas mileage. The Rio though is looking more attractive though. I'll let everyone know what I decide this weekend!

Since you're in that kind of car area, what about a Spectra 5? It's about in the middle of those two.
I know the Rio doesn't have cruise control...if that matters.
There are a lot of other cars in that range too...
My family was looking at a new car not long ago...
Looked at all kinds:
Kia Rio 5
Kia Spectra 5
Hatchback Scions
Honda Fit
Toyota Matrix
Hyundai Santa Fe
Hyundai Tucson
Nissan Rogue
Nissan Versa
Mitsubishi Outlander...
Altogether, we got the Outlander. I think that with the rebates (since it was a NEW 2008), it was around $18,000. Plus, Mitsubishi has the best warranty out of all of them.
5yr/60,000 Bumper-to-Bumper
10yr/100,000 Powertrain
5yr unlimited miles Roadside Assistance
Plus, the older Mitsubishi I drive is 10 years old with 122,000 miles, and runs well still.
But notice how we stayed away from the American cars...All of our American cars haven't lasted as long as the foreign cars that we've had. But that's just us.
Sorry for possibly hijacking the thread...
Tubaguy"who thinks there are other options to look into"9

Shouldn't you guys be buying domestic made cars these days and help the next door guy keep his job?
And for gas mileage; the gas station guy needs his income too.

tuba-tobias wrote:Shouldn't you guys be buying domestic made cars these days and help the next door guy keep his job?
And for gas mileage; the gas station guy needs his income too.

The guy next door to me sells Kias

Tubaryan12 wrote:

tuba-tobias wrote:Shouldn't you guys be buying domestic made cars these days and help the next door guy keep his job?
And for gas mileage; the gas station guy needs his income too.

The guy next door to me sells Kias

I dig that! Typical me, meeting the one guy with a Kia-seller next door.
At least we managed to avoid this topic turning political.

tuba-tobias wrote:Shouldn't you guys be buying domestic made cars these days and help the next door guy keep his job?
And for gas mileage; the gas station guy needs his income too.

There are domestic parts in foreign cars and foreign parts in domestic cars. Just about every foreign manufacturer has factories here in the US. Manufacturing profits do well to approach10%.... far less that the profits that can be made in the sales and service arenas. Granted... Kia is a Korean automobile with few ties to American industry. But... It must be recognized that there are far more jobs associated with the sales and service networks here in the US than in the production of that brand.

Besides.... I remember the days back in the 70's when a American auto was ready for an overhaul at 40,000 miles! If it wasn't for the foreign competition it would be 'business as usual' in Detroit!

Dan 'who remembers the soft GM camshafts of the 70's quite well' Schultz

tuba-tobias wrote:Shouldn't you guys be buying domestic made cars these days and help the next door guy keep his job?
And for gas mileage; the gas station guy needs his income too.

It's called competition in all industries...Would you buy, lets say a tuba that is guaranteed to last 5 years from your neighbor (that you don't really know), or a tuba that's guaranteed to last 10 years from the guy that lives a mile away, when both are at your house? I'd buy the one with the 10 year guarantee.

And we have to buy gas...better gas mileage just means that it will take longer to pay the same amount to the guy.

Car companies shouldn't be making tubas

...oh wait...Yamaha

Kia's may be OK mechanically, but I deal with body shops in my job and around here they'e called:

Killed In Action

chipster55 wrote:Kia's may be OK mechanically, but I deal with body shops in my job and around here they'e called:

Killed In Action

Now... THAT's original. Sort of like:

GMC - gimme more chuckholes
FORD - fix or repair daily
FORD - found on road dead

I'm sure there are others.

TubaTinker wrote:
Now... THAT's original. Sort of like:

GMC - gimme more chuckholes
FORD - fix or repair daily
FORD - found on road dead

I'm sure there are others.

Like: FORD-friggin' old re-built dodge

chipster55 wrote:

TubaTinker wrote:
Now... THAT's original. Sort of like:

GMC - gimme more chuckholes
FORD - fix or repair daily
FORD - found on road dead

I'm sure there are others.

Like: FORD-friggin' old re-built dodge

A percussionist friend of mine in grad school is of Norwegian descent and has a Pontiac that he absolutely LOVES (to each his own, I suppose), hence his acronym:

PONTIAC: Poor Old Norwegian Thinks It's A Cadillac

JCalkin wrote:
PONTIAC: Poor Old Norwegian Thinks It's A Cadillac

THAT's a good one!