In a moment of bravery, Kia brought an example of what might be the rarest type of car to the Los Angeles Auto Show – a new car with a price well under $20,000. Oh yes, it’s Rio time.
See, auto shows are opportunities for manufacturers to showcase what they can do, which often means bringing out fully-loaded models priced thousands of dollars above the mainline trims of the automotive kingdom. This generally devolves into a pissing match about who can cram the most piano black plastic into a car, which helps absolutely nobody. However, a set of honest hubcaps caught my eye from across the convention center hall and I was drawn to this Rio like a cobra to a clarinet.
The best part is that this isn’t even a loaded Rio; there’s a Technology Package you can add to the S trim to bump pricing and features. However, the S trim represents a bit of a sweet spot. For a mere $640 more than a base LX model, the Rio S gets cruise control, an armrest, keyless entry, 60:40 split-folding rear seats, an extra USB port, and a wider selection of colors like this lovely red. Sure, that all sounds a bit 2000s, but there’s nothing wrong with that.
Nor is there anything wrong with the Rio as a whole, come to think of it. Okay, the $155 charge for carpet floor mats on this show car is a bit unfortunate considering how some manufacturers throw mats in for free, but this thing comes to $18,440 including a $1,095 freight charge and those $155 floor mats. For that sort of money, you get wireless CarPlay, air conditioning, power windows, and rather lovely design and build quality. Sure, there’s a little bit of orange peel in the paint and many interior plastics aren’t exactly soft-touch, but slight orange peel is par for the course these days and any hard plastics you’ll find will be tightly-grained and feel hard-wearing. There’s a sense of sturdiness to this car that makes it feel like money well spent.
What’s more, the interior design is rather nice. The silver applique on the dashboard really brightens up the space, while piano black nonsense is kept to a minimum. Simple knobs for the HVAC controls are utterly foolproof, the button for the rear defroster is large enough to easily tap while wearing massive winter mittens, and the seat fabric features a funky triangular pattern that breaks the monotony of black materials. The eight-inch touchscreen looks chuffing enormous in a car this size, and a physical tuning knob is the sort of useful relic we wholeheartedly support. Also, aren’t black materials nicer than the sort of mouse fur grey you’d find in older economy cars?
Interior space is rather good as well. I’m a human of fairly average height, so I’m pleased to report that I can comfortably sit behind my own driving position. Granted, a big part of it is that the Rio is huge for a subcompact car. It’s 172.6 inches long, rides on a 101.6-inch wheelbase, has a width of 67.9 inches, and weighs 2,767 pounds. That’s quite similar to the dimensions of a Corolla from 20 model years ago, so the Rio is just the right size for America.
With the era of zero percent financing over and used car prices remaining high, Kia made the right call by putting the Rio S on its LA stand. It’s a car that people can actually afford, something that’s vanishing from the face of the American automotive landscape. The Hyundai Accent is dead, the Chevrolet Spark is dead, the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris have long since departed, and the only competitors still hanging on for 2023 are the Mitsubishi Mirage and the Nissan Versa. While Nissan did have a Versa on its stand, it was a loaded SR model that starts at $20,815 including a $1,095 freight charge, so Kia gets the win on cheapest new four-wheeled car at the show.
[Editor’s Note: I agree. If I’m a young person, perhaps a high-schooler or recent college grad or just someone with a tight budget looking for something safe and cheap, I’d have a hard time at the LA Auto Show finding something in my budget. This Kia gives that demographic something realistic to try out, and I think more automakers should follow in Kia’s footsteps. We don’t need a loaded version of everything on the floor! -DT].
So, who else is going to step up to the plate and bring a sensible trim level of a sensible car to an auto show stand? Perhaps we’ll see a Nissan Sentra SV, a Hyundai Elantra SEL, or a Volkswagen Jetta SE at a show at some point. While fully-loaded cars do a great job of showcasing gadgets, they aren’t always the cars people spend their money on.
Kia recall history, yada yada, eh, I’ll throw out an anecdote instead. I had a 2015 Rio rental that had under 100 miles on it and it was worse than 20+ yo parts cars I’ve driven. Felt flimsier than an ‘80s economy car and a look at the crash structure only made that initial assessment seem optimistic. But that’s not the safety that concerned me so much as the throttle lag followed by transmission lag from a stop that could practically be timed with a watch missing a second hand before the gutless POS would start to move and barely at that until it hit 3500. Almost got rear ended several times even with plenty of space to pull out. Still, the best I got was 23 mpg from the Rio’s 1.6. Twenty-three. My Focus ST averaged 30 in the same driving (and I paid a little over $23k for it….damn, 2015 was a LONG time ago) and was better in every single possible way—even being quieter and better riding. Of course, you can’t get those now and the base hybrid Maverick might as well be a winged horse, but these are the Walmart bicycles of the car world and an OK used car is a better buy than this throwaway junk.
