Kia Rio

Price Paid:  $12900.00 from Desert Kia, Mesa, AZ

Year / Model Reviewed:
2007 Kia Rio LX

Summary:
Everyone at the dealership was rude. Everyone promised us how great the warranty was. The guy said for the first year and 12000 miles everything is covered whether it is kia's fault, or the customers. He used an example if you spilled your drink on the radio and it needed to be replaced that it would be free. Well sure enough on the way home she hit a curb at about 15, which bent something. So we took it back to the dealership expecting them to fix it under their warranty. Now they have chagned their tune to say that since it's her fault that they won't repair it. This car was in our possession for less than 18 hours, we put less than 30 miles on it. They tried to sell us an extended warranty for 5 years and 75000 miles which they also said covers things that are kia's fault, or the customers. He said with the basic warranty if the AC stops working they can blame it on the phoenix climate and not repair it at their choice. So we were basically forced to buy the extra warranty. Now I don't know if that warranty will even be worth it's cost. Now they have our car at the dealership, they call us and tell us it needs 1429 worth of repairs. They say we bent the tie rod, lower control arm, spindle, and both left side wheels, and hubcaps. Luckily I am an ASE certified master tech, which they weren't aware of. So I headed over today after work for them to show me the damage, however they closed at 2. The guy up front said I could go around and look at it by myself. After looking at the car I've determined that one wheel needs to be replaced, 2 hubcaps, and an alignment. I think the front subframe may of shifted so it may also need to be moved back, or replaced. They told us to use our insurance since we only have a $500 deductible. I feel they are just trying to steal from us. While we were making the deal to purchase the car the salesman told us we have 48-72 hours to return the car if we're not happy for any reason. Now they say we can't return it since it's damaged, even if we pay for the repairs. Today I did some research and it turns out that Arizona does not have a 3 day "cool off" period. This dealership has been very dishonest, and we should of walked out when we caught him in his first lie. I asked him about gas mileage, and he told me it gets 45 MPG. When I told him it says 29/38 on the sticker he said that's not accurate, and that he sold a car to a guy who got 45 mpg on the freeway. When I told him that they test the car and the amount on the sticker is the average he got upset and felt like I was insulting him. We should of just left. However as a first time buyer without established credit history we were stuck with Kia. I took the car home today and the salesman mentioned something about me doing the repairs may void our warranty. This is ridiculous, nobody is required to have their car repaired at the dealership. However I do believe if we have a problem in the future they will refuse to fix it just because someone other than them worked on it.

Strengths:
none...

Weaknesses:
Cheap steal, everything about the car is cheap. If you can cause 1400 dollars worth of damage from hitting a curb at 15 mph then there is some serious doubt if you were ever in a real collision with another car.

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