Consumer Complaint Detail

KIA / RIO / 2001

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 006086758 Incident Date: Nov, 26 2006
Consumer's City: PALM HARBOR Consumer's State: FL
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Kia Motors America
Model Name: RIO Model Year: 2001
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Engine and engine cooling
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Nov, 27 2006 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: -
Was Original Owner: No Anti-lock Brakes: No
Number of Cylinders: 4 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: 01 rio is a lemon & safety hazard. many major repairs done including the timing belt & valves rebuilt, new cooling system, both control arms & boots. wheel defect recently recalled caused excess wear/ tear on control arms, boots, alignment, tires, costing thousands of avoidable repairs. fuel intake did come lose, nearly causing an engine fire due to defective part which was recalled. it continuously misfires, engine knocks, stalls. ecm was recalled but didn't fix the problem. replaced spark plugs & wires (3 times in 6 months), ignition coil, sensors (oxygen, knock, crankshaft, temp). it stops for a 1-2 days, then comes back. annoying & dangerous. also has acceleration problem. at times, it won't go over 40 mph & also accelerates by itself. brakes have completely failed, though there's no crack in the line, no leaking fluid. the car is a complete lemon. online, there are hundreds of similar complaints. dealers are aware but conveniently can't seem to diagnose the problems especially misfiring. consumers get nickel & dimed doing needless repairs that don't fix the problem. the optima had similar problems w/crankshaft pos. sensor which was recalled, but dealer denies any relation to problems with the rio. another problem - lack of availability & high cost of parts. its bait/switch to sell a car with known problems, then guess at needless repairs & sell parts at an astronomical markup. it's cheap to buy, but repair costs make it very expensive. research shows misfiring/engine knock has also led to engine fires. also problems with air bags. my airbag light has been on since purchased, but dealer has yet to fix it. also door locking problems, people being locked in vehicles. my drivers door locks by itself (manual locks). in case of engine fire or accident, a lock malfunction could cause unnecessary death/injury. these are known problems with hundreds of complaints, yet kia has done nothing to address them. the 01 rio is a lemon and safety hazard. *jb