Welcome back to Shitbox Showdown, our daily routine of checking out the country’s cheaper used cars. Today, let’s head to Washington, D.C. in search of some family-friendly rides that aren’t crossovers or SUVs. However, before we get into that, we should probably take a look at how Friday’s Camry vs. Lexus battle went.
The Lexus takes it by a country mile as a quad-cam V8 and rear-wheel-drive prove hard to resist, even taking into account the car’s modified state. Anyway, let’s jump into today’s event. While many of us like to think that we can keep stables of roadsters and sports sedans, life often eventually forces its hand regarding practicality. Once a partner, children, a dog, family trips, daycare, sporting events, and all that stuff comes into the equation, a hatch really helps. However, not everyone wants the bulk of an SUV, a crossover, or even a minivan, so here are two right-sized rides fit for duty.
2007 Kia Rondo LX V6- $2,400
Engine/drivetrain: 2.7-liter V6 engine, five-speed automatic gearbox, front-wheel-drive.
Location: Ashburn, Virginia
Odometer reading: 200,250 miles
Runs/drives? You bet.
America hasn’t received many compact people movers over the past two decades or so. In fact, only two found a modicum of traction: The sliding door-equipped Mazda 5 and this, the Kia Rondo. Sure, it might not have sliding doors, but this tall egg was available with three rows of seats for proper family-hauling duties.
[Editor’s Note: Wow, the Kia Rondo. There’s a car I haven’t thought of in a while. -DT]
Powering this particular Rondo is the top-spec 2.7-liter V6, a rather reliable engine good for 192 horsepower, albeit not a terribly refined engine. Power goes to the front wheels through a five-speed automatic with a manual mode for when you really need to get to Home Depot before it closes, although don’t expect this thing to be particularly snappy.
On the outside, this unusual MPV looks remarkably well-kept for having more than 200,000 miles on the clock, with wear on the window trims, chapping on the load lip, and foggy headlights being really the only signs of age. Sure, the styling may look a bit dorky, but visibility is outstanding, and the tall roofline means space for equally-tall cargo or even passengers wearing absurdly large hats.
Moving to the interior, this particular Rondo was optioned with five seats, meaning that it gives up some passenger capacity for a truly massive cargo area. What’s more, second-row passengers are pampered with air vents and, if memory serves correctly, adjustable recline. As for general wear and tear, everything looks quite good including the driver’s outer bolster. Lovely stuff.
1999 Volvo V70 GLT – $1,900
Engine/drivetrain: 2.4-liter turbocharged inline-five engine, four-speed automatic gearbox, front-wheel-drive.
Location: Washington, D.C.
Odometer reading: 190,000 miles
Runs/drives? Absolutely.
If you live in America and are under the age of 55, you probably think of a Volvo when someone mentions the words ‘station wagon.’ The Swedish marque may not have invented the practical family long-roof, but it arguably perfected the genre by melding spaciousness with a pathological obsession with safety. Wagons such as this 1999 V70 GLT built Volvo a reputation as the wagon people, full stop.
Under the hood of the V70 sits a 2.4-liter inline-five with a light-pressure turbocharger good for 190 horsepower. Sure, the automatic gearbox isn’t the most inspired way of putting power to the front wheels, but it should be effortless. What’s more, the seller seems like exactly the sort of person you’d want to buy a used Volvo from, claiming they have “Ample service records available over the years detailing the thousands of dollars invested in keeping this Volvo in top shape, including timing belt at 70k and 140k miles.”
Judging from the exterior, this V70 has seen a lot of life over the past 23 years. The front bumper’s seen a couple of knocks including some gnarly white paint transfer, and the rear bumper also appears quite worn. Speaking of wear, the wooden stick holding up the hatch isn’t particularly inspiring, but the car otherwise appears tidy, with no immediately obvious damage to metal body parts. On the other hand, the figurines glued to the rear bumper are a bit strange, so do with that what you will.
On the inside, there is one major blemish – someone has duct-taped the driver’s seat bolster. Still, the care and attention given to this V70 appears in obvious touches like the cargo mat, as well as less obvious details like the condition of the door sill plates. Someone really loves this car. What’s more, the beige interior offers a brilliant warmth that you just wouldn’t get with a dark colorway. It makes those sumptuous front seats look even more inviting.
