Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Options
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
This new '06 Rio looks good in both the sedan and hatchback form, with each one having it's own merits. I don't think I could go wrong with either one, though it has to be a manual tranny.
I really like the standard safety equipment built into each and every '06 Rio and '06 Rio5.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
I did a little research because I was interested and found out the truth. Very nice, though, and I think it will prove to give the Rio/Rio5 a responsive and sporty feel around turns.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=19&article_id=10249
Kia Rio/Rio5
Still bottom dollar, but no longer cheap.
BY ROBIN WARNER
December 2005
-SM
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
~alpha
For us it's either a 2006 Kia Rio5 in 5-speed form or hanging on to our '01 Kia Sportage 4x4. SE Idaho gets a decent dumping of snow I've found out! The Sportage's 4x4 is really coming in handy!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
~alpha
Oh, BTW, the Tropical Red 5-speed Kia Rio5 for $14,190 is still at my local Kia dealer, which is only a mile-and-a-half away from me!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Photo courtesy of the autochannel.com
I see some Mazda body design in it...is that the Mazda5 I see in there? The Mazda5? Kia has (had) a working relationship with Mazda in the 1980's and used the old Mazda 123 chassis to plop it's original Sephia body onto.
No, this is the first picture I have found of what will probably be our next car that looks a tad Mazda-ish to it.
I like this one...I put it on my computer's Windows page as the background and this one will be the one that stays there. The color of the car in this picture is close to the one at my local Kia dealer...it is Tropical Red and this one is either that color or an orange of some sort. I like them both and either color would be great.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Good body design is an art, it's either learned properly or it isn't. MB designers could learn from Kia designers. I'm serious, too.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
The 2006 Kia Rio/Rio5 are big improvements over the last generation, but, then again, I didn't think all that much was wrong with the last-gen Rio's!
One big improvement, IMO, is the car's wider and longer wheelbase and stance. It's got that muscular look to it and a nice style flair as well, and it has the CVVT motor that will generate better gas mileage and produce fewer emissions at the same time. A winning combo indeed!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
You are right, I have a 2004 Rio Cinco. It's been a great car. I had plans (before the pics came out) to replace it with a 2006 Rio Cinco now 5. But Kia had to screw it up by giving it a cheap "hatchback" look rather than the..IMO..better looking and more popular..again IMO.."station wagon" look.
~alpha
Yeah, it is getting blurry as manufacturers try to hit the right notes with the most people as to what to call the cars and how to design the right look into them.
The '06 Kia Rio5 is just about exactly what we're looking for. The back seat will have ample room for the two Pomeranians and our son when he is visiting us. For a while I was toying with the idea of buying a Scion tC. I seriously wondered whether the small breed of dog (bred down from the sled-dog German Spitz varieties)would be able to see out the windows of the back seat of the Scion tC coupe. That won't be a problem with the Rio5. They should be able to peer out the back whenever they feel like with this new "Euro-designed" Rio5.
BTW-it really is a "Euro" look, IMHO. I see some VW Passat in it's headlights, I see some of the M-Benz crossover in it's overall body shape.
As to it looking "cheap" chuck1959, take another long gander at the Orange '06 Rio5 I have posted a few posts back. That doesn't at all look cheap to me. Mazda5, too? Whew! Kia designers were having some serious design-fun with this one. The 5-speed Tropical Red '06 Kia Rio5 is still on my local dealer's lot waiting for...someone to come along and take it home.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
When I started my car shopping, I was looking for a 4-door sedan. My favorites were the Honda Civic and Mazda3. As it turned out, I couldn't find a 3 4-door in the color I wanted with the equipment I wanted. I did find the color and specs in the 5-door, though. I'm getting it this week.
To get back on topic, Kia really has done well with their 5-door/wagons. The Rio5 and Spectra5 are stunning, especially given the price. Hopefully we'll start to see more hatchbacks in the U.S. They really do make a lot more sense. Especially if you think of them as tiny SUVs with much better gas mileage.
I would love to go ghost town exploring here in Idaho in the spring and summer of '06 and the Rio5, with it's CVVT engine working for me, would give me the gas mileage I want. I go by the lone '06 Kia Rio5 on the local Kia dealer's lot every morning after getting off work on the night shift to admire the Rio5's angular, small and muscular look. Really starting to dig it.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
"I go by the lone '06 Kia Rio5 on the local Kia dealer's lot every morning after getting off work on the night shift to admire the Rio5's angular, small and muscular look. Really starting to dig it."
set rodneydangerfield_mode on ;
Hey....maybe you two oughta get a room!!
set rodneydangerfield_mode off ;
Just kidding.... :-)
-SM
I'll tell ya what, our Sportage 4x4 is perfect for eastern Idaho's snowy winters. It has helped me on at least one occasion get cleared of the snow and ice. It has good factory clearance and seems to invite snow play. We may just hold onto it and quit looking the other direction.
Maybe the grass isn't greener in Rio5 pastures, eh?
