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I also don't know if I have a fuel low warning device, it's suppose to come on at 1.5 gallons left, but I've never seen it and don't know that it's really there. It doesn't light us as the other warning lights do. And the service department head at Gettle Kia in Bradenton Florida insists that it's there. And it will turn orange and blink too when I'm low on fuel. It's i the book too, but says it will light up on turning to the first position on the key. Anyone can help, much thanks, regards, Paul
There are still many on the lots.
In particular a Kio Rio SX 2009 with ABS.
What is the best way to get the best price on this car and how does the 1.5 years effect the pricing?
Edmunds considers a 2009 in Used when I look up their pricing. I type in 0 (or 12 actually) miles for the mileage.
Another incentive on these 2009's was a cash discount, but they told me its either a cash discount or the low interest rate loan.
I've done some homework, and the price seems to align to Edmunds Pricing calculator, but this 2009 new car , in 2010 is a first for me.
Any inputs appreciated!
However, what feedback are you looking for if you have narrowed it to three models, try them all out and decide for yourself.
I gave my Maxx to my daughter (actually sold it to her at about 1/3 the normal price) after her car unexpectedly died. Had hoped to get either the new Kia, Hyundai or Chrysler 100 compact hatches when they came out during the next year. Also would have looked at the Buick Encore. Fit (which I drove) and Sonic were also on my short list. Was waiting for more Sonic turbos to be available.
I bought a dark blue 5 door EX (something that's not even supposed to be available). Back up camera, power folding mirrors, etc. Much nicer interior than the Fit IMO although (obviously) less space.
Took it on a 2000+ plus trip last week and found it to be as good a road car as my Maxx (which was a favorite), more comfortable for long drives than an 07 Optima that I owned. Got 33 mpg in mostly highway (though some city) driving, with five tanks over 35 mpg. Best tank 37.89 mpg. Not bad considering the 100 degree plus temperatures and constant A/C use.
Missed the Maxx's low end power-- if the Rio isn't reving it can be pretty dead. Think I'll like this car. Lots of kit for the $$$. Excellent build quality. Very composed for a sub-compact. Six hundred mile daily drives without undue tiredness-- not bad for a 67 year old. Car looks great IMO.
So far so good! Now bear in mind the old drive was 91 Jeep - reliable but getting to rusty. Clearly the Rio AVO package is too intelligent for us, but we're learning.
I'm not a total fan of the Stop&Go . . . my mechanical mind says just one more thing to go wrong - but I can see there are times (like a lot of stop/go traffic light driving - with long waits for the green) where it would be good - but when its lots of Stop signs (where , ah, one stops, looks, and then goes) that it would be engine stop and then almost immediately restart, and that I don't like. Wish the On/Off switch would remember the last setting, rather than having to turn it Off each time I get in .
Only done 100mi so far - so actual mpg is unknown. However - clearly it will be better than the 16mpg of the jeep and one must remember there is a direct connection between mpg and the use of the right foot!!
ONE PROBLEM : When you press the key to lock the car - on the 2nd press the horn toots. How do you turn that toot off? The manual does not seem to address this. (our 05 Town&Country had the same, and it could, and is, turned off)
AERT
It contains detailed information about the methods I am currently using to get between 37.5 and 41.5 miles per gallon measured by gallons used at the pump divided by miles driven.
This Kia has been a challenge to get the mileage up but it is defintely designed to use the ECO in combination with the outstanding Kia cruise control to get you the high mpg numbers.
Here is what you must do.
1.Turn the ECO button on and leave it on.
My heart goes out to you who have the engine off at lights feature and it is not working well for you-our Kia does not have that.
2.Push on the gas pedal slowly and evenly.
Sudden pushing on the gas pedal will immediately turn off the ECO software and it will stay off for minutes.
The cruise control WILL NEVER turn off the ECO software even when it downshifts twice going up hills.
Apparently,the engine computer knows when the cruise is engaged and locks the ECO software on all the time.
3.Driving through the dead spot in acceleration that happens from 20 to 40 miles per hour going up a hill,you should simply push slowly and gently down on the throttle until the transmission downshifts once-and hold the throttle where it is at that point.