It’s possible that your bad experience with a lowest-tier rental car from eight model years ago is not necessarily relevant to anything discussed in the article.
With it being harder and harder to find a pedestrian vehicle that isn’t over $40k, and used cars hardly being “deals” in comparison, I’d be real tempted to go get one of these if I needed a car tomorrow.
Unfortunately Kia dealers would make me think twice about it, and also likely try to make it more expensive that it should be.
One place you will find these is in rental car fleets. I had one of these for a few days in Miami in the spring and honestly? good car. Steering is nice, rides nice, interior is eh ok, driving position is good though. Do I wish we had the hatch? sure. But this is a really fine car and I liked it more than I expected.
No doubt consumers need more choices & more affordable products, however the LA Auto Show is primarily a manufacturer industry-level show, and not like the auto show circuit in secondary cities across the country with local dealers’ inventory on the floor. I just wish the manufacturers had at least one example of each model, regardless of trim (for example Mazda had a 3 sedan but no 3 hatchback at the LA show).
I was just cursing out a Kia this morning at the shop. They have most of the structural integrity of a sheet of soggy toilet paper.
If I was in the market for cheap wheels, I would go with the Nissan Versa S with the manual transmission. . .but I am not. So, there’s that.
Ive been so out of touch with nissan designs lately i actually had to find a picture.
Not too bad.It’s a giant step up from the ugliness of pre ’13
Here’s the thing though, Thomas. US$18,440 is not cheap for a Kia Rio S.
Australia gets the same car and it can be had with a manual transmission. In this format, it’s AU$19,690 with the auto costing another $1,300 on top. Both prices are after taxes but before dealer delivery and registration which would add a further $3,500 to the price.
So for the manual Rio S that’s AU$23,100…or just a bit over US$15,400. For the auto, it’s the equivalent of a smidge over US$17,000. And that’s on the road…
Except that Kia has a long running factory offer on the Rio which means that Kia actually price the manual Rio S at just AU$21,490 drive away which is the equivalent of US$14,360…and the auto would be around US$15,360.
And it’s not a bare bones version either…
https://www.kia.com/au/cars/rio/specification.html
And this isn’t the cheapest car that Kia offers in this market… that label falls to the really quite good Picanto.
It’s a damn shame we don’t get the Picanto. Basically every market it’s sold in calls it the best in its class, and it’s super cute to boot.
Manufacturers always mark their stuff up a bit in the US, probably because of federalization costs or something, or because they know consumers here will just bend over and take it.
That keyed ignition is unfortunate with the rash of kia thefts going on these days.
Apparently the newer (last year or two) Kia/Hyundai do not have the ignition vulnerability. The higher trim levels with proximity fobs and pushbutton start don’t have that problem either. Though I wonder if that just means the potential thief will break your window and trash the steering column before giving up.
Stealing Kias and Hyundais. This is what my life has come to. :SIGH:
Or Maverick hybrid with better gas mileage, more room and a semi-useable bed….. At essentially the same price*…..
*the maverick is made of unobtanium, but hey the stickers are pretty damn close.
Right.
I can go to a Kia dealer and have an experience only slightly less crappy than getting beat with sticks for multiple hours, but I’ll eventually leave with a Kia.
From what I’ve read, trying to get a Maverick is at least somewhat luck of the draw, may not preclude the stick beating, and you still might come away empty handed without even an empty promise of having the privilege to wait for 12 months to take delivery on one.
Hence the reason they’re nearly impossible to get—garbage like this are its near competitor and that’s also why these are likely in stock.
The grill is too small. I’d rather pay thousands more for a bigger grill.
Ahhh. Sounds like you NEED a pickup truck.
Do you work in market research? You seem to know what you are talking about.
And they’ll sell maybe 20,000 a year, and hardly any will be base models.
The past couple of years have shown me that people enjoy complaining about high car and gas prices a lot more than they enjoy solving either of them.
