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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Kia Rondo Prices Paid and Buying Experience
383 messages, Last post on Oct 08, 2009 at 11:35 AM
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Replying to: smoothsailin (Mar 02, 2009 6:45 pm) 1) A bit better gas mileage 2) No timing belt to replace 3) 4 cylinder had all the power I would ever use I really don't think the break in driving habits will result in any differences in final MPG you get with a 6 cylinder. My 07 4 cylinder has averaged in the low 30's for long trips and 25-26 average for my use which consists of a few short trips to the local store and 15 to 20 mile cruises on back roads at average speed of 40 mph. This is not my commuter car.
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You can read my other posts (seach on my name) and you'll see that I was so pleased with myself with good deal I got on the Rondo. The car seems to be well-designed, but, boy, is that deceiving -- it is crappy. Wind noise, rattles, hesitation, bad smell, leaking oil (dealer replaced tranny!). Just a bucket of stuff you dont need when you have a new car. I have heard that some people only buy one American car in their life because it was a loser...I'm definitely there with Kia (and, just to e safe, Hyundai) If someone wants to give me 12K for it (Portland, OR) at 6K miles, I'll take it. !!!
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Replying to: bobw3 (Mar 04, 2009 5:35 pm)  around $22.5k as I recall. So even after deducting Mazda's current mfg rebate ($1k "owner loyalty) I expect the best deal we might been able to negotiate for that car would probably have been in high $19k-over $20k range. Again, I paid $15,088 for our brand-new '08 Rondo (17 miles on the odometer before our test drive) before taxes and dealer fees. If I could have found a Mazda5 locally in a light color with the 5-speed manual it possibly might have tipped the scales in favor of Mazda. But according to the Mazda salesmen I've spoken to, finding a Mazda5 equipped w/the manual transmission can be difficult since demand for the automatic is higher and the manual is only offered in the Sport (basic) version. In hindsight, had I researched the Rondo more thoroughly and aware of the owner complaints I might have decided against purchasing one...or at chosen not to have purchased one w/the V6. Still, I've read far more favorable comments from Rondo owners than negative ones. Another reason why we ended up with a V-6 version was due to the fact that we were unable to locate an '08 equipped with the I-4 in a light color and otherwise equipped the way we wanted. In any case after being carefully broken in by me, our Rondo will driven by my wife most of the time and she told me that she preferred the Rondo's attributes and driving character over the other vehicles we considered. Note that she had never looked at or test driven a Rondo before the day we ended up purchasing ours. Both of us did like the Honda Fit, but had decided it would probably be too small to serve well as a family vehicle. Also the Honda salesman quickly quashed any hopes of negotiating a good deal for one, saying Honda had never offered any promotions for the car and stating that dealer invoice was within $500 of the car's MSRP. Based on this it seemed the best deal we might be able to manage for a manual-transmission Honda Fit Sport would probably fall in the mid-to-high $16k range, before taxes and dealer fees.. We also considered Scion's xD and xB, but like the Fit ended up ruling out the xD as too small and my wife wasn't crazy about the larger, but more boxy xB's styling. Ultimately we ended up deciding to purchase our Rondo without test driving either Scion...and paid less for our fairly well-equipped Rondo LX V6 than the non-negotiable base prices listed for either of the two Scions. I'll also mention that my wife test drove a Chevy HHR, but quickly dropped it to the bottom of her list of possible choices. In short, she didn't care for the way it drove, both of us felt the build quality was substandard, and felt the interior was somewhat cheap and "plasticky". My wife did like the '09 Hyundai Sonata (test drove an I-4 w/5 speed manual) as well as the similar '09 Optima (test drove an I-4 w/5 speed auto). But we both liked the Rondo's higher driving position (similar to our '98 Sienna minivan) along with greater passenger capacity w/the optional third row and & imo superior versatility for carrying cargo and passengers. I did feel that the seats in the Sonata and Optima were slightly cushier, more comfortable and form-fitting than those in the Rondo. In the end it was the Kia's $4k mfg rebate offer for remaining '08 models along with our dealer's willingness to accept my offer to purchase the car at dealer invoice that ultimately sealed our decision. I'll also say that Kia's superior warranty also played a part, but was not the deciding factor. Had there been a '08 Optima on the lot equipped the way we want it's possible that could have ended up being our choice. Only time will tell if we may end up regretting our decision to buy the Rondo, but so far at least we've been quite pleased the vehicle. For the first tank I'm predicting mpg may fall in the low-to-mid 20's. As of this morning I've driven it a bit over 300 miles and am expecting to manage another 25-40 miles before the gas gauge will drop to "E". When it does, if the tank ends up swallowing ~13.5 gallons after ~335 miles driven, the tank average should calculate to ~ 25 mpg. Since I've been generally been staying out of 5th gear and varying engine rpm a lot while breaking in the engine, I'm not expecting the 1st tank's mpg results to be stellar in any case. |