The engine transmission computer will then hold the downshift and the car will climb the hill on it's own.
Engage the cruise as soon as you reach the speed you want.
4.USE THE CRUISE CONTROL-the Kia cruise control is a high quality unit but you must set it at the proper speeds to get the most out of it.
5.Set the cruise control using the 2 AND 7 RULE.
Never set your cruise control at a number ending in 0 or 5-the transmssion will downshift all the time if you do.
Here are your cruise control miles per hour set points.
22-27-32-37-42---( 47 my favorite)--- 52 -57---- ( 62 the best highway mileage miles per hour setting in the car)-( 67 my late for work but still o.k. mileage setting)-72-( 77 watch the mpg tumble).
The very best highway gas mileage cruise control number is 62 miles per hour.
6.I always use more psi cold in my tires then any car manufacturer recommends.
I have not had a tire failure doing this in over thirty years.
I run 40 psi cold in this Kia.
My experience in using the higher psi cold number is that the car drives better,rolls on much easier,gets better mileage and the tires last longer.
You will get slighty less wet weather traction but you will feel that sooner and much better through the steering wheel.
When it snows I drop the cold inflation to between 36 and 38 psi cold.
NOTE-IF YOU DO THIS,YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONDSIBLE -NOT ME,NOT KIA,NOT EDMUNDS,NOT KUMHO OR WHOEVER YOUR TIRE MANUFACTURER IS.
If you have any doubts about this simply use the manufacturer recommended setting but make sure you keep that inflation maintained right at that number-do not let the air leak down as it will over several weeks in any tire.
7.Set your speedometer display at the average miles per gallon setting.
Press the button to miles driven A-then miles driven B-then Range-then avg mpg.
Then you can get an updated average of your miles per gallon and see how your driving in affecting that.
The miles per gallon setting that updates by the second is way-way too fast to be useful.
8.Maintain your car.
Check the tire air pressure weekly-change your oil and especially make sure you change your air filter when required.
A dirty air filter will destroy your gas mileage.
9.Drive in the right lane as much as possible.
Especially on the interstates,you will be one of the slowest cars out there-just let the wasteful gas users get by you.
Even at 62 mph setting though,I still come up on people driving at 55 mph doing the same thing I am.
I simply early merge one lane left -go around them and get back into the right lane as soon as possible.
10.Premium gas makes this car run slightly smoother and quieter,have a little more midrange power,slightly more high rev power,get maybe another mile per gallon or two and downshift slightly less but it is not necessary.
You have to decide if that's worth another $4.00 a tank to you.
I would say buy the premium gas before you put any octane booster in the car-they can destroy the emissions sensors in the car.
If you want a less noisy motor-you would be well served by buying a name brand regular like Exxon or Sunoco whether whether you buy regular,midgrade or premium is what you are willing to spend.
11.Keep as much weight out of the car as possible-it defintely makes a difference.
I have 150 pounds of tools in the back of our Kia in two tool boxes and it costs me about a mile and a half a gallon. I wish I had a choice but I work with alot of thieves.
O.k,to wrap this up.
-Use the Eco button always-
-Make sure you use the throttle very easily-
-Use the cruise control as soon as you can as much as you can-Make sure you use the cruise control set points I told you ( obviously-not all Kia's will drive the same- experiment to find your best cruise set points)-
-Drive in the right lane as much as possible,just to stay out of the way of the other speeding traffic to keep you from having to turn the cruise off-
-Keep your tire inflation maintained as well as your car-
-Keep the weight out of the car if possible-
Kia engineers were tasked with giving us a way to get great gas mileage out of this Rio and here's what I found they put in the car to get that.
I hope this helps you get much better gas mileage and I hope this let's you like the Kia more.
The only problem we have had so far worth mentioning is the UVO radio died and that was changed for free by a dealership that did a great job and cleaned the car in the process.
Good luck with your MPG numbers-let's stick it to the gas companies if we can.
Brain fart.
