In-depth reviews

Kia Rio owner reviews

Name: Kia Rio hatchback
Brand: Kia

"The Kia Rio is a competent supermini, but because it doesn't excel in any one area, it's difficult to recommend over the competition"

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by Andy Goodwin

28 Oct 2021

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Carbuyer Rating

3.9 out of 5

Owners Rating

3.6 out of 5

Buy used for less at Buyacar

71%of people would recommend this car to a friend.

Owner Rating

2reviews
3reviews
2reviews

Common Problems

Other (1 cases)
Engine, Gearbox / clutch (1 cases)
Engine (1 cases)

I would recommend this car to a friend

Version

1.1 turbo diesel trim no 2

Year of registration

2014

Average annual mileage

5,000 – 9,999

Owned

2 - 3 years

Bought Car

Used

Typical MPG

Review

I loved the car for the most part. The positives are a strong and torquey engine, great 6-speed manual gearbox, interior design that is current and has 2x 12v power sockets in the front plus USB. Negatives the rear window is small and has huge rear pillars. Quite a lot of tyre noise but worst of all was the dpf which needed replacing and remapping done in the first 5 months also the paint in black the scratches were ridiculous even with regular cleaning and protection it wasn't great.

I would recommend this car to a friend

Version

1.0L Turbo Petrol (118 bhp)

Year of registration

2017

Average annual mileage

0 – 4,999

Owned

Less than a year

Bought Car

Used

Typical MPG

Review

Powerful engine coupled with luxury level of equipment and reasonable handling. This car is GREAT value for money (top of the range) and most competitors cost £5-10,000 more. I expect it to be super reliable like the previous Rio that I owned and with the same high quality build & safety features. It's got just about every EXTRA as standard, is roomy and comfortable and comes with KIA's 7 Year Warranty. So, unless you're a 'Boy Racer' this could be just the car for you.

I would recommend this car to a friend

Version

1.4 CRDI 3, number of doors 5

Year of registration

2014

Average annual mileage

More than 20,000

Owned

3 - 5 years

Bought Car

Used

Typical MPG

Review

I purchased the car brand new. The good points for me are; good styling, very good fuel economy - between 70-80mph at 60mph and between 65-69mpg at 65mph. Inside there's lots of space and I'm a big fellow and I have no problem being inside the vehicle. I cover lots of miles, currently my Rio is on 95,000 miles and no reliability issues so far. I have kept it serviced when required, a total of 9 times, which has no doubt helped keep any reliability issues at bay. I have not even needed to replace the brake discs and pads but this is down to all my motorway miles. I have purchased replacement front discs and pads from Halfords under £100 but won't fit them until they're near the legal limit. As for the negatives, I agree with Rio drivers that my original tyres wore very quickly. I have changed my front tyres at 20,000 miles and the rears at 28,000 miles. I replaced them with Dunlop Maxx and I did with all of them 70 000 miles and I am still with them. They are just under 2 millimeters and will be replaced soon. Refinement could be improved. I would say it even has a noisy cabin as if it's not well sound isolated. The road feedback is terrible even I have expensive tyres which have a quiet 66db. The paintwork is so easy to damage too. Overall I love the vehicle. I spent some money to isolate the car and I can tell the difference. Even with the downsides, as I am doing a lot of miles I am looking to get the same vehicle with less miles on the clock as it's been so reliable.

Version

1.2

Year of registration

2017

Average annual mileage

5,000 – 9,999

Owned

2 - 3 years

Bought Car

Used

Review

This is the worst car I've ever bought. I've had clutch problems, gearbox problems, noises all over, bad build quality, the 1.2 engine burns gas like a 2.0 and it's sluggish.

I would recommend this car to a friend

Version

1 ltr GT Line S

Year of registration

2019

Average annual mileage

5,000 – 9,999

Owned

Less than a year

Bought Car

Used

Typical MPG

Review

This Rio GT Line S is a surprising good car, very comfortable, handles well, impressive performance even on the motorway , looks good inside and out.

Reliability

5 out of 5

to early to give a true view.

Performance

5 out of 5

Spot on, so long as you don,t think its a hot hatch

Running Cost

5 out of 5

seem ok if driven with in limits

Version

1.4 CRDI '3' trim

Year of registration

2017

Average annual mileage

10,000 – 14,999

Owned

1 - 2 years

Bought Car

Used

Typical MPG

Review

For the first 6 months my Rio was fine and then obvious build quality issues began to appear. There is a massive condensation issue, the car is always steaming up with the slightest rain drop outside and the windscreen freezes up on the inside in the winter. Kia have apparently checked all the door seals and vents etc and not found a cause so the problem still persists. Then there's the A/C system which drained all its gas after only 1 year and had to be re gassed under warranty. This took 3 visits to the dealership before it was finally fixed. Thirdly, I do lots of motorway miles but yet the DPF became clogged and replaced under warranty at only 20,000 miles. Kia diagnosed it as a faulty component and replaced it at a cost of over £2,000 to them. Yet the fault persists and the DPF is still regenerating every day for no reason and drinking fuel like it's going out of fashion. No one seems to know why the car is regenerating every day as the DPF is not clogged nor does it need to regenerate. Even a senior technician admitted part of the issue was software and they were waiting for Kia to get their act together. I don't think there's a month in the past year where it hasn't been at the dealer getting faults diagnosed or repaired

Reliability

1 out of 5

Reliable in the sense that it hasn't broken down but very very unreliable in terms of build quality. Condensation and icing on the inside of the windscreen that the dealer can't find the cause of. Faulty air con that drained it's gas within the first year. Faulty DPF which had to be replaced under warranty at a cost of over £2,000 to them. Part replaced and the problem came back only 34 miles later

Performance

1.4 diesel is actually quite nippy but dies off very quickly after 3,000rpm so going beyond that is pointless. Goes well if you keep it between 1500-3000rpm which is quite easy to do thanks to a 6 speed box.

Running Cost

3 out of 5

Good on fuel when the DPF is not regenerating. Sadly as it does that every day due to a software issue that can't seem to be resolved it's actually no better on fuel than the petrol models

I would recommend this car to a friend

Version

2 Crdi

Year of registration

2017

Average annual mileage

15,000 – 19,999

Owned

Less than a year

Bought Car

New

Typical MPG

Review

Absolutely fantastic car. Inexpensive to buy, cheap to insure (Insurance Group 2), very economical to run. Very fuel efficient - I have driven nearly 500 miles before I needed to refuel. Interior design very good. Full spec safety features (lane departure warning etc). Only downside - it's not the most stylish car in the world. However, it's spec is fantastic and I would definitely recommend it to family and friends, particularly if you commute a lot!