So there we are, two very different ways to move your family and all their things about. The Volvo certainly looks more richly-appointed than the Kia, but the Rondo should hopefully prove less fiddly than anything European. As ever, choose wisely.
(Photo credits: Craigslist sellers)
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This is one case of me going against the grain and picking the Rondo. I was at the wreckers recently and an elderly gentleman was just scrapping a 400000+ km V6 Rondo, that still looked almost this clean.
Not too many cars I can think of make it to that many miles here in salt-soaked Ontario, so to me that seems like a glowing recommendation to me.
I went Volvo, and I love to hear that the seller has records of the important stuff being kept up. The only thing I worry about is that the seller, who clearly loves their car, is getting rid of it for SOME reason. Is it something super expensive that would just be a bridge too far even for their beloved wagon? As always, the reason matters, but I am admittedly jumping to conclusions…
Those Rondos are F*ing awful. It is one of those rare cars that I harbor an irrational hatred towards, like someone you just want to punch in the face for no reason. You couldn’t pay me enough to drive one of these – one of the dorkiest modern cars ever made. Also – the name “Rondo”. Seriously? It just sounds so off-brand, and I always wanted to call it “Rango”. The only positive feeling I get when I see these is comparing Kias of this era with their latest crop, and thinking, “damn! Have they come a long way!”
I was looking for a used Rondo a year or two ago, but IIRC the V6s are horrendously thirsty (and the fours are wildly underpowered). A friend has a V70 and I introduced him to my mechanic two-three years ago. Said mechanic now sends me Christmas cards…
Help me Rondo. Help, help me Rondo
Help me Rondo
Get the Volvo out of my garage…
“achieve MPG happiness”
“observe huge cabinocity”
“explore precision steerology”
“embrace safety all-overness”
“experience giddyupidness”
I had no interest in being welcomed into Rondoism 15 years ago, and the option of a half-decent Volvo wagon for less than $2K does nothing to change my mind.
So Kia has had quite a history here, and I love to see where they are now from where they started with the U.S. back in early 90’s. I had a 2004 Optima 2.4 that REFUSED to die. It was caught in the middle of a 6-car highway accordion-smush accident, pulled the HHR bumper foam out of the exhaust and drove it for 10 more years. I will always have a respect for these generations of Kias for building the reputation of the brand and allowing all the truly inspired/divisive designs of Kia today.
Volvo all the way though, I’m not crazy.
Having owned several Volvos over the years, I would pass on that 99. That was the first year of their switch from OBDII only to fully integrated systems. They are vastly more complex than their predecessor and fraught with challenges. My 06 which is derived from that 99 is pretty mature, but is still a huge pain in the ass to fix and troubleshoot for odd gremlins. Also, the transmission on that 99 was pretty fragile, if and ONLY if the owner changed the ATF on the regular would it be any good, else it’s going to fail soon.
Additionally, the interior of those cars were made of silly putty. The buttons all turned gooey and you could scrape off the coating with your fingernail (they were still sticky though). Dashboard bulbs popped like corn, have fun replacing those (did it many times, do not recommend). The seats were not well cared for and Volvo leather is not forgiving. They are just going to keep on falling apart faster and faster. The tailgate struts are not bolted to the back of the body like in most hatches, they’re integrated into the roof. Very slick, looks nicer, no fun to replace because now you have to drop the headliner to get at them.
I love Volvo wagons, on my 3rd one, but I’d leave this guy alone.
This is unrelated but it just occurred to me:
I’d really like to see a few articles on people engine swapping Harbor Freight Predator engines into cars. Also maybe those nuts who do those ridiculous ‘one-turbo-per-cylinder’ setups.
That sounds like something up my alley, and your wish is my command! 🙂
I have had vehicles with one, two, three, four, and six cylinders. I would go for the Volvo so that I could complete the cylinder count cycle from one to six.
Are you that guy who Predator-swapped a Civic?
That might be the best reason of all.
You may need to go the maritime route to get a straight-7 but it would totally be worth it.
