So....she wants a rollerskate....:)

[Jackal1]

Not one word was uttered from her while I was secretly eyeballing the V-8 trucks and cleverly showing her the skinny on the V-6s.
Lots of time and effort and mass amounts of practicing the art of BS`n went down the drain.
So.......I guess old brownie is going to have to get a makeover for me, while Wifeypoo cleverly and deviously weilded the weapon  that has been the downfall of most of us men.
She was to have a rollerskate.............but not just a rollerskate........one with sparkly shoestrings, pom-poms , whistles and bells.
A Kia Rio LX with shiney and extras.
Never paid much attention to these things other than the fact that since they revamped and reattaked the market, they had became like a pack of buzzing insects around here as of late. They are everywhere.
Gotta say I`m pretty amazed at this thing. Safety features out the wazoo I never expected. I was like Whaaaaaaaa when I started reading the reviews from Motorweek and most every other road test articles.
Now keep this under wraps. I never said it if it gets out, but..............this thing is a total dang blast. Like getting a new toy.
T orange which looks pretty cool. The stereo shocked the heck out of me and it`s well.........just plaiin a kick to drive.
I just wished I could drive it during the daytime without being seen by the folks I know. Sort of like riding a Honda if you know the old phrase.
I am reassuring myself that it is all for the good of Beetle, who should be very pleased. With all these things running around there should be an ample supply of fuel so that he may continue on his wordly cafe tour without us mere mortals consuming it all.

Anyone have any good Korean recipes?

[nirvana]

For the safety of your family, and I mean this seriously, DO NOT buy a Kia.

[Fishu]

Kia? Did they find the acronym fitting for their product?
Like similar to Evian mineral water, spell it backwards.

Who would like to buy something labeled as killed in action? Or who would like to be naive enough to buy the same water that could be had for free?

What's Rio short of?

[doobs]

wait till ya need a part, car comes with 10 year warranty because it takes 9 years to get a part.

[wetrat]

you bought a kia?!:lol is it at least a manual?

[john9001]

keep laughing, detroit laughed when the first toyotas, datsuns and hondas were imported to the USA.

[storch]

Kia is perhaps the most innovative and best thought out line of cars available today.  and from the rubber up too.  not a bad choice jackal,  I hope you get lots of value from it.  how well does it register on the rubometer?  I didn't see that rating published anywhere

[Toad]

A major faction in the attraction of Kia or Hyundai is the 5 year/60K warranty.

People expect and want a hasslefree vehicle. These two will give you 5 years of driving without you paying for a breakdown/failure. On top of that, they are inexpensive to buy and operate.

I've bought and sold a few Hyundai's as a hobby business. I've had to have a few of them repaired for minor stuff. Power window failure, electric antenna failure, etc.

Didn't take any time at all to get parts. I haven't had to wait for any reason. Drop off in the morning, pickup that evening, just like American iron.

US carmakers are in deep doo unless Kia/Hyundai shorten their warranties. Otherwise, K/H will own the low end markets.

2006 Hyundai Sonata Road Test

Building a New Midsize Benchmark

Just how good the upcoming Sonata is came as no surprise to me when I tested it last week in and around the San Francisco area. It seems that everything Hyundai has brought out in recent years has either been leading its respective market segment, for quality, driving dynamics and refinement, or on par with the front runners.

I was duly impressed with the current generation Sonata when it was introduced in 2001 as a 2002 model. It featured a well put together interior, comparable ride and handling characteristics to its Japanese competitors, a long list of standard and optional features for a value packed price, plus dramatic styling.

The new 2006 Sonata follows the same well-proven pattern as the old car, with tight, perfectly aligned body panel gap tolerances, an impressively executed interior worthy of comparison to the segments best, Lexus-like silence from the engine compartment, a wonderfully sorted chassis that delivers a comfortable ride while still managing to feel sporty through the corners, an even longer list of standard and optional features, and slightly less dramatic but nevertheless very attractive styling.

