Comments on: 2008 Kia Rondo First Steer

By: kate

kate — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:54:23 +0000

My Kia disaster story
• 2005 kia carnival brought may 2006 with 11 000km on the clock
• 94000 kms just stopped whilst driving it no warning, no noises nothing.
• Cam shaft seized
• Timing belt thrown
• One head damaged by the above
• Opposite side bottom end pistons burnt and overheated
• Little or no oil and water to one side of engine due to carbonization blockages caused by poor quality rings
• Mechanic advised not worth repairing engine is a write off
• Unable to purchase new motor, have to purchase second hand motor and rebuild $8000 plus!
• Financially unviable to repair.
• Was worth $12 000 to $16 000 now worth NIL
• Left owing money and no car
The car dealer we brought it from said too bad out of warranty end of story!
Kia said if it had done under 90 000 kms they may have covered parts only.
just got offered $1.00 for it! do I hear $1.50?

By: Charles L

Charles L — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:41:56 +0000

I’ve just ordered one of these….and looking forward to delivery. I spend a lot of time in south-east asia and certainly in the Philippines the Rondo has considerable numbers of fans. My last Korean was a Daewoo Nubira which did a 100k km all over the goldfields of WA without letting me down once. Absolute gem. Prior to that was a Hyundai Pony (Excel) wagon in Saudi Arabia for four years that was flawless except for a radiator leak that was likely a puncture from a truck.

I’ll be back after a couple months about Rondo ownership….so far happy with Korean products…

By: Hans

Hans — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:42:28 +0000

Michael, we don’t have a V6 option for the Rondo7 in Australia. To get the 2.7L V6 you’d have to jump up to the Carnival. 18 MPG is a very reasonable around the city for a V6. I wish Kia Australia would introduce either the V6 with the 5 speed automatic or the 2L turbo diesel into the Rondo instead of the 2L petrol 4 speed auto rubbish they have at the moment.

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:09:58 +0000

I’ve owned 6 different Kia’s since 2003. Last month I traded in a 2006 Optima EX and 2005 Sedona EX for a 2007 Sportage V6 LX and a 2008 Rondo V6 LX. I’ve also owned a 2004 Rio. We owned a 2003 Rio for a week but returned it for the 2004 Rio as my wife couldn’t drive a manual. We just love the Sportage, it is very nice. Except the lack of keyless entry in the base model (resolved in 2008) The Rondo is a nice car, it seats my family of 6 but the reduced size over the Sedona is very noticeable. There is basically no luggage room when you put 6 people in it. You won’t find any adults willing to sit in the third row. The 13mpg city with the Sedona was just too expensive to justify. We are seeing 18-20 mpg city with the new pair. I think once we buy a roof luggage case the Rondo will be more usable.

There are lots of Kia’s where I live in Washington State, USA and I never see any broken down on the highways. The biggest fault they have is the high depreciation when you drive it off the lot. As much as 30-40%.

As others have posted, Kia is priced far less than comparable models by other makers. Try to find a crossover 7 seater, V6 for less than $18,000 (US) with included options like ABS, ESC, Traction Control, AC, Full Power, roof rack, 6 airbags.

By: CK

CK — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:37:54 +0000

Hi Guys,

I had a KIA Mentor before and it was value for money,most importantly it saved my wife\’s life in a head on collisiion.

By: Ken

Ken — Sat, 17 May 2008 09:36:57 +0000

All very interesting comments. I stepped out on a limb in 2002 and moved from Holden to Hyindai (Tiburon V6 Auto). I LOVE IT!!! Hyundai have proven to be everything I thought they were not – reliable, efficient, comfortable. Now, I am looking at the Kia Rondo – i am having the same feelings as I did before buying Hyundai… Korean, cheap, is it crap? Will it hold up etc. I should, and probably will, trust my gut on the Kia and buy the Rondo and hope that Kia goes the same way as Hyundai – up up up!!! The features, safety, efficiency and warranty of KIA for the price should be a HUGE factor for anyone to consider in this day and age of soaring fuel prices and environmental concerns. Forget the ego trip of having a Eurpopean car or Australian built tank and buy consciously!