New lifetime gearhead goal: owning all cylinder counts possible from one to…..sixteen? Radial engines filling a LOT of blanks there lol. 20 cylinder diesel ship or train engine for extra credit!
I’ll take the Volvo, and name him Sven.
Still see these Volvos regularly in my neck of the woods. Don’t believe I have seen a Kia Rondo, ever.
So, Volvo.
It’s partly because you would never notice or remember having seen a Rondo… although they are indeed thin on the ground.
Buy yourself a Rondo as anonymous transportation for robberies or drug crimes.
“The suspect was driving a …uh– vehicle of some type. Was it black? Gray, Beige? I dunno, my brain shut off just from looking at it.”
When did Kias become reliable? Was it as early as the 2007 model? I know they were a punchline in the ’90s, and they’re decent cars now, but which category does a 2007 model fall in?
It’s probably a moo point anyway, though. No matter how reliable the Kia is, it’s hard to compete with a Volvo — especially a meticulously maintained one.
Piggybacking on Duke of Kent’s good question, how’s Volvo’s reliability for this era?
I grew up with one of those indestructible 240 bricks, was a teenager in a 760 family, but have no experience with them after that.
I believe the majority of the issues for this year Volvo is the transmission shifting being erratic. possibly due to the Electronic Throttle setup (Drive by Wire).
Honestly?
You could not PAY me to take this Volvo V70. There is no amount of money.
“Oh but it has maintenan-” yeah and how many transmission records and/or new transmissions?
The V70 GLT here has one of the Aisin ‘fill for life’ (this is ALWAYS a lie) transmissions. This one specifically has the AW55-50SN, which is notoriously awful. One, it takes a VERY specific fluid or it burns the clutches up in days. Not normal ATF, has to be 3309.
Second, nobody ever changed the fluid and filter (YES THERE IS A FILTER! It’s behind the valve body.) Nobody.
Third, Volvo’s version was just notoriously under-engineered in every regard. When Sonnax’s Zip Kit to address line pressure loss (AW55-50SN-ZIP) basically contains every single valve and spring and plug, plus a bore spec, you know somebody fucked up.
Seriously, I am not an automatic transmission expert. But when Sonnax makes this many re-engineered parts, but no bearing shells, and has this many ‘common problem’ pages for a relatively uncommon transmission? Run. Run as fast as you can.
LS and 4l60e swap will cure those ills.
The AW55 is a 5 speed but the text says this car has a 4 speed auto – which would be the AW50-42. From what I can see, the switchover happened some time in the 2000MY.
I have a 2002 V70T5 with the AW55 and changing the oil is not that difficult. You can disconnect the cooler line at the rad and flush the old fluid out – which reminds me, our car is due for another fluid change. It has been trouble free so far, although I did change out the second gear solenoid with the upgraded part many years ago.
Yep I have had two of the 4 speeds- one had 550000km on it and had it’s fluid changed twice- the other only has 325000km on it and leaks out of the cooler so it gets a transmission fluid change about every 18 months- no issues with the 4 speed the later 5 speeds had a myriad of issues for a few years
Lifetime Fill is a self-fulfilling statement. And transmission-limiting statement. It absolutely enrages me that people like my parents who do maintenance on time every time get lied to like this: they don’t think to change fluid because they’re not told to do so in the manual.
All so manufacturers can claim low maintenance costs(and, I suspect, sell more cars as these lifetime-fill units die on the 2nd or 3rd owner)
(I wrote this speaking about Hyundai, not KIA, but I think they parallel well enough, just with a few years of lag. They shared engine and chassis platforms at a minimum.)
I had an ’05 Hyundai Accent a few years back and reliability was just fine. My Grandfather had a ’02 (I think) XG350 (Hyundai’s attempt at a… jag maybe? it was a FWD V6) that was pretty decent on the inside but I recall a few gremlins.
Early 2000’s Hyundai was a company finding it’s feet. The cars were simple and fairly reliable, but still presented some engineering snafus (the Accents ate exterior door-handles, in example) and were not super pleasant to be in and drove… adequately.
By the time you get to 2010, fit and finish is way up but the car still doesn’t drive well, and the company had some serious engine failure issues when they left behind their alpha/beta/sigma iron-block engines for more complicated modern designs.