[Jackal1]

Hehe!
A lot of the opinions listed here on the negative side pretty well matched mine until wifeypoo got the sparkle in her eye over them.
Then I found out I didn`t know Jack about Kia`s like I thought I did.
I had pretty much looked at the Kias as disposable and according to what I have been reading it was pretty much true........................u ntil they did a complete turnaround.
A lot of changes were made. A couple of the models were completely redone to the point of it being a completely different vehicle carrying the same name. The little Rio being one of them.
Nirvana, I had to smile when I read this........

For the safety of your family, and I mean this seriously, DO NOT buy a Kia.

 
I believe that was the first shot I fired when the wife first brought the subject up. After I did a little checking I found out differently. Have a little look see on how that has changed with these models. You would be hard pressed to find anything in it`s class who beat it on safety features, especialy the LX. You can get just about anything you desire in that department.  Side crash protection, full side wrap around airbags with dual front along with auto disabling on the passenger side according to child weight. Total choice on braking package with the LX.
I also got a little giggle out of your and my age difference considering where the advice was coming from. Not putting down your youth at all. I wish I could buy a little of mine back on ebay . The humor lies in the fact that you have no idea about safety when it comes to what a lot of us old farts have taken down the highway. Most of the stuff we pushed down the pavement was little more than a powerplant with a little trim wrapped around it for show. Brakes and things like that were`nt working at the speeds that were driven if you couldn`t smell em burning in a bind. With the old Harleys that we had, and I still have a `60 custom, we got to get rid of all the baggage that got in the way of the fun. Guess I`m getting old cause I seriously looked at the safety side of this.

wait till ya need a part, car comes with 10 year warranty because it takes 9 years to get a part

Yep, that is pretty much how it was. Was the same way in the beginning for all of the imports trying to get a foothold in the market here. Not anymore for Kia. I am within thirty minutes of my choice of locations to choose any part from the rubber up for it. At any rate I want be worried about that for quite some time. In case of a breakdown , I would be on their nickel and driving their car. It`s in the new package. The roadside assistance tops AAA. Like I said, I was pretty much under the same understanding as you are when this thing started. BTW, the U.S. southern plant is scheduled to open in 08.
If you have a little time  and are interested I beleive you can do a little research, starting with the 06 models, and I think you will find, like I did, that it`s a whole new ballgame.
Kia got top honors with J.D. Powers. They have broken all records on new car sales increases and are just now getting warmed up. I have seen a time when  I laughed about Toyota, Nissan , etc. I pretty much figured they would end up the way of Edsel. We see how that worked out and now Kia is surpassing what they did in record time.
For the 06 models, the road test results and articles from Motorweek, Popular Mechanics, etc. are pretty eye opening. At least I was pretty well blown away about the changes.
In it`s class the Rio is going to be a thorn in the sides of competition. Well......it already is. The choices you have is a pretty wide range. You can get a Rio as basic as you want if you want if you are looking for no-frills, basic to work and back ride. From there the sky is pretty much the limit on what you can get.
The Rio LX , such as we bought can be had with all the bells and whistles you desire.
At this point of the game I`m still amazed with this thing. I have seen custom paint jobs that don`t match the T orange from House Of Color like this one. It`s different in every light condition.
If nothing else I can rest easy in the fact that ,if later down the road I change my opinion, I want be alone. They are a more than a small percentage of them on the road.
And then there is the fact that I am dong my part to assure the continuance of Beetle`s world cafe tour. That, in itself, gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

[Sandman]

Originally posted by Toad
A major faction in the attraction of Kia or Hyundai is the 5 year/60K warranty.

Hmmm... aren't they offering 10 year warranties on some models?

[Widewing]

Kia has come a long way in the past 3 or 4 years, largely because it's a Hyundai company.

Automotive magazines have changed their view of Kia. Currently, their new minivan is considered to be as good as Honda's. Likewise, the Sorrento SUV has long been thought of as a solid vehicle and a better all-around SUV than the Jeep Liberty.

Because they are a Hyundai company, they offer the same warranty as Hyundai. However, there are some downsides to this warranty.

