Overview & Reviews

The 2012 Kia Rio is fully redesigned.

• Stylish design inside and out
• Feels bigger than it is.
• Long warranty coverage
• Plenty of standard and optional features

• Engine can get noisy.

User Reviews:

Showing 1 through 10 of 24.00

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  Terrible Gas Mileage in a Well Built Car - 2012 Kia Rio
  By worknman - November 27 - 11:03 pm

  In Dec 2011,my wife and I bought a brand new Kia Rio 5Dr Ex in red. The people at the Kia dealership were great and practically one of the only reasons we bought the car when we did besides the supposedly excellent gas mileage. Unfortunately,this car get barely 30 miles per gallon hwy and 26 miles per a gallon city. And the great six speed auto transmission downshifts two gears on even the smallest hill,making the cruise control practically unusable for gas mileage runs. Our Kia is extremely well built and attractive. It is fun to drive too. But we really needed it to make the gas mileage Kia said it would. Now we will get rid of it to buy a 5 speed Toyota Yaris

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  Im Happy... - 2012 Kia Rio
  By mattman44 - March 22 - 4:28 am

  If youre looking for an SX with premium pkg, GOOD LUCK! There were 8 available east of Kansas when I looked. Traveled 350mi by train to get it. Features for price cant be beat. Things laid out well and user friendly. Smaller in back but bigger in front than Versa but Id prefer the styling to the smaller space. I hate the transmission. Manual in SX please! Gas debate - computer is 4mpg high. With math I get 38 each tank in 70/30 hwy+. Comp says 41-43. Forget ECO use manumatic in city. Hwy keep under 75 with steady foot. Dont drive like a moron and you can get good gas mileage. Comp reads 403 at fill up. I get btw 330 and 360 per tank. 6K miles so far, hope to get over 40 after break in.

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  Great Gas Mileage. Priced to high. - 2012 Kia Rio
  By larrytauch - September 15 - 3:17 pm

  The New KIA RIO is a eye catcher. We averaged 37 MPG around our Town. On the Highway we got 42.3 MPG, and it wasnt a Hybrid. Front Passenger Seat is mounted to low. Drivers Seat was fine with manual height adjustment. If you need Power leave the ECO button off. If you want Great Gas Mileage leave the ECO button engaged! We have had our KIA RIO LX Sedan for 21 mths. Parts are mostly only available at the Dealer! Parts are very expensive!

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  Short on MPG promised - 2012 Kia Rio
  By lholt - April 16 - 1:22 pm

  Had the Rio hatchback for one year. Never came close to the 40 MPG. I drive 60 miles a day and average about 34. This driving at about 65 mph. The car ride was noisy until I bought some good tires. The car is peppy and keeps up with traffic. I now have 16000 miles on the car and havent had any problems.

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  5,000 Mile Review - 2012 Kia Rio
  By vod - July 9 - 11:49 am

  We purchased an EX automatic to use primarily as a local runabout and occasional highway runs. Decision came down to the Kia or Honda Fit. Chose the Kia based on better responsiveness, quieter ride, interior comfort, interior design and lengthy warranty. Mileage has matched EPA estimates. Exterior styling is such a personal issue that no comment is necessary.

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  Like the car but gas mileage is not there - 2012 Kia Rio
  By talanj - July 4 - 8:40 am

  Good little car. Great features. Good price. Good warranty. Good dealer service. Car scoots along good on the highway. By far the best looking car in the class.

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  KIA RIO PINGING BAD?USE PREMIUM GAS --ECO MODE OFF! - 2012 Kia Rio
  By worknman - June 26 - 7:08 am

  Our Kia developed a severe pinging issue running regular gas especially with the ECO mode on. The Kia Forum website states that Kia is running a series of ecm ( engine control computer ) software patches to solve this issue. Many people on that forum have had the patches done and these patches have largely only helped for a few weeks before the bad pinging came back. I finally decided that I didnt want to destroy my engine no matter how great the Kia warranty supposedly is. I started using PREMIUM - NAME BRAND GAS AND TURNED THE ECO MODE OFF. After four gas tanks full of this, our Kia is running and shifting better and smoother then it ever did new. more below-

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  Excellent good-looking car that is value for money - 2012 Kia Rio
  By sunbomb - February 24 - 8:42 pm

  For a customer profile like mine (already own a minivan, looking for commuter car) this is a great option to have. The car itself would probably satisfy a lot of other profiles, but it is smack in the middle of my demo. Cargo space is not that great, but that is not why I bought this car. I bought this with the convenience package which included UVO (a cool addition) and the rearview camera. No need for nav if you already have a smartphone. Car handles beautifully and very little of the harsh rides associated with sub-compacts. Really like the looks and the interior. A lot of reviews have commented on how the interior does not look as cheap as other cars in the class.

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  This is really just an update - 2012 Kia Rio
  By talanj - April 21 - 10:55 am

  Ive have a 2012 sedan and I was getting around 32 mpg. Ive now got about 12k miles on the car in 6 months. Ive had 1 minor issue. At about 11.5k mile the CE light came on. I took it to the dealer and they said it needed a software update. That did fix the CE. Ive gone through a couple tanks of gas since and It does seem that my MPG is up a few miles per gallon. All and all its a nice little car, looks good and cruises along pretty good.