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Replying to: ramblinmo (Mar 04, 2009 6:28 pm) I also agree w/you that an engine equipped with a timing chain has some advantages over one equipped with a reinforced rubber timing belt. One thing I want to learn is whether or not my Kia's 2.7 L V-6 could be subject to catastrophic engine failure caused by to piston/valve clearance issues should the timing belt fail. Our '98 Toyota Sienna's 3.0 L V-6 is also equipped has a timing belt, but my parent's 2nd generation '04 Sienna's 3.4 L V-6 is equipped with a timing chain. In any case according to what I've read should the timing belt or chain in either Siennas' fail the engine would simply stop running and would not suffer internal damage caused by clearance issues. However, judging from what I've read I have doubts whether the same may be true of my Kia's V-6. As far as I know among Japanese and Korean auto manufacturers, Toyota engines (most of them anyway) are designed to avoid clearance issues between valves and pistons should the timing belts, or chains break. Most, if not all engines manufactured for Nissans, Hondas, Mitsubishis, etc. can suffer serious damage if their timing belts or chains should fail. As far as whether or not the precautions I've been taking during the preliminary engine break-in period will make any difference, you could be right. However taking steps to carefully stick to the manufacturer's recommendations for the break-in period simply seems to make sense (at least to me). In any case I've had excellent results with my other new engines after using similar methods during the initial break-in period for those. |
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Replying to: smoothsailin (Mar 02, 2009 6:45 pm) Other than that, it's a great car ... very pleased with it. Good luck with yours.
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Replying to: newkiaguy1 (Mar 04, 2009 11:50 pm) It's still to early to know whether or not we may suffer similar issues with our Rondo, but based on all the favorable reviews I've read from other owners I'm hoping the odds will be in my favor that this won't turn out to be the case. As with any mass-produced product it's inevitable that some few bad examples may manage to get past all the quality control inspections despite having some problems. In any case I'm hopeful the Rondo I carefully test drove and inspected before purchase proves to be better-built than the one you unfortunately ended up with. So far the only quality-related issues I've noticed have been with a relatively weak seat-belt retractor mechanism for the driver's seat and some difficulty it retrieving and re-positioning the belt latches in the rear seats after they've been folded. Some of this of course may simply be the result of an initial lack of familiarity w/the vehicle and how things are supposed to work. |
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Replying to: tsm280z (Mar 05, 2009 9:16 am) Unfortunately, based on your experience the care I've been taking to follow the break-in recommendations may not necessarily prove to be beneficial. Oh well-I'll just have to wait and see. I've also read your posts concerning window fogging issues and experienced similar issues last weekend while having six passengers in the car while driving back from dinner on a cold (high-30's deg. F) night in steady rain. In my case I found that after selecting one of the first two (ie farthest clockwise) vent positions seemed to take care of the fogging issues-at least for the most part. I believe the car's air conditioner compressor is designed to engage automatically when one of the first few defog/defrost vent positions are selected when outside temperatures are above freezing. Unfortunately, my '05 Mazda3's HVAC system is designed so that the a/c compressor will run automatically whenever one of the defrost OR FLOOR vent positions are selected. Imo having the a/c run when all you want to do is warm your toes seems asinine. It seems Mazda chose to engineer their cars this way because when the floor vent position is selected some air is still directed toward the windshield. Hence, the decision to produce air dried by the a/c for superior defogging characteristics. Personally, I'd prefer to be allowed the option to turn the a/c on or off as needed via the button. My guess is a fear of product liability lawsuits should drivers be involved in accidents who claim their car's wouldn't defog the windows effectively may be behind some of the auto a/c designs. One suggestion I would make for hopefully improving your problem would be to clean the inside glass very carefully, followed by the use of an anti-fog product or wipe. In my experience the plastic surfaces and other materials in new cars tends to produce a gas (that "new car smell") which can show up as a film on the windows-and these films can encourage fogging issues. I've also found that the application of vinyl protectants (like Armor-All) can similarly lead to a buildup of a film inside the windows-particularly after the car's surfaces have been heated by being parked in the sun. I'm fairly sure that Rain-X and companies which produce similar products offer disposable wipes and cleaners designed to combat windshield fogging issues. Hope this helps! Btw, 25 years ago I used to own a '74 260z. Still miss that car sometimes.
