2001 Kia Rio Review

Specifications

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Ive driven a few Rios over the years and was always surprised at how well put together the car is for such a low price. Its interior doesnt offer premium tactile quality or anything, but its fit and finish goes above and beyond many competitors despite its lowest price in America status.

The more obvious surface quality translates into subsurface reliability as well, at least in the Kia Rios case. In its initial three years, only one recall caused owners the need to visit their local dealers unexpectedly, an impressively low statistic compared to most domestic and European makes.

The irony is that most consumers would rate Kia, and its South Korean compatriot Hyundai at the lower end of the quality scale due to their bottom feeder price points when new. But as Kia has recently shown, you dont have to spend a lot to get a good, reliable little car.

The Rio looks good too. Whether in 4-door sedan or 5-door Cinco guise, it has an upscale design in a class that is made up of fairly utilitarian-style rivals. Actually, I like the original chrome embellished 2001 through 2002 version better than the mid-cycle upgrade that modified the grille, headlights, front fascia, front fenders, taillights and rear fascia for 2003. The first had a cleaner look, truer to the original designers initial stylistic intentions.

The metal that the design is made up of is a little on the tinny side, expected in this class of car, but despite this the first generation Rio sedan achieved a 4 rating (the best being 5) for driver and passenger safety in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) crash tests. Specifically the crash test number 4 indicates the Rio has a 10 to 20 percent chance for serious injury in front- and side-impact collisions or rollovers. A 5 suggests a 10 percent chance for serious injuries or less.

So the Rio is a safe car, and should offer better than average reliability, but whats it like to drive? In a previous test drive of a new 2002 model, I stated that the Rios 96 horsepower 1.5-litre 4-cylinder surprised me with its peppy performance and fairly smooth idle when the optional 4-speed automatic transmission was in park. When shifted into drive at a full stop, a slight vibration occurred. I felt the shifts were fairly smooth thanks to a variable force solenoid. Personally Id opt for the standard 5-speed manual transmission, which on another test proved to be quite well suited to the engine. In the end the Rios 2,134 lb curb weight helped it to perform fairly well overall, with its 27 mpg city and 35 mpg highway fuel economy, an important factor with todays inflationary fuel prices, winning me over.

I also felt the little Kia was a fairly decent handling car despite the lack of a fully independent suspension. Instead, independent struts are up front and a torsion beam is in the rear. Handling is further hampered due to skinny, low-friction tires, specified to increase fuel economy. Just the same the Rio managed tight corners when new with only moderate body lean and delivered a reasonable highway ride.

I can remember not being too impressed with the brakes. Only those in front are ventilated discs, with merely adequate rear drums and no antilock system in charge of holding back the rear mass. While the Rio was somewhat effective for normal stopping on dry pavement, its ability to stop quickly in panic situations, especially during inclement weather, was less than optimal. An important thing to keep in mind, however, was that none of its competitors offered ABS in their sub-compact cars from 2001 to 2002.

The Rio was initially available in two trim configurations, including the base “S” that came standard with cloth seats, drivers side lumbar support, tinted windows, intermittent wipers, height-adjustable seatbelt anchors, rear child seat tether anchors, dual vanity mirrors and dual airbags, and the “RS” that added power steering, tilt steering wheel, drivers seat armrest, drivers seat height adjuster, AM/FM cassette, body-color mirrors, side moldings and exterior door handles, a rear deck spoiler, black and chrome grille, remote trunk release and full wheel covers. The “LS” which featured power windows, central door locks, power mirrors, tachometer and an AM/FM in-dash CD audio system was dropped from 2002 on. What floored me the most was the lack of a CD player; odd being that Kia was targeting the Rio at the young adult segment.

While missing the mark in the audio department, I was particularly impressed with the interiors overall good looks. Front and rear it featured adequate leg and elbowroom while the seating was comfortable and offered a good view of the road. Seat and door materials were attractive too, with a multi-color fleck splashed on gray cloth. The quality of dash, console and door plastic was slightly better than average as previously stated, while the interiors fit and finish was again very good. Large white on black gauges were easily visible through the tilt steering wheel and quality switchgear was, and should be still located logically throughout the drivers area.

In the end, if you believe the J.D. Power and Associates and Consumer Reports ratings, that position anything Kia makes as below average, you probably shouldnt go out and snap up a used Rio. But such surveys dont speak a specific models entire story, and the fact that the little car was only plagued with a single recall is a sure sign of designers and engineers paying close attention to details - mixed with the fact that simple cars like the Rio experience less opportunity for complicated programs to muddle up their good reliability records.

Being that the cars sold for $11,995 in 2001 when new, albeit was just about as basic as the mind could imagine, the Rio holds its value quite well. Initially, loading the Rio up moved the price closer to the base price of a larger compact, but still reasonable considering the full load of features. Obviously what a car is worth in 2001, when new, is going to affect the asking price for the same year car in 2004. For instance the top price as shown by US.AutoTrader.com for a top-of-the-line 2002 Cinco is $9,000 (May 29, 2004). The cheapest Rio on the popular web-based service shows a 2001 sedan going for just under $4,000.

When push comes to shove theres only one thing that forces cars to hold their values, a demand for the supply. The fact that Rios are still worth so much in the marketplace, says a lot about how people feel about the car. Like me they probably appreciate its stylish outer appearance and better than average interior. They probably enjoy its “peppy” performance and more so, look forward to zipping by refueling stations day after day, all the while laughing at owners of large sport utility vehicles.

The tiny Kia Rio has earned a respectable place in the hearts of Americas new car owners, and now its time to do the same in the pre-owned marketplace. The little subcompact does most everything well, making it a good bet for an A to B runabout.