New cars are too expensive, this is ridiculous! *Buys loaded Camry XLE V6 for $40k*
Gas prices are too expensive, this is ridiculous! *Buys F-250 for office commute*
So on point… A co worker that makes the same, or a little less than me (not that much) just spent $85k on an F150 Black Widow, while I’m courting a new economy car in the $15k-25k range, and he has a wife and two kids to take care of (I do not).
So I shamed him for his $85k penis extension… felt appropriate.
I’m a sales manager for a building materials company. Employer requires everyone to buy a new personal vehicle every 4 years, and also sets a minimum MSRP of $25,000. We all do 2,000+ business miles a month. Had a big sales conference, at the bar afterward, everyone was sitting around complaining about putting gas in their trucks, I bought a $27,000 Hyundai that touches 60mpg highway, it was basically all white noise to me. Someone argued that, because we sometimes have to drive out to job sites, he needed a truck. I pointed out that the parking areas our customers set aside for their construction workers are usually peppered with beat up old Corollas and Focuses, and if those guys can make it to work everyday in those, then I can certainly get in there with what I’ve got. I mean, even if you have to park closer to the entrance and walk in, not a big deal, you usually have to walk the site anyway.
Employer requires everyone to buy a new personal vehicle every 4 years, and also sets a minimum MSRP of $25,000.
Whaa? I have never heard of such a thing. If company cars are so important, perhaps the company should provide them. Or is it more “Here’s $25K for your company car, but you can pick it out yourself”? Why would they care about your personal vehicle?
I have no idea, when I started, it was explained to me as an “optional” program I could use if I wanted (either keep the car I had and get the IRS reimbursement rate per mile) OR join their program and get a fixed monthly payment + 15 cents a mile. I was perfectly happy with the car I had, and was not planning to buy a new one until around 2024, BUT, it became pretty clear that my boss didn’t fully understand the rules, either, when he hired me, and, as the only one in the company with an older, non-compliant car, I apparently started to attract attention from upper management and was told the government rate is really only intended for hourly employees that might need to travel once in a while for a meeting or training, but salaried, middle management types like me, who routinely travel, were absolutely expected to be on the fixed monthly plan and I really needed to get a new car that complied with it ASAP.
Had I known in advance, it might well have been a deal breaker that would have made me decline the job, but, whatever. The rules are no more than 4 years old, minimum price of $25,000, and at least 4 doors (unless a pickup truck, you can own a new regular cab pickup if you want and can find one).
It doesn’t even have a manual transmission!
I rather like the S 5-door. It’s also about the last subcompact hatch you can buy in the US, and way more car than a Mirage for not much more money.
If I could walk into a KIA dealer with $20k in my pocket and exchange it for a Rio5, I would. There are two factors that make this impossible:
A) there are <100 of them available in the US. Cars.com lists 78.
B) KIA dealers are horrible. They will tack on $2k to the MSRP, and they really don't want to sell cars – they want to sell car *loans*.
Especially “B”. Car manufacturers often make more money on loans than they do on cars. The offerings are priced accordingly, so that people of average means can’t afford any of the new car offerings without going into debt. We need a good, efficient, reliable $15k car again that in some metric offers really good value for the money to where it competes on that metric with cars 2x or more the cost. It’s doable, but such a thing will cannibalize the sales of more expensive, higher-margined products and less loans will be sold.
But does this Rio dance in the sand? I think not!
Only on film
They’ll be available as rentals soon.It would be rude to not at least try,right?
I highly suggest a bridge instead of dancing to cross the Rio Grande in this thing. Otherwise, it will be quite the opposite of a dry and dusty land.
Piano black is a scourge
Its a marvel of the power of marketing – they’ve literally managed to convince people that hard, shiny, monochrome plastic is somehow a premium material.
I miss the Honda Fit. Such a clever car that people slept on.
same, trying to replace our 2009 and there’s nothing out there. somehow a 2023 HR-V gets worse gas mileage AND a slower 0-60, like what the fuck?
No manual? That doesn’t seem cheerful.
Well at least this example is on the chromatic spectrum a good distance from white/silver/black. That cheers me up.
The 2023 Subaru Impreza is an AWD sedan with a standard 5-speed for $19,795. The hatchback is $500 more and if you don’t opt for the manual you get standard Eyesight (vision-based automatic cruise control and emergency braking) on all trims.
Wait, wireless CarPlay? That’s not available on many much more expensive cars.
