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Wagons Kia Rio Kia Rio Test Drive - What Did You Think?
25 messages, Last post on Sep 28, 2006 at 6:47 PM
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I had a brief encounter last night with an '06 Rio sedan at my KIA dealer. I've had some interest in looking at a Rio5 for the wife as a daily kid hauler and grocery getter, since I've had very positive experiences (so far) with my 2004.5 Spectra EX and the dealership itself. I've been watching the dealer's lot for the past few weeks to see if any Rios (sedan or hatch) came in. Well I finally spotted *one* (a basic sedan) on the lot last night, so I pulled in. First impressions: (note... I didn't even get to sit in it) 1. Exterior build quality looks good, but then the previous Rio never looked bad on the lot either. It is an attractive little car though to be sure. 2. The interior looks nice, and has a fairly modern motif to it. However I can see BIG thrift measures taken in its design (compared to my Spectra), even when looking through the glass. Such as: - Only the driver's seat has a middle armrest attached to it. ????? Plenty of room appears to exist for the passenger seat to have one too, but it doesn't. And the one on the driver's seat is *single person* use only. There' no middle console/bin/armrest combo like the Spectra available either. - The back seats fold, but the releases appear to be on the top of the seats on the inside of the car, not in the trunk like the Spectra. - Big one here...... rear leg room! The rear legroom in the Rio appears to be very tight. I couldn't get in the car to verify if the seats were all the way back (they probably were), but even so my Spectra has plenty of room for people's legs when the seats are all the way back. I can't necessarily say that's true about the Rio. 3. Brakes are front disc and rear drum. I couldn't try them out, but I do take note that Spectras come with 4-wheel disc - standard. 4. Tires and wheels. Kumhos with the usual generic steel wheels and hubcaps. Not unexpected UNTIL you read the next section. My Spectra came with Goodyear Eagle LS's btw (made in Japan which I found interesting  ) 5. Price. This car had an automatic trans baked into whatever model level it was, but that appeared to be the only major $$$ option I could see. This car had crank windows, MANUAL mirrors, and no power locks. MSRP sticker? $13,950 (or something like that give or take a few $$$)!!!!! It's obvious that there's going to have to be some MAJOR discounting going on to move these, OR the actual selling price of Spectras are going to have to take a MAJOR jump, because from what I can see so far, the Spectra appears to be a more substantial vehicle. I paid $13,373 (before tax/dest) just a year ago for my fully loaded Spectra, and my local dealer has been advertising 2005 Spectra LXs for under $9,000 lately. Granted, the real price is probably closer to $11,000 when the tax/dest and model bait-n-switcheroo occurs, but it would still be a better deal than $11,000 (if you'll even be able to get a deal like that) on an '06 Rio. Final Analysis: I still plan on test driving a new Rio5 when they come in. There's several upgrades that come standard with that model. The rear leg room is a potential deal killer, but since this would be the Mom-mobile, the front seats will be likely up on their tracks a few notches anyway, thus freeing up rear legroom. Interior rear storage is an unexplored variable, and availability of Rio5's with the power window/door lock/tweeter packages will play a deciding role. Ultimately the price and availability of discounts and deals will trump everything else. If they try to sell these in the $12,000-$13,000 range, I'll either see what I can get a Spectra5 for, OR I'll pony up a few grand more and start checking out Scion XBs where I know the interior space is better. That's it for now! -SM
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Replying to: spectraman (Sep 07, 2005 5:35 am) * Scion xA with standard power package, A/C, and ABS starts at $13k. * Elantra GLS with standard power package and A/C starts at $13.8k; automatic for about $14.6k (under $13k with rebate and even a minimal discount). * Cobalt and Focus with automatic available around $13k * Spectra EX with standard A/C and power package available under $13k with rebates * '06 Civic DX with power package and standard ABS and side bags/curtains starts at around $14.5k (est.) Rio base sedan with automatic for about $14k???? They have got to be kidding!
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Replying to: backy (Sep 07, 2005 6:05 am)
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Replying to: bamacar (Sep 07, 2005 7:28 am)
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Replying to: backy (Sep 07, 2005 7:40 am) The only question is why Kia does not allow the base model to have the auto in 2006. I do agree the MSRP is not important as the rebates will quickly follow after release.
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Replying to: bamacar (Sep 07, 2005 9:47 am)
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Replying to: backy (Sep 07, 2005 12:18 pm) "...Looks like Kia is expecting the new Rio to compete with the Big Boys on its own merits, list price notwithstanding." With the previous model Rio's reputation as a "Worst Car" (see: Forbes survey graph here), I think that it will take a few years of sales of the new model coupled with impeccable reliability before the name "Rio" will be truly competing with the "big boys", esp. in the arena of price. Much like it is taking awhile for the name "Spectra" to shed its sub-par reputation. It's doable (and is being done by the Spectra), but I think the name "Rio" carrys an even bigger stigma with the general buying public. BUT..... with a substantially upgraded model coupled with sales of the next few model years at a cheap rate to adventuresome souls like us on here , KIA just might be in the "ball game" as they say. -SM
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Replying to: spectraman (Sep 07, 2005 12:47 pm)
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Replying to: backy (Sep 07, 2005 1:45 pm) Shawn
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