2014 Kia Rio LX vs 2012 Volkswagen Jetta SE?

xtine

I am trying to decide between 2 CPOs that are $1,600 apart and would greatly appreciate an opinion:

2014 Kia Rio LX with 42K miles
vs
2012 Volkswagen Jetta SE with 55K miles

I am not picky but primarily concerned with safety and pick-up speed. I am not concerned with aesthetics and extra features. I am not familiar with cars and this is the first time I am purchasing a car, so would greatly appreciate any opinions or thoughts between these 2 options.

Also, any help around how the warranties work would be greatly appreciated as this is very confusing to me. The Kia warranty has a powertrain warranty for 10 years/100K miles and a mechanical warranty for 5 years/60K miles, but it appears to start when the car was purchased as opposed to the date I purchase it. The Volkswagen warranty is 2 years/24K miles. I plan to drive the car until it dies and also don't commute very far with occasional monthly trips from Orange County, CA to LA.

Would greatly appreciate any help or opinions!

zandor

Cost and reliability concerns aside, I would much rather drive the Jetta. These two cars are really in two different classes. The Rio is a subcompact and about as small as cars come in the US, while the Jetta is roomy for a Compact car and quite a bit bigger and heavier. All else being equal, "the bigger car wins" in a crash. The Jetta won't be a lot faster than a Rio, but 2.5L v. 1.6L is more than enough to make up for the extra weight.