Kia Rio (05-11) - Review

Review by David Ross on
Last Updated: 05 January 2010
The Kia Rio is a small hatchback that's often overlooked in favour of more stylish or well known makes. But the Rio has plenty going for it, especially as a good value and cheap to run town car. It's robustly built with a neat interior, the majority of models are well equipped and it's also easy to drive with light steering. It doesn't feel especially modern inside, nor on the move where it lacks refinement and can be quite noisy at higher speeds. But both engines in the range are more than capable and return decent economy, making the Rio cheap to run. All models from January 2010 come with an unrivalled seven-year warranty as standard, replacing the previous three year scheme.
3 out of 5

Other Kia reviews

4.5 out of 5

Running costs

Whether you're buying new or used, the Rio is good value for money, plus it is cheap to run. All the engines are economical, but the diesel is especially so, returning 63mpg. Insurance ratings are low with most models group 4 or 5, although the CRDI Sport is group 6 and the petrol variant group 7. Servicing is good value at Kia dealerships and parts are generally affordable.

* based on most recent data

Estimated fuel cost for 10,000 miles per year

Unleaded

£1,306 - £1,574 *

Diesel

£1,034 - £1,068 *

The estimated fuel cost figure is a guide to how much this model will cost to fuel each year, so you can compare between cars. It's calculated by using the model's average mpg (calculated from both town centre and motorway driving) and the average fuel price. It's based on the following cost-per-litre: petrol 135p and diesel 141p. Prices are updated daily.

Summary Running Costs

Servicing period

10,000 miles.

Warranty

Three years/unlimited miles. From January 2010 all cars have a seven years/100,000 miles.

Road tax (12 months)

£30.00 - £195.00

Vehicle excise duty (VED) varies according to the CO2 emissions and the fuel type of the vehicle. For cars registered after March 1st 2001 VED or road tax is based on the car's CO2 emissions. For cars registered before March 1st 2001 it is based on engine size.

Full running costs data

3 out of 5

Green credentials

  • A
  • B
  • C
    119
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
    171
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M

CO2 emission figure (g/km)

Fuel economy rating

The arrows indicate the best and worst CO2 bands for this model.

Emissions summary

The Rio performs pretty well on the eco front, with similar emissions to other similar sized cars. The CRDi engine is the cleanest. It emits 121g/km of CO2, however in 2008 this was tweaked to 119g/km making it cheaper to tax. Economy is excellent with the diesel able to average 63mpg while the 1.4-litre manages an impressive 46mpg.

Find the exact engine and CO2