So - 3 Rios side by side with cruise's set at 57, 60 and 62 - they're all in 6th but with different rpm's - but over the same stretch of road the one in the middle will downshift and the others won't ?
Have you heard - Apparently the EPA thinks Kia has overstated their mpg figures - and Kia will be sending us rebates ! Google
The Kia six speed auto is a wonderful transmission but as is with most foreign cars,it was designed in metric not imperial (kilometers per hour-not-miles per hour/miles per gallon) form.
That's not a big deal in the wide spaced ratios of a four speed auto like some old Hondas had.
The gear ratios are spread out enough between shift points where the motor is designed with enough torque to pull the car down the road.
That is not the case with the tiny Kia four cylinder engine.
It was designed with a horsepower over torque design as it is almost impossible to get alot of torque out of a very small four cylinder engine.
The translation is the engine will downshift and rev to pull the car along.
Add to that -that this car now has two more gears and the car has much closer spaced shift points.
If you set your cruise control near one of those shift points-wa-la-you live in downshifty revomatic land.
So it is vitally important that you set your cruise control nearer the metric kilometers per hour settings so that the car's transmission computer is not trying to deal with a car drving right on a shift point so as soon as the load on the motor increases due to going up a slight hill it does'nt start double down shifting.
That's why my Kia gets it's very best mileage at 62 miles per hour which is exactly 100 kilometers per hour.
I've owned two Honda's,a Nissan and a Toyota that got their best mileage at the very same miles per hour too.
And it would be nice if Kia could just change the final drive ratio to bring the car more in line with miles per hour for the American market but they can't.
The car was designed to run in a narrow performance window and dropping or raising the final drive ratio would just cause more problems then it would solve.
As far as Kia paying us some rebates,I think it's the EPA that owes us the money.
They flopped up the mileage test and did not do their job.
But I would be a liar if I said I was'nt smoking hot when I first drove the car for a while and it got eight miles per gallon less then was advertised.
Now our Kia is fully broke in-that took a full 14,000 miles to happen- and as long as I drive this thing like Grandad,I'm getting pretty good miles per gallon.
That's probably a good thing.
My old Echo and I got several warnings about shall we say,atheletic driving.
You drive this Kia hard ,it will gulp down a tank of gas in just over two hundred miles.
It's a blast to do it and our little red Kia will give traffic the finger but it's brutally expensive gas wise and I really don't need to lose my license.
But,with the Kia set on a good cruise number and 90.9 classical on the radio,my daily 62 miles one way to work is a pretty laid back drive.
I'm getting over 37 miles per gallon even if I have to gas past a few problem drivers closing up passing lanes.
Although it's kind of distracting,people check out this car all the time it looks so good cleaned and polished up.
This is a nice car.
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Those of you who own a Kia vehicle that qualifies can find out at www.Kia MPGinfo.com.
You will need to input your Vehicle Identification number as well as answer a few questions.
You will need to print out the verification form out that comes after you submit that information.
Then you will need to drop by a Kia dealership for about five minutes to get you fully enrolled in the program.
I have my car enrolled and expected to maybe get a gas card in two or three months.
Thank You to the people of KIA for doing this.
One note-setting your cruise control at 77 miles per hour won't work well-there is too much air resistence at the front of the car for the computer transmission controller to keep the car in sixth gear.
I guess your best bet is over 72 miles per hour to simply use the foot throttle.
Or simply stay below those speeds altogether.
But today,I got the wits scared out of me because I terminated a call (using the steering wheel disconnect button) to my wife while using the UVO radio's bluetooth phone option and lost all function in the radio.
I thought,darn it,back to the dealership.
But what happened was that my wife was on our home phone which has call waiting and what must have happened is that she accidentally put me on a call waiting basis.
That phone did not disconnect.
But there is no indication in the car that the phone is still connected.
The radio did go back to the radio screen but no sound came on and although I could scroll through the radio controls on the touch screen,none of my steering wheel controls would work and I had no volume on the radio.
I turned the volume all the way up and all I could hear is the ignition electrical static very low.
I even turned the car motor off at a stop light and turned it on and the radio came right back to the radio screen and no sound and no ability to get out of the radio screen.
