By James R. Healey, USA TODAY
The 2009 Kia Rio test car, a small sedan, made a terrific first impression because of its eye-popping red paint. Pretty shallow, huh?
But in this case, the paint was symbolic. It had a rich, premium sheen, and that theme held up, more or less, throughout the car.
Rio, it can be reported with delight, is an example of how to make an inexpensive car that doesn't look or feel cheap. It was a pleasant surprise among rides that are right for the Great Recession, especially after a disappointing bare-bones version of Nissan Versa (Test Drive, Feb. 27) and the uninspiring Toyota Yaris five-door (Test Drive, March 13).
The current version of Rio was introduced as a 2006 model. The '09 tested is almost identical to the '08 model, except '09s get a new audio system that includes built-in satellite radio hardware, a different gauge design and different climate controls. Rio is available as a four door sedan and a "five-door" (four-door hatchback), which is identical except for the body configuration.
The Rio sedan is worth a look because the bare-bones base model starts at an alluring $12,145 and comes with hard-to-ignore warranties: 10 years/100,000 miles on the powertrain, five years/60,000 miles on most everything else, which matches most luxury cars. Three years/36,000 miles is typical for non-luxury brands. The Rio5 hatchback, not tested, has no bare-bones version.
The really, really, really red Rio sedan test car was an LX (starting at $13,875), one step up from the base. For the higher price, LX gives you air-conditioning, adjustable steering column, split-folding rear seat and input jacks for both an iPod-like device and a USB drive.
Kia says Rio's been its highest-quality model. It scored first among subcompacts in J.D. Power and Associates' Initial Quality Survey in 2006 and 2007, and second in 2008. The '09 ranking is not yet available.
The brand as a whole also has moved up in Power's '09 Vehicle Dependability Study, which measures problems in 3-year-old models. The '09 results, out Thursday, showed Kia 27th of 37 brands, up from 35th of 37 in '08.
Read the entire article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/reviews/healey/2009-03-19-test-drive-kia-rio-review_N.htm
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