These engine failures are recent. As in dating all the way to 2019. There was a time when I would have considered a Kia or Hyundai but due to those engine issues- which are extensive- I’m sticking with Toyota.
Does it matter if the Kia is reliable? The Volvo is the right choice here in every possible situation.
My family had an EX four-cylinder Rondo for 6-7 years, picked up as a closeout to downsize from a thirstier minivan (that we should’ve just kept in hindsight but that’s a different story).
The Mazda5 gets more love from enthusiasts and has more novel packaging – and definitely better styling; I liked the 5 a lot and that was the first stop we looked. But the Rondo was more spacious, helped by being wider and taller, and more refined than the 5. It felt more like an alternative to the CR-V/RAV4/etc small SUVs.
It was pretty typical of Kia at the time – big improvement, still needed a bit more polish but was mostly there. The 2.4 motivated it fine enough but it would hold on to the higher of its four gears as much as possible. The V6, which used a 5-speed auto, likely would have been nicer to drive for sure, but only made a bit more power so on paper it didn’t seem worth it, plus it uses a timing belt – so would want to be sure that was changed on this one.
Reliability-wise was fine, but most memorable fault was that it chewed through tires for a family vehicle. Needed a second set by 50k, at which point my parents were ready to move on to something a bit nicer anyway. Seemed like the camber was aggressive on the EX’s 17″ wheels the way they wore down, don’t know if the 16″ wheels on the LX would have been better.
I do wish they had sold the next-gen model in the U.S. too as they did in Canada, but the 3-row Sorento made it redundant.
All that said, the Volvo, especially with the same miles. Bit more maintenance history, and more of a following/worth for a subsequent owner should you decide to dump it.
How is this even a question? Volvo every day and twice on Monday.
I ain’t gonna lie, fell asleep after the 2nd Kia Rondo photo.
Volvo? Yes, Volvo.
2007 Kia (they existed back then???) vs ANY Volvo. Reallllly???
The Cross country version would be more preferable for us snow belt people, but I would still rather take the volvo over a high mile Kia. https://www.kbb.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=660026537
Easily the Volvo. I’d rather deal with a 23 year old Volvo than a 15 year old Kia…and this owner clearly took care of it and has had it for a long time. If you’re someone around my age (I’m 32) that had a similar suburban upbringing there’s a good chance you have vivid memories of riding around in these as a kiddo.
This or the nicer Cross Country trim were the go to cars for upper middle class folks in my area who wanted something a little more stylish but didn’t have the funds for something like the ubiquitous E Class wagon or 5 series wagon. I was hauled around to countless soccer games in these things and there was always one in the carpool rotation.
My dad had an S70 of this era as well and eventually two different Cross Countries from the next gen…mainly because having 3 fast growing kids and an 80 pound black lab necessitated such compromises. As a result I have fond, fond memories of 90s/early 2000s Volvo, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if I was taken to a friend’s house for a sleepover in the back of this exact one because it’s in my area. There are even manual ones out there, which is crazy to think about today.
Enthusiastic, nostalgia-drunk vote for the V70. This thing brought back a flood of memories. I want to whip out my translucent purple Game Boy Color and play Pokémon Yellow in the back seat while my buddy makes fart noises we can giggle over.
Boxy but Good beats Rounded but Mediocre every time. I’ll take the Volvo!
Oh, this is gonna be a blowout…
I’d roll in the Volvo and pretend I’m Gus Fring.
That’s exactly what I thought! I’ll be rolling around to all my imaginary Pollos Hermanos locations.
So replaced the lift struts for the hatch, get the front and rear bumper resprayed and you’re ready to go. This one is a no brainer, hopefully there’s no rust on that body or underneath it.
The Volvo is less money and a Volvo. And a more practical wagon. The Rondo is nicely kept up, but it’s just not a competitor here.
not sure I see it any more practical, but is I am spending 2k on a winter beater, I feel like I would pick the one I thought I could recoup the most amount out of later. and T5 Turbo’s have a following.
The Volvo wins at hauling stuff. So much more cargo space. Perhaps “most practical” isn’t completely correct, but most practical for the usage I consider.