By: Ken D

Ken D — Thu, 01 May 2008 11:58:42 +0000

To all those KIA haters (AC COBRA etc) I have one thing to say, get off your backside and go to a dealer. I have owned many KIA’s over the years and not one of them gave me any problems.
You comment on RIO’s having problems. I owned a 2002 RIO 5 door and in the 4 years I owned it (From new), it never once saw the dealer unless it was for a routine service. In fact, everything was still factory including the clutch, battery, bulbs etc. I travelled over 60,000kms in that time and never regretted buying it for $14,990 drive away.
I currently own a 2006 Cerato hatch and also a 2006 Magentis 2.4 EXL. These cars already have just over 30,000 kms on the clock and they are also trouble free. The 2.4 Theta engine in the Magentis is a nice engine.
A mate of mine owns 2 KIA Optimas (2004 and 2005) and both have already travelled over 70,000kms without a worry in the world. He too never considered KIA as he owned a 1996 Camry and a 1995 Commodore. After both cars had found there use by date, I convinced him to visit a KIA dealer and he purchased his first Optima on the spot. It didn’t take him long to sell the Camry and purchase his second Optima either.
If the Rodo was around when I purchased my Cerato, I would probably have bought it. Seems the extra space is good and the economy etc wouldn’t be much different. Shame about the no diesel option though.
KIA have made vast improvements over the years and there current line up is good. I just hope KIA bring in the KOUP with the 2.0 litre turbo engine.

By: davidt

davidt — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:46:29 +0000

Karl Says:
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Re the cruise control this seems a litte od when the car has been on the market elsewhere for over a year with cruise control ??

Karl, all left hand drive markets and in Europe nobody buys Cruise Control.
The unit needs to be re-engineered to RHD and to comply with ADRs

By: T-Dawg

T-Dawg — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 02:33:48 +0000

Thanks for this info Davidt.

Yes, looking at the steering wheel (EX-L) in the brochure you can see the button blanks where the cruise controls were / will be.

I will be interested to read some objective reviews of this car.

By: Karl

Karl — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 02:20:09 +0000

Re the cruise control this seems a litte od when the car has been on the market elsewhere for over a year with cruise control ??

By: GhisGT

GhisGT — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:00:27 +0000

*sigh*

AC COBRA, don’t live your life on the internet champ, get out on the world and get some REAL experience. Until then, run along you little scamp!

Taring one model with the same brush as an ill-fated early Kia Carnival is like saying every Ford is going to roll over and explode (thanks to the Ford Explorer debacle).
It’s a naive and ignorant thing to do. How can you generalise and say Kia engines fail after 40,000kms. The company would go broke overnight, that’s a fact for you.

I don’t actually own, or have ever owned a Kia too in case you were wondering.

By: silky

silky — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:40:50 +0000

God save us from another blogger who has the truth.

By: davidt

davidt — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:34:31 +0000

T-Dawg Says:
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:09 am
Very intriguing … I couldn’t find any mention of cruise control in the brochure, surprising since it looks to have most of the other essentials. Have I missed something?

You are right, no cruise at the moment, apparently due to an engineering issue, but it will be offered ASAP!
They didn’t want to delay launch any longer to get the cruise fitted.
Seem s Kia is trying to develop so much new product at the moment they have real R&D and engineering backlogs

By: AC COBRA

AC COBRA — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:34:05 +0000

Just about every thread you include yourself in GHisGT is awesome 10/10 for Holden, then go on about protecting precious Daewoo’s slapped with lion badges, people will take me more seriously because they want to know the truth, not finger pointing hypocrites…

I do know KIA owners in real life, so you grow up,,,, just have a look around this site and certain forums do you honestly think anyone writing in about a major complaint (engines dying) after 40,000kms are fake,, get OFF !!! the fence…

By: davidt

davidt — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:31:31 +0000

A couple of things worth noting. Most Hyundai engines are developed by Kia! The great 1.6-litre diesel in the new Hyundaii30 is a Kia engine.
Regarding the questions of quality kia actually rates 6th on the JD Power ranking, which is the bible for reliability and customer satisfaction.
It comes in way ahead of a lot of big brand names

By: silky

silky — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:21:24 +0000

actually the current Carnival seems to be doing quite well in terms of reliability. Previous model had the engine problems and years 1999 – 2001 are to be avoided.

By: silky

silky — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:16:19 +0000

Cobra, Kia do not a bad job, value for money, good warranty, yup they had some problems, fuel systems and holden, brakes and ford, overheating and mazdas, toyota has issues..it goes on and on..

By: silky

silky — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:09:13 +0000

Real cars, that rover motor was a dog, not surprised it caused problems for folds. Kia are doing okay, this looks the goods for the price.

By: T-Dawg

T-Dawg — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:09:07 +0000

Very intriguing … I couldn’t find any mention of cruise control in the brochure, surprising since it looks to have most of the other essentials. Have I missed something?

By: GhisGT

GhisGT — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:41:02 +0000

I wouldn’t worry too much about AC COBRA… every thread about Fords is “Great work Ford, fantastic car, 10/10″ ..

If it’s anything GM or nothing to do with Ford, you get these kind of comments. Kia’s and Daewoos have their place on the market and people will continue to buy them, unlike your random dribble.

Do you really think with a quote like this:

“would a original KIA last that long lol hahahaha… because I know KIA owners and they regret buying them even after three years ownership, WHOOOOPS !!!!!!,,”

…that people would take you seriously? You know Kia owners hey? Grow up.