I am very busy at the moment but trying to catch up on here as well, so please bear with me - lyn x ...
I am very busy at the moment but trying to catch up on here as well, so please bear with me - lyn x
Member since:08.07.2005
Reviews:102
Members who trust:312
My husband and I have two Kia's, technically mine is the Kia Carens and his is the Kia Rio (well on paper anyway), but it is me that drives the Kia Rio 1.3 - mine is in metallic blue.
We initially brought it as ex demo mobile when it was 5mths old with only 2000miles on the clock, me being the hard business woman (from watching all these car programmes on tv with my hubby), negotiated the price down from just over £6399, down to £5,300 and they fitted my cd player in it as well for nothing, plus taxed it for 6mths.
(you can hire me out if you like, only joking)
Anyway back to the car. I think she is beautiful, she has wonderful lines, I like to think of her as a
girlie car as she is MINE.
Well less of the girlie version, here's a little technical stuff.
I have the 1.3 version, 5 door model, 03 reg, metalic blue, no sunroof, and no air con. it has rear door child safety locks (great if you have young child, or if you want to stop the husband escaping), the lights have various settings and are extremely bright - if you get in one of the cars, please check them out they are amazing when there is no street lighting, the normal lights are that good, you could get away without the full beam, when you do use the full beam it lights up the street, seriously they are excellent, I've had a few cars in my life and this has got to be the best lighting system I have seen. It comes with two coded keys, one having the buttons to do the automatic locking and opening. has an built in immobiliser system, hence the coded keys. Automatic windows, front and rear, these can be locked from the drivers door to stop the little ones playing with them. Also power steering and abs.
I have taken my granddaughter out in it, in her car seat, no problems with fitting it in and the safety aspect of it. The car is fitted with Air Bags in the front.
If you purchase this within the first 3 years of its life, it comes with the normal 3 yr warranty, also kia assist - which is a free breakdown service that takes you to the nearest kia garage and they repair it for you and get you back on the road. So that saves you money on you breakdown recovery membership, you won't need one. Please make sure that you have your Kia service book in your car, if you have to use the Kia Assist they will need to see that the vehicle has been regually serviced.
As the car is low down, you feel like you are driving a sporty car, it handles the corners well, I have taken it on the m5 a little fast over the sharp bends on the flyover and it handled really well, My husband who is an advanced driver has also put it through its paces and is really impressed.
It is smooth in it performance, good on fuel (approx 40-42 mpg), good on the wallet when it comes to buying it, taxing and insuring it.
Another good point, I had cause to take it in during the warranty period and it was dealt with straight away and the job done in a day, also there was an offer of a courtsey car if needed. The fault you may ask, well the paint had bubbled on the door handle and come off - they fixed it and you cannot tell now.
I am a very large woman size 22 - I fit in the drivers seat, passenger seat and rear seats in comfort, ah but I am only 5ft 5" tall.
My husband is 6ft 3" and he is comfortable driving it. There is plenty of height room for taller people. I also find you are not banging your head in the rear like you do in some hatchbacks, also you dont get the marks on the roof where peoples heads have been rubbing it because not enough head room.
Now for the short list of bad points.
My husband and our children range from 5ft 10" - 6ft 7" and they all find the leg room in the rear of the car a little cramped - its not to bad if they sit behind me as I have little legs and have to move the drivers seat forward - if any of the taller ones drive there is no leg room, so watch out for that. My shorter friends have been very comfortable in the back.
One little bad point, if after the 3 years you want to extend your guarentee to cover problems that may arise, we were quoted on our Carens with has just reached 3 yrs and it was £482 per year for that, so I expect it will be around the same for the rio. I may be wrong, but I thought that was a bit steep.
I have noticed there are a lot more Kia outlets popping up around the country, we have seen another 4-5 open up around the larger towns in our area, so there are no problems with finding a dealer and getting your services.
I would seriously consider buying an ex demo as you save quite a lot of money compared to buying new, the disadvantage is though,you dont get a choice of accessories or colours etc as you do with a brand new model - so its down to you and your budget - happy hunting.
Love this car would recommend any of the kia, we are very happy with both of ours.
thanks for taking the time to read my review.
happy shopping, Lyn.
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Jul 12th, 2005
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