The radio would not go to cd-or any other screen.
Then my wife came back on and asked me if I had called her again.
I said no and described the radio workings which suddenly came back on right before she called me back.
The phone on her side must have disconnected and let my radios bluetooth disconnect.
The radio worked fine from then on.,
I am just telling you folks this so you know what might be happening and not go to the dealership when all you might have to do is
- take your cell phone out and cut it off -
-to disconnect the bluetooth-
( who knows,maybe you could just hang the call up from your cell phone too to get the bluetooth to disconnect)
from a phone number that has put you on call waiting basis and you want to hang up and get your radio back.
Anyway,Happy Thanksgiving all and Happy Holidays.
That's not the fault of your Kia-that's because -at least in the Washington D.C. area,the gas companies say they have to add chemicals to the gas to make it burn 'more completely' in the cold environment.
That was what was on a sticker placed in all Exxon gas pumps in this area about four years ago.
Exxon said the EPA 'forced' them to do this.
Pretty convenient that the chemical tears out four miles per gallon out of every car I've driven during the winter since so I have to buy more gas during the winter months-(when public gas consumption is usually way down).
Anyway,still struggling to get near that fourty mpg mark-now just struggling to keep it above 35 miles per gallon thanks to the gas companies.
This really sucks.
Way,way too long-it was really dirty and I don't drive in a dusty environment either-all urban asphalted roads pretty much.
Changing it was about as easy as it could be.
Inside the glove box there is a door that has a plastic latch on the right side-you squeeze that plastic latch and remove the door.
The filter can be a bear to get out until you realize you can simply squeeze either side slightly to get a hold of it and pull it out.
Be careful when you pull it out because there might be leaves and other dirt you don't want to get down in the venting system.
Once you slide the new filter in ,being careful to match the flow arrow on the side to the one you took out,then you slide the tab on the left side into it's slot-you will probably have to be looking back into the glovebox to see this slot and then you can latch the plastic latch on the right side.
Do not run the a/c filter without a filter if it has had one-that filter acts to stop anything from getting into the important parts of the a/c-heater system plus if you do not change that filter-it will clog and could help burn out the a/c blower motor in your dash-a much more expensive repair.
They interest me in particular also because I know my next vehicle will be an automatic due to some health reasons that are around the corner for me. I have driven mostly sticks all my life but not always. As you will know, the issues you described about finding a good working speed in cruise so that the auto isn't shifting itself on the cusp of speeds/revs, has never been an issue with a stick. Your posts drew attention to something I had not considered, but then I also had not been previously considering a small engined subcompact. Also considering a micro maybe, but only ones with 5 doors. They all have relatively small displacements and get their torque from revs.
The one thing you mention which I am skeptical about but do believe your findings as you indicate being quite in touch with your vehicle's behaviour, is the perks that you claimed with premium gas. I know premium can and does make a difference in some vehicles..talking about ones in which the owner's manual still claims 87 is fine, but more and more the mfrgs are designing the engines to utilize the cost savings of 87. IMO, the vast majority gain no benefit, and as I suspect you also know, in some cars, premium is actually not even a good idea in some cars that calls for 87 only. Especially engines with lower CR's. The ones who might benefit though are turboed or supercharged ones in the summer in high heat/stop and go type traffic or a lot of hill-climbing in similar conditions.
Please continue to keep us posted with your new Rio. (everyone)
Also..has everyone here had any bad experiences with Kia or Hyundai auto transmissions? I have read that Kia makes their own 6 speeds. But i have also read about more than a few issues with the auto that Hyundai used in their previous generation 4 sp auto in the Elantra and also the 5? speed auto in both the Sorrento and Santa Fe. .
The entire car feels and looks like quality to me.
But I grew up driving manual transmissions in my small cars and also having no more then four speeds in the automatic transmissions in the cars I drove.
I admit,I was excited at getting a six speed transmission in this Kia but I am now worn out by it.
The combination of a what feels to me to be a relatively heavy small car,a small four cylinder that depends on revs to move the car and a transmission that downshifts at the slightest hill has made me start looking for a new car.