Back in the mid 00’s when I felt the ability to buy a new car for the first time in my life was just around the corner I went to car shows to find out what I like, what I don’t, what I can afford, and what I would aspire to afford. (And by “I” I mean my wife.) The idea of going around to dealerships feels real skeevy and the car show was the ideal environment to shop. I suspect there are many more such potential sales roaming around the show floor than the mfrs believe and they’d do well to court those people more than they do.
Unfortunately it’s a Kia, which means dealing with their dealer network. This is bad in every way. Yes, sticker says $18K but you’ll be likely to be paying 20K when it’s said and done. Along with that, their sales people will have their way with you and you’ll have to deal with it.
I’m still going with a nice used car is a better choice than dealing with Kia dealers.
Is the U.S. market too protectionist to make small cars like this profitable (i.e. after federalization, shipping, marketing, etc. etc.) or is it just manufacturers thinking the number of sales they’d achieve stateside aren’t worth the slim margins on such models? (likely a combination of both) Because every manufacturer offers something like this overseas (Honda City, Toyota Etios, etc.) yet don’t see fit to bring them here which seems like a damn shame considering you have to own a car to partake in America’s favorite form of ‘public’ transportation (roads).
It just seems really odd that ‘developing markets’ get brand new $12k cars whereas we can hardly break $20k; I don’t think it’s down to crash testing, either. For federalization IIRC the crash test standards are not that difficult, it’s the (optional) IIHS that assigns a star rating and is considerably more stringent. I don’t want to make this political, but it seems like abandoning this price bracket is just another way to punish the poor for not having enough money to buy a Ford Escape.
More like it’s manufacturers realizing that for the sale of every low-margin cheap car sold, it means a higher-margin more-expensive crossover or SUV isn’t sold. Can’t afford it? We have 96-month payment plans to help you “afford” it.
Part of it is the CAFE system, which incentivizes car manufacturers to upsell customers to SUVs because those don’t have to meet the stringent fuel economy standards that the same-size passenger car would. Another part is, as you mention, protectionism: our standards for crash safety and emissions are neither better nor worse than worldwide standards, but they are just different enough to make manufacturers have to spec a specific version of a model for the US market. I’m not familiar with the particulars, but my understanding is that manufacturers already have to meet three basic emission standards for most models: a LHD version that complies with Euro emissions standards, a RHD version of the same, and then a global-spec version that complies with developing markets’ looser emissions standards. Introducing a model to the US means having to develop a fourth version of an emissions system, which is something manufacturers don’t want to do for low-margin models. And that doesn’t go into crash safety standards, which vary by market, or protectionist policies such as the US chicken tax which effectively forces companies to manufacture their US-market trucks in North America.
As the owner of a 2011 Rio LX in the starring role as my DD, I approve this article.
Several observations some of which are, of course, 11 years out of date. Dynamat-like sound insulation in my LX is almost, but not quite non-existent. On certain concrete roadways the tire noise is equal to or greater than the noise in my Jeep TJ, which sports no carpet or insulation and MT tires. I’ve no scientific measure to back up this claim, other than the amount I need to crank the radios to hear podcasts. My point is, were I to buy a new Rio, I’d test it on various road surfaces to learn if Kia uses more sound insulation than it did 11 years ago.
Fuel economy varies from 36 to 39 MPG depending on how much I use the left lane and the AC. Not bad for a non-hybrid.
The article mentions dimensions. I can’t speak to the current model, but the trunk on my Rio is bigger than the trunk in Mrs. OverlandingSprinter’s Subaru Legacy, which is a larger and much quieter vehicle. The back seat is comfortable for adults, as Thomas mentions. Not a big deal for a commuter car, except when I need to haul kids and other awkward cargo that doesn’t or shouldn’t go in the trunk.
Usually, I leave the thing unlocked because of the Tic-Tok challenge. I figure if someone with a USB cable wants a joyride, I’d rather get the car back with intact windows.
Automakers used to brag about how little they could sell a car for. I guess now that would be a deterrent to sales, as many people seem to WANT to spend more.
It’s hard seeing the bottom of the market getting so close to 20k. This doesn’t seem like an awful car to spend your money on it you do need a new car.
Least expensive model S in red is $23,600 in my area. However the window sticker said it should be a MSRP/shipping at $18,885. So they want $5K over MSRP for a Rio?
“Black Friday Special” at a local dealer here is $1500 over MSRP. Plus $500 profit fee…aka “processing fee”. So $2000 over MSRP I guess. Another wants like $2500.