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Replying to: smoothsailin (Mar 05, 2009 10:15 am)
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Replying to: smoothsailin (Mar 05, 2009 10:15 am) I just had to reset the automatic controls (as described in the owners manual ... must of skipped that page). Haven't had a problem since. Ya, I miss my 280Z also ... best car I've ever owned. 
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Replying to: tsm280z (Mar 02, 2009 2:49 am) Note: These results are based on the estimated mileage driven since the dealer filled the car's tank for the 1st time before I took delivery on 2/26. When we returned from our test drive the odometer reflected ~ 25 miles and there were ~ 27 miles on the odometer when I drove the car away from the dealer's lot. So I'm splitting the difference and assuming there were ~ 26 miles on the car when it was filled up for the first time. Ending mileage when I filled up last night: 350 (per the odometer) & 350.7 (per tripmeter B). Estimated mileage driven for the 1st tank: 324 miles (350-26) Fuel volume per pump receipt: 12.857 gallons Note: I filled the tank at less than the maximum rate just until the automatic shut off engaged and did not attempt to add any more fuel. I also noticed the low fuel light illuminated just as I pulled up to a stop light immediately ahead of the Shell station where I stopped to fill up. After subtracting the # gallons required to fill the tank from the car's rated capacity (15.8 gal ?) I'm assuming the volume of gas left when the low fuel light first illuminates may be a little less than 3 gallons. Has anyone else reached a similar conclusion? Average fuel economy estimated for this 1st tank: 25.2 mpg (324 miles/12.857 gal) Note that I generally avoided the use of 5th gear and only drove approximately 20% of the miles on the freeway. The rest of the miles were driven on rural & suburban roads replete w/multiple stop sign and stop light intersections. I also tried to keep the engine rpm between 2k & 4k rpm while varying the rpm regularly by shifting gears in sportmatic mode both while traveling at relatively steady speeds and while accelerating in order to vary how high engine rpm was allowed to rise before each taller gear was allowed to engage. I maintained light throttle applications and operation of the engine above 4k rpm has so far been avoided. Also, with one exception I generally avoided making any short trips of less than 10 miles. Note: I have set up categories for posting results for the '07-'09 Rondos at www.brianbauer.org and intend to post my car's fuel economy results there from now on. If other Rondo owners (I-4 and V-6) would be willing to register and post their results at this site (registration is free) we could building database which could be useful reference tool for current and potential owners who may be interested seeing real-world results for owners of I-4 and V-6 equipped Rondos. I'll mention that my wife also filled up our '98 Toyota Sienna yesterday and just for comparison her result for that vehicle was: 281.4 miles/15.562 gal = 18.082 mpg.  So far I'm pleased w/our Rondo's preliminary fuel economy results. From now on I plan to post any fuel economy-related comments on the forum's thread already set up for this purpose. Carey |
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