I never thought I'd ever buy a car with a cvt (single speed variable ratio drive transmission) but I am seriously looking at Nissan's small cars as a replacement for this car.
Ideally,I'd like to buy a Toyota Prius C because of the incredibly high gas mileage but the price with what's going to -upside down-from this Kia simply will not let us get that car.
One other thing as well-I have never seen an uglier interior color combination or interior as I just saw in the new Prius C's -I can't put myself into something that expensive that is that ugly inside.
The outside of the Prius is designed to cheat the wind-I find it acceptably advanced looking but the inside of that car is positively hideous.
Honda Civic's are out because of the high starting price.
The gas mileage on my Kia has gone so low I am now driving it no more then 57 miles per hour on I-95 in the right lane.
This car,if you wanted to just drive the guts out of it and put premium in it would be a blast to drive but you'd probably get about 25 miles per gallon doing that.
Premium in this car provides a small boost in midrange power-enough between gear changes to be noticed especially when the car is climbing a hill and the motor is slightly quieter.
I wished I'd have got a manual transmission,cheapest trim version if this car.
Maybe we'd be able to find a way to live with it.
I'm looking at Nissan Versa's (with cvt transmissions) and brand new year old Sentra's right now with manual transmissions-Nissan just introduced a brand new Sentra but they still have alot of the brand new old one's they'll want to deal on.
I don't hate this Kia and I would never say it was anything other then extremely well built -had it been sold with a larger engine that could push the car without endless downshifting I might be keeping it but I'm toast.
Using the cruise control over 57 miles per hour now means the car is constantly downshifting-even using the 2 and 7 rule like I said before.
I don't know if it's the winter gas or what's happened but I need to at least be able to relax driving the car home-it's just nerve racking to have the car downshift on every hill no matter how steep the grade is.
If I still need to keep this Kia-I'll be easy to see on the interstate-I'll be in the right lane going 57 miles per hour.
I am totally done on a six speed automatic transmission in anything though.
I'm not enthusiastic about a cvt but after 22,500 miles of relatively constant downshifting-i'll see if I can live with a one speed transmission.
This Kia is a great looking well built car-it's just got some really irritating performance characteristics that I would never care about if I was running the guts out it everyday.
But I simply don't drive like that anymore.
Ha-ha-ha-me in a cvt transmission car-I'd never have seen that coming.
Something I'd wished someone had told me about this Kia is-the valve rattling engine noise is normal-that pinging sound is a characteristic of a high efficiency direct injection fuel delivery system on this particular brand car.
The car was inspected at the dealership as an investigation for poor gas mileage- the engine is fine.
I found out what that noise was from a comment made in an issue of Automobile magazine I read.
And I will never again buy a new car without a jack and a spare tire in it.
Thankfully,Kia put a air pump in the spare tire well of the car so I could get the car to a tire sales place to get the tire properly plugged.
So on we go-crawling down the interstate-I just put my center inside mirror up at the ceiling and use my side mirror to drive with.
Even in the right lane people want to push you down the road.
Have a good one.
I've owned Kias before and this is about what I expected. Throw in the money from Kia for the mileage difference and I'm a happy camper.
I guess you can't argue with success, but the Versa is the ugliest car in its class IMO. Looks like some kind of beached porpoise. Hopefully the Versa hatch will be better, but if they bring over the same interior it would be a stopper for me. The Sentra looks better than the Versa, but that's not saying much.
Oh, and I did drive a rental last gen Sentra last summer and thought it was very unpleasant, although it had about 40K miles and probably had the hell kicked out of it.
It's been a hell of a week around here.
I got the flu and a stomach issue all at the same time right in the middle of checking out some Nissan's out to replace our little red Kia Rio 5.
I had to take some time off of work and thought I'd have enough health to maybe work out a deal on my time off.
Well,the upside down part of my car's worth slammed the door on that.
I had a good talk with a decent salesman at a Nissan place who worked with me and understated what the Kia was worth by two grand but the bottom line is best case,I'd be adding seven grand to any car I bought right now so our little red gas hog is here to stay.