1) It's not transferrable, meaning that it will effect re-sale value compared to those comapanies that do transfer warranties to new owners (such as Suzuki).
2) There's no provision for a loaner car should you have to leave it in the shop for more than a day.

Hyundai/Kia counts on the fact that most car owners do not keep their cars more than 4 or 5 years. So, when it is sold privately, the 10-year power train warranty is null and void... Thus, no future expense for Hyundai. Their 10-year warranty has been a profitable gamble thus far.

Other small companies (small in terms of US market share, not in world-wide share) offer similar warranties. Suzuki gives new buyers a 3/36 bumper-to-bumper and a 7-year/100,000 mile power train warranty. The big difference is that unlike the Korean manufacturers, Suzuki's warranty is fully transferrable. This means that it follows the car to any new owner. Suzuki also provides a free rental car should your Suzuki remain in the shop for more than one day. Suzuki is the largest selling car in Japan and most of asia, for that matter.

With the exception of Daimler-Chrysler, all domestic manufacturers offer no more than 3/36 on their cars and trucks (unless you wish to pay for an extended warranty).

Likewise for the other Japanese manufacturers... This may change as the Koreans are now building cars that are as reliable and capable as their Japanese competitors. I recently drove a new Hyundai Azera. Toyota, Honda and Nissan should be very, very concerned.... This sedan is as good as anything in its price range. 0-60 in the mid sixes, quiet as a church and a very confortable ride. Handling is very good, if a bit on the soft side. It offers a very high level of standard equipment that is available only as an option on the Japanese cars. The real atrraction is that it is priced about 5 thousand less than the Japanese competitors....

I just looked at the new Jeep Wrangler, totally redesigned for 2007. Vastly improved in most areas, it's still the best true off-roader for under 50 grand. However, fuel milage is still terrible, and for some reason known only to Jeep, they discontinued the 4 banger... Just when gas prices are at $3 a gallon. When will Jeep figure out that a 24 mpg Wrangler will sell, even if a bit down on road performance?

I'm waiting to see the 2007 Mini-Cooper S and the new Mazdaspeed 3, with 263 hp (0-60 in the mid five second range, 155 mph). Both will come in at around $25,000, well optioned. Then there's the BMW Z2 sports car expected in 2008... That may be worth waiting for as it's expected to be price and performance competitive with the MX-5 Miata....

Back to the thread... These days, you can't do very wrong buying a Kia. In two or three years, you might be thought foolish not to.

My regards,

Widewing

[Jackal1]

Originally posted by Widewing

2) There's no provision for a loaner car should you have to leave it in the shop for more than a day.
Widewing

I have the option , if after three or four hours in the shop, without solving the problem to take a rental car at their expense if I choose to do so.
I`m not sure if this is a dealer package option or not. I`d have to dig out the paperwork.

[doobs]

Here ya go I work for KIA and they suck, Transmissions go all the time, parts are hard to get the Kia reps have next to no knowledge, Call there help  lines and get uninformed people on the other end.


Need a purge valve for a KIA good luck the company that made them went out of business, and KIA has not acquired a vendor to make it yet.

Needed a wiring harness, looked it up ordered it, jumped thru hoops to get it. And low and behold its wrong the catalog is wrong.  And the right one is on backorder none available in country.

I gross  12k a month on kia parts and 100k a month on GM parts but KIA takes up all my time

man I could go on and on about KIA, sorry just venting.

They did get it right though with the Sorrento.

[Toad]

Originally posted by Sandman
Hmmm... aren't they offering 10 year warranties on some models?

Powertrain is 10, bumper to bumper is 5. Another plus though.

WW, I think it's only the Powertrain that does not transfer to a new owner. I think the bumper to bumper does... in fact I called Hyundai when I sold a Sonata and transferred it to the new owner.

[Jackal1]

Originally posted by Toad
Powertrain is 10, bumper to bumper is 5. Another plus though.

WW, I think it's only the Powertrain that does not transfer to a new owner. I think the bumper to bumper does... in fact I called Hyundai when I sold a Sonata and transferred it to the new owner.

You can get a ten year total wraparound as an option for an additional fee of course.