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
http://www.globalautoindex.com/news.plt?no=937#
Kia must've gotten some good feedback from people at the autoshows about the concept because they've produced a production model of it for 2006, as promised.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
http://www.autobytel.com/content/shared/articles/templates/index.cfm/article_id_- - int/754
The article mentions that drivers will "want the 5-speed manual that features a light-effort clutch pedal and slick shifting..."
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
The 2006 Kia Rio today received the Autobytel "Editors' Choice Award for Most Improved New Car."
http://www.automotive.com/features/90/auto-news/17294/index.html
-SM
Think about it... with the Neon outta here and the Rio redesigned, are there really any bad cars out there?
By the way where can I go to find the production/sales figures for my Kias?
They liked its spacious cabin, supportive front bucket seats, an upscale flavor inside and a tight component fit, great 32/35 gas mileage, and competent braking system.
The 2006 Kia Rio5 outbraked the 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT V6 by a foot but even more impressively it snuck through the slalom quicker than both the Eclipse and the Audi A3.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
An easier way would be to Google "kia sales figures 2004" or whatever year you're wanting to know. If you aren't able to find it, tell me what year and model(s) you want to know and I'll track down the info for you.
http://www.kia.com/010405.php
They have the '06 Rio5 in Tropical Red and 5-speeds for $14,110 and they have two sedans with the 5-speed tranny, one in Sapphire Blue color and one in Silver, both selling for $13,055. I just have a feeling I could wriggle one for a titch less than $12,655, and $12,655 is a great deal, IMHO. The weird thing is is they advertise the Silver one on their website but I don't see it on their lot. And I pull into their lot several times a week (when the salespeople aren't there)to look at my future car...I...I mean their nice South Korean-built motorcars.
I'm leanin' toward the '06 Rio LX in Sapphire Blue. It will go well with our newly-acquired house, which has blue as one of it's exterior colors. Sound like a good reason to get a Sapphire Blue baby to park out front?
I really like the sedan bodystyle better, so it's a good fit. I will move in a few weeks on it, we're still moving things in and, well, you know how that goes. My pool table gets assembled Tuesday morning. I can't wait to shoot pool in my own house. Whoo-hoooooo! Who wants to come over to shoot pool with me?
I was gonna say that the Silver Rio LX would be cool, too, as I like the contrast between the Silver paint and those black bodyside mouldings Kia is stamping on these new world order Rio's.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
That is if I act between February 4th and March 28th. Perfect! I can't wait to go get it now!
Y'all know I'll keep you informed each step of the way!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Outstanding car maker for outstanding car buyers!
Whoo-hoo! The pool table will be put together Tuesday morning, too! Anybody living near Pocatello, ID, that wants to come over and help me inaugurate my new pool table? We've been in several houses throughout the years but none have had room for a pool table until now.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/12/hyundai_unveils.php
Take that for what it's worth, but it really can't be viewed as a negative thing, if you're gonna buy a 2006 Kia Rio, right? That's the goodness of it, Kia is incorporating engineering niceties to their smallest cars as well, something GM and even Chrysler are learning too late in the game for themselves.
The Rio has all sorts of sound dampening equipment and a roll bar all around the passenger cabin, and they have improved the way they tie the Rio together, which really improves on the rattling and shaking inside the cabin. That is one of the things that has turned me off to the Scion brand of cars. So many people are fed up with their Scion's rattling noises coming from the back of the tC, for example. They are truly turning their tC into a rig, because they are rigging up their own sound dampening systems. Don't believe me? Well, just go over to the Scion tC and Scion problems and solutions threads here on Edmunds to see what I'm talking about.
Scion didn't bother to completely finish their cars for consumers. Kia does care about their small car consumers and has shown that by doing what I'm talking about above. Dampening out noises from the undercarriage.
The 2006 Kia Rio also employs state-of-the-art engine technology, intalling a 1.6L, inline 4 cylinder DOHC continuously variable valve timing motor in the 2006 Rio. Suffice to say that this technology will enable those that purchase 2006 Rio's to achieve better gas mileage and throw out less emissions into the air at the same time.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
You see, Kia is expecting us to look into their engineering package on this rig to the point of understanding all that they've included at the value price. I think it's an absolute bargain at that price. I like the two-color cloth interior you've described, but that is not enough to sway me to the Rio5. It will defintely take a test drive to see which one I want the best. Whichever one I get it must have the 5-speed tranny, and there is ample stock locally in 5-speeds waiting for me there.
I will deduct $500 Owner Loyalty discount and a $400 recent college grad discount, but only if I finance with Kia Finance.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Rio 2006: 1,993 2005: 2,261
It looks like the Rio generated a 12% drop in sales compared to a year ago.
Based on the amount of inventory at my dealer's lot, there's plenty of Rio's available now, sooooo........
Why the sales drop when there's a nice new model available. Hmmmmmmmm?
(Spinning roulette wheel sound fades in)
"Put my money down on the orange Rio5 please!"
"C'mon $11-12k....... c'mon $11-12k!"
:-)
-SM