But that's certainly not all bad.
I was washing it off in fourty degree weather in a heavy overcoat and my beanie when it dawned on me why we bought the car.
My wife was working herself into her first stroke,at a government job where they load up the long term experience workers who give a shxt about their jobs and have been there for decades while the new people sit on their hands and surf the internet.
She hated our 2008 Sonata that we had bought used.
Man,I loved that car.
One of the finest four cylinder family cars I have ever driven or owned.
We just went to the Kia dealership to check one out.
By the time we left there,we had signed for it.
My wife denies it but she really likes the car-even today.
That was the main reason we bought the car.
It's appearance and quality always bring a smile to her face.
I remember thinking before we ever went to the Kia dealership how the South Korean people who worked for Hyundai had picked their company up off the floor and started building some truly world class vehicles and they went to help Kia and then the people at Kia started doing the same.
I was at the Kia dealership because of that too.
I wanted a well built car built all in the same country it was supposed to be from.
A very rare thing these days.
Kia,like Hyundai has put alot of pride into what they've done in just the last few years,it seems.
And it shows.
My dad was a Korean war vet,and part of the reason that Kia is even there is because he was,well as millions of other Americans and South Koreans,fought back those who would take away the ability of the South Koreans to compete on the world stage.
So you know,I get a twinge about good Old pop too-God rest his Soul-whenever I look at the car.
As I washed our Kia,I found myself not really worrying about the mileage as much anymore-hell,what can I do about that now-I've done everything I can.
And that let me appreciate the car for what a great car it is all over again.
I really was and still am drawn to the exterior design.
It is it's own and not a direct copy of anything before it.
The paint job as well as the exterior trim on ours is simply beautiful even after 24,000 miles but we have been extremely careful where and how we park it too.
We did'nt get the car with the pie plate alloys-we got the fan style alloys and as I cleaned those rims they just shined right up-for just silver painted alloys-they really shine.
The car looks really stunning when it's totally cleaned.
Inside,I cannot find one item I don't like.
From design of the dash and gauges,to the leather wrapped steering wheel to the -now replaced Uvo radio- I am pretty happy.
Yes,I'd like more bass but would'nt we all in our radios.
It would be a real challenge to get a subwoofer in this car without a space penalty,'maybe under the drivers and passengers seats?
The one thing Kia should do though is add a handle on the passenger seat so it can be jacked up higher for short passengers.
My wife is not very tall and I've added a seat cushion to get her view over the dash better.
But really,this is a deluxe car.
Not a stripper model.
When we finish paying for it-it will still be a deluxe model car.
I've turned off the eco button and simply stopped using the cruise control for the most part.
The motor seems to be less choked and the transmission seems to shift more smoothly.
I'll just drive the car gently to make it last and enjoy it.
I'm just glad it's a quality built car like it is.
The gas mileage thing?
That issue came up because of a few Americans,working for Kia-----in America-in the marketing department influenced the gas mileage tests----not because of the people designing,engineering or building the car.
She might burn more gas then I like but she sure is pretty when she's shined up and she don't give up nothing on the interstates either.
She'll get you a ticket right now if you don't watch your speed.
Handles well too,very very solid through the car.
Yea,I made a mistake but it's not the end of the world.
And who knows,if I get 250,000 miles of great service out of her-this might not be a mistake after all.
So I guess,I am finally learning to like the car for what she is.
A small,quality built five door sports car.
Pretty as hell when I wax her up too.
Put's a smile on my wife's face when I do that.
And that's good enough for me.
Not sure if I missed it, but what color is it?
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And ya know..the very first profile shot I had seen of the new Elantra had me thinking that'd be a potential issue. But when I sat in it I had forgotten that notion until......ya...it impacted me.
I'm guessing stick - we've had a '13 auto for 3 months and not noticed that issue.
Dealer hasn't suggested turning the radio up a bit?
