KIA? econo car or junk?

[NM5K]

A friend of mine has had a Rio for a few years, and he hasn't had any major problems with it.
His son is now driving it at college.. For the money, I think they are ok. And I hear the newer
ones are better than the older ones, so they seem to be gradually improving.
We've had his Rio and my 05 Corolla side by side to compare, and we both agree the
Corolla is the better car overall, but the Corolla costs a good bit more..
And my Corolla has windup windows.. I had electric windows on a previous Accord
I had, and at the end I was starting to have switch problems..
With the windup windows, just that much less to break.. :/
They don't bother me, as I usually only roll down my drivers window anyway if
I do open a window..
I think he only paid about $9-10k or so for the Rio he bought, and that was brand new.
The Corolla I have I paid that same amount, but it was used "2 yrs old" with 24k miles on it..
New ones are $15k plus.. Anyway, if I wanted a new car on a budget I wouldn't be
afraid to buy a Rio judging from how his has held up.
The only drawback to his, is no OD gear.. Which my Corolla does have.. So I rev
less on the highway than his Rio does, and get a bit better mpg.. I get up to 43 mpg
on the highway with the Corolla.. He probably gets in the mid 30's or so..
The Corolla is a tad more "fancy" looking I suppose.. It's kinda like a baby Camry..
Pretty comfortable car for a compact.

[ezernut9mm]

get a ford focus. i forget which year they changed engines, but my wife has an 05 2.0 se we bought used in 08 with 50k on the clock. it now has 91k and i have not done a single thing to this car except oil changes. it is about ready for tires, but the brakes are still good and it don't burn any oil. everything still works like it should. this is coming from a guy that has bought his wife everything from a corolla to a sentra and i am happier with this car than all the rest. it was even a rental car and has been wrecked in the front. (btw, don't ever trust carfax). i found out after the purchase and could have probably gotten my money back, but it's been so reliable that i'm not gonna complain.

[DuckRyder]

I got a Kia for a loaner...

My after 100 miles in it:

JUNK...

[Mancar1]

What a name to give a vehicle. Being retired military, KIA has a whole different meaning to me, and a whole lot of others. But what the heck, the name means something else in KIA land.