Impromptu Face-off: Kia Rio versus Toyota Vios

**eggman** · September 25th, 2006 03:56 AM

The Rio is the best anyway the 1.4 sedan is meant to compete with the Vios 1.3 J which is getting too generic these days at mas ok ang Rio ngayon kasya nung dati.

**mazdamazda** · September 25th, 2006 08:56 AM

For my money I'd buy the Kia Rio.

The European-inspired exterior is reason enough to buy this baby. The only thing missing is some decent tire + rim package.

The engine response at low rpm is very good (even when fully laden as we've tested it a month ago). The manual tranny & clutch feels good. The interior is also better executed than the Vios. My only gripe is the rather narrow driver's footwell.

**Psylocke** · September 25th, 2006 09:50 AM

The only doubt in people's minds is durability. If they'd bring that 5-year KIA warranty here then I'd buy one...

**wakin** · September 25th, 2006 10:19 AM

true. imho, they maybe at par with another but durability comes first for the pinoys.

**qman** · September 25th, 2006 10:39 AM

niky nakuha mo rin ang data ng fuel consumption ng dalawa

OT na pero what about the fuel consumption ng Sportage sori po

**userfriendly** · September 25th, 2006 11:15 AM

Since we are talking about Kia, just want to ask what year did they improve their quality. I'm asking bec you are saying that Kia's quality has improved a lot. My experience has not been as good. We have a company car, a 2002 kia pregio and it has a lot of minor problems. Nothing major, so far, but a lot of small annoying things. So my question is have they improved significantly quality wise since 2002?

**theveed** · September 25th, 2006 01:00 PM

Saw the Rio first hand nung weekend, looks great and the interior is less claustrophobic than the Vios.. Eurong Euro ang dating talaga... The consumption posted sa C! makes is comparable to the 1.3 Vios/City as well.

**niky** · September 25th, 2006 03:08 PM

The 2002 Pregio was merely an evolutionary changeover from the previous Pregio, which is directly descended from their licensed Asian vans, all based on ancient Mazda technology.

I guess, there was still a bit of chance involved in quality with the borrowed Pregio chassis and technology... my cousin has a 2002 that he uses for rental (up to five trips a week, full load), and he hasn't had any headaches yet.

Another one has the K2700, same story... the cab is starting to rust from all the scratches, dings and water he uses it to carry (they live in BF, no water pressure, so they need to get water from their place here in Laguna) and it's still in good mechanical condition. I used it to move house two years ago.

For Asian vans like the Pregio, L300 and the like, quality is always a question mark... I've heard of horror stories left and right about Bestas, Pregios, Urvans (for crying out loud) and L300s. It all depends on workload, engine use, fuel quality and maintenance, but I suppose there's a fudge factor in there somewhere that hits people.

As for Kia's engine development, they've had problems with some of their engines. The 1st all-new engine they put in the Coupe had reliability issues, old van engines had issues, and even the new Coupe isn't the best in reliability... but the long warranties and the quality citations they get for other models points to the fact that they're working hard to cure this.

It might be hard to accept that Kia may be a decent choice nowadays, but one look at the Picanto thread, with tons of happy users, should ease your mind with regards to the quality of at least some of their cars.

**woulfe27** · September 25th, 2006 03:18 PM

both 1.3 variants of the Vios have driver side airbags. No ABS, though.

**mazdamazda** · September 25th, 2006 03:30 PM

The hordes of satisfied Sedona, Sorento & Picanto owners here on the boards should be enough to keep durability concerns at bay.

As for Toyota - don't get me started on that one. Even the Japan CBU Rav4 has its fair share of headaches for me.

All in all - the quality of Korean & Japanese vehicles are at par with each other.