Angus
I buy a new KIA Rio. 2013. The car vibrates in sixth gear only, at only between 60 to 70. KIA Motors America Treats me like sh1%. Kia of Bedford treats me like sh1%. A month later, the car hasnt been fixed! I get no response from KIA of Bedford. I get no response from KIA Motors America. Advice....DONT BUY A KIA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These people do NOT VALUE THEIR CUSTOMERS. For those of you that are happy little campers. You will get your opportunity to deal with these creeps as soon as you have a warranty issue. The warranty is useless. You will see.
Dealership hasn't shown us much after sale love to up to this point. Sure they give us a loaner, one on empty. I asked for one WITH gas and they said just bring it back with what you started with. Thanks. Waiting till we have one more interaction and get the car back to give final report.
I'm not a Kia hater by any stretch - had a nice 07 Rondo EX and we loved it.....almost sorry we just didn't do the maintenance on it instead of trading.
More to follow.
I was looking for a good small car for my daughter, to take her through college and beyond. The lease was up on my 2010 Sentra 2.0S, so I could either buy it off lease or get something else. I decided to go with a new car for lower payments, lower maintenance costs over the next several years, and a little lower insurance cost. I figure I could save ~$2800 over the next 3 years with the Rio5. Of course, then I'll need to either buy it ($9891 residual) or get something else. We'll cross that bridge in 3 years. The dealer took the Sentra and will do the payoff to NMAC; it had only 27k miles but some minor exterior damage I estimate would cost me about $500 to repair.
Other factors in favor of the Rio5 are that it's a hatchback (better for going to/from college), more nimble (and more fun to drive), ESC/traction (good in winter weather), honest-to-goodness 6-speed manumatic tranny (vs. the Sentra's sluggish CVT), better fuel economy, the long warranty (only the remaining 5-year powertrain warranty left on the Sentra), 5-year roadside assistance, auto-off lights, Sirius, and folding heated mirrors. The Sentra was a comfortable car but no fun to drive. It did have a few features the Rio5 lacks, such as center console, rear center armrest, padded armrests, telescopic steering column, cruise control, and a spare tire.
My wife saw the car when we drove up from the dealer and cried, "I want one, it's so cute!" (and she has a 2013 Sonata, very close to the same color)
I've been looking at a 1967 VW bug in white with a 4-speed manual tranny for only $3,000. It's right here in Alamogordo at a dealer lot. I figure I would offer him $2,500 and if it has a strong engine then I'm basically getting a steal. I miss a manual tranny really bad. The synchro's can go out on these early VW standard transmissions but it's not an expensive repair. The body is straight, it's tires are new and it's wheels are not old - they're the Porsche style and look as cute as a bug on this Bug. I am probably going to pull the trigger on this one unless we get a new Kia Soul. I'd say we'll get the '67 VW Bug instead if I were forced to make a wager on it right now.
Anyhow, we may be getting a deal here in the iluv household here in a little while, too. Congratulations on your Kia purchase and make sure and let us know how you like your Kia Rio5, backy! Good job! I like Kia better than Hyundai, though for a while I was this close ta getting a 2003 Hyundai Tiburon. Good thing I didn't get one - they've had a lot of problems with their clutches, t/o bearings and flywheels with the 2003 Tibby's.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
But I've decided to drive the Rio5 and let my daughter drive my relatively new (for me) 2005 Mazda6i Sport hatch. I've learned she doesn't appreciate what it means to have a new car, and take care of it. The Mazda6 is a great car but 8 years old, and has a black interior (vs. light beige on the Rio5), so if she trashes it, no big deal. I think most teens would be tickled to get a car like that Mazda6. Actually I like it too, but the Rio5 is fun to toss around, and it will be a good around-town car for me, can park it anywhere. In a year, before she goes off to college, we'll see if she's learned anything about taking care of a car (and see how she does in school this year) and decide if she gets to drive the Rio5 for college or not.
Topped off the tank on the Rio5 today so I can do a proper FE measurement. Seems to be getting around 30 in town on its first 100 miles, so that's encouraging.
I'll say thats good ghastly mileage. The '08 Lancer GTS with 107,211 miles is still getting 24 in the city and 29 on the highway. Just had her serviced - tuneup, oil change, air filter. We may not get a new or different rig at all!
Enjoy your Rio5!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick