Ive been saving to get a down payment for a Toyota, but not having a car to move around is killing me. Im seriously considering getting a Kia (Rio or Cerrato). Please can you advise on the reliability of these cars? Thanks!!

forget those things called cars

@need2know,
I beg to differ from viperman in this instance.
From your question, I see you are a young lady that wants to get around, and u're not necessarily a car freak.
In that case, a brand new Kia Rio (which will be the same price as a great Toyota) is a good option for you for the following reasons,
1. They are not too big. In other words, some of them are what you ladies call 'cute'. The Kia Rio (hatch back/not the sedan) is a case in point
2. Being brand new, you will not worry about mechanics for a very long time. At least 2 years.
3. Financing options are readily available for brand new cars at a cost that will not kill you.

My candid opinion.
All the best though.

I think I prefer a good fairly used toyota product for instance camry 99 or 2000 to new kia rio despite the fact they are of the same price.

Toyota is much more fuel conservative than kia. Still heavier than Kia product which is always too light and cannot withstand heavy impact on the body.

Kia does not have second hand value and cannot be reasonable after two years of usage.

I can cont to give more reasons but I rest my case here.

@ viperman
why do you say that?

@adechuks
thanks a lot! you are right im not a car freak i just need to move around (without having to visit the mechanic!)Ideally i would love to get a 1.8 Toyota Corolla but its going for 3.2mill for the automatic, far out of my reach. I believe the Rio will be going for far less. Anybody know how much the Rio /Yaris 1.6 automatic costs?

@Frankies
hmm you have a point there about the second hand value o! But my challenge is that I dont have a lump sum available and I dont know if financing is available for 2nd hand cars?

need2know:

@ viperman
why do you say that?

@adechuks
thanks a lot! you are right im not a car freak i just need to move around (without having to visit the mechanic!)Ideally i would love to get a 1.8 Toyota Corolla but its going for 3.2mill for the automatic, far out of my reach. I believe the Rio will be going for far less. Anybody know how much the Rio /Yaris 1.6 automatic costs?

Well, first of all, my friend Viperman sells cars (tokunbos mostly). That may not be his reason for the post though. but you can forgive his bias.
The Yaris is also a great product and it goes for about 2.3m.
Rio is between 1.2-1.4m . Not sure exactly how much.

Frankies:

I think I prefer a good fairly used toyota product for instance camry 99 or 2000 to new kia rio despite the fact they are of the same price.

Toyota is much more fuel conservative than kia. Still heavier than Kia product which is always too light and cannot withstand heavy impact on the body.

Kia does not have second hand value and cannot be reasonable after two years of usage.

I can cont to give more reasons but I rest my case here.

I agree with you. in some of your points. The second-hand valu after 2 years is highly debatable since kia has a 3yr/90,000km warranty.
I drive a Toyota Camry myself. i love to travel a lot, and i drive most times. Did a PH/Lagos road trip this last weekend.
and a Toyota is much better than a Rio for such gruesome tasks. but the young lady needs to get to work, in lagos, and go to church.
and get to her friend's wedding without having to wait for Dayo or the office people etc.

The 2007 Kia is a great improvement on the previous releases.
If she can afford the financing for the yaris, it s a better option.

adechuks have you been reading my horoscope?!!! You captured my situation perfectly. You are right that ill mainly be commuting within Lagos but, between Ajah and Ikeja daily and possibly weekends due to the nature of my job. The Yaris comes only in a 1.3l engine, do you think i need to get a bigger car?

need2know:

@ viperman
why do you say that?

Some frankies has stated.

ratings are over 10.

Second hand value = 2
Durability = 2
Balance = 4

Infact, don't buy it my sister. My Boss' wife uses tha rio of a car, and the maintenance is a horrendous experience. For instance, you want to replace an ordinary side-mirror, they have to import it from their korea office. Their parts are not in the market; even if they are, they wont be much. You'll need a microscope to find them in the market.
Just focus on the toyota yaris, nissan Tiida or any other nice car.

By the way, you complain of not having a good enough lump-sum to finance the purchase of the vehicle urself.
I ask, how much do you presently have on your own?
if you dont want to answer here, you can respond via email : lexfrosty @ yahoo.com

quote author=need2know link=topic=88562.msg1616484#msg1616484 date=1193318922]
Ive been saving to get a down payment for a Toyota, but not having a car to move around is killing me. I'm seriously considering getting a Kia (Rio or Cerrato). Please can you advise on the reliability of these cars? Thanks!!
[quote][/quote]

My sister,take this from a fellow sis who cares.
Keep away.
The cars are cheap and boy are they cheap.

especially for a woman you need a car that can make it safely from point A to B.
na so so tales of woe from kia owners

stick to Toyota and Honda dear (or even infinity).
You can never go wrong with them two

Thanks viperman. what I meant was that I dont have enough to buy a Tokunbo that is equivalent to the price of a new Kia. I have enough for a lump sum for the financing of a brand new car but i dont have enough to purchase a tokunbo if i cant finance it. you get me?

Nwando thanks o
e be like say i go follow una advice and stick to a smaller Toyota then. Thanks a lot.

need2know:

Thanks viperman. what I meant was that I don't have enough to buy a Tokunbo that is equivalent to the price of a new Kia. I have enough for a lump sum for the financing of a brand new car but i don't have enough to purchase a tokunbo if i can't finance it. you get me?

There is a price for everything. How much do you have presently lets see what we can work/advice you on?

There finances for used cars too.

Try FBN PLC U1st or Oasis homes and loans.

I no they deal on Used Cars.

Best Regards

akp:

There finances for used cars too.

Try FBN PLC U1st or Oasis homes and loans.

I no they deal on Used Cars.

Best Regards

Exactly, even rosabon finance , i think their website is

www.rosabon-finance.com

The current Kia's are not bad cars at all.

I ran a Kia Rio 1.6 as a lease car for 4 years, with NO reliability issues at all. I drive my cars hard too.

All I replaced in the 4 years I had it was the catalytic converter, which developed an annoying rattle in it's 4th year, at 83,000 miles.

My sister also had the same car, but a 1.3 for 6 years, nothing was replaced in that time, apart from both front tyres.

Kia are a lot better than people give them credit for, a lot of folk are comparing them to Toyota, Nissan or Honda! How do you compare a relatively new make, to the above mentioned 3 that have been in production for over 30 years?

In terms of fuel economy, have you done a back-to-back test? Crash resistance, you say the Toyota's better, but how have you worked that out? Just by looking at the body, or the fact the Kia's small and light?

Dear Siena,
Most people, myself inclusive, will tell you that driving a Kia in the UK is not exactly like driving on Lagos roads.

need2know,

Maybe you should let us know the actual price you have ro you are will to pay for the car of your choice and lets give you other car options that falls within the price range and the millage
you can check out some of the ones i came accross at www.tokunbo.com.ng

1. Mitshubishi lancer - 950k
2. Mitshubishi gallant - 750k
3. kia soranto - 1.5m
4. Nissan sentra - 750k
check it out yourself and make a deal if it pleases you. www.tokunbo.com.ng

Siena:

The current Kia's are not bad cars at all.

I ran a Kia Rio 1.6 as a lease car for 4 years, with NO reliability issues at all. I drive my cars hard too.

All I replaced in the 4 years I had it was the catalytic converter, which developed an annoying rattle in it's 4th year, at 83,000 miles.

My sister also had the same car, but a 1.3 for 6 years, nothing was replaced in that time, apart from both front tyres.

Kia are a lot better than people give them credit for, a lot of folk are comparing them to Toyota, Nissan or Honda! How do you compare a relatively new make, to the above mentioned 3 that have been in production for over 30 years?

In terms of fuel economy, have you done a back-to-back test? Crash resistance, you say the Toyota's better, but how have you worked that out? Just by looking at the body, or the fact the Kia's small and light?

Siena, let me let you know that a friend of mine was accidentantly hit at a junction.The KIA RIO car somersaulted wit the kids and the woman inside. fortunately nobody died . The impact was very much on the body.

Unlike toyota that can withstand such impact and the parts are like buying a satcher of pure water on the street. Available and cheap.

The only advantage of kia is that it is a new car but a good fairly used is above match for it.

lekywhite , is that your website? , it's nice

Viperman

Thanks for the comment.

The site is for my organization, i work as a web sales executive there.

Feel free to get most of your cars listed for sale and you will be surprised of the response you will get. Dont limit your adver of cars to Nairaland alone, spread your adverts every where for faster sales of your product.

cheers

ok thanks

In the 80s korean made cars were not as good as other makes. But for a few years now,there is alot of improvement in the sales of Kia/Hyundai cars due the improvement in their quality.
Slaes have been very good in the USA that we can not write of Korean cars anymore.
I see Kia/Hyundai beating Honda/Mitsubishi in terms of volumes of world wide sales in the next few years to come.
The Kias are here to stay

Going by the WORLD rating of cars KIA is on the least (one STAR), beleive me NIGERIA is their market, those cars cannot withstand the tropics.
I will prefer 1998 toyota camry to 2007 Kia Cerato,

in terms of stability, durability they dont even match at all, Moreover toyota parts are readily available & quite cheap.

You can do otherwise if you have money to throw around. (DNT BE DECEIVED BY THE STYLES OF THEIR CARS)
These cars are TOYS,,,very very light & when the problem starts hmmm YOU will run MAD

THE REASON WHY WE USE KIA IS BECAUSE WE DONT PRODUCE & WE DONT KNOW HOW A GOOD & RELIABLE CAR IS SUPPOSE TO LOOK LIKE.

why do you think they called it Kia?
rhymes with tufia(Igbo for God Forbid)
that one na better name?

the truth is simple, most people that condemn a kia car have never intheir life driven one, or own one
it is just simply stereotype

i have a friend that bought a kia from a second friend after both usage in 5 years time the car still cables ph to lagos regularly with no issues involve

for ur own GOOD , DO NOT BUY A TOKUNBO CAR.

since ur a lady mechanics would ripe u off and by the way by the time ur getting ready to have problems with ur kia ur boyfriend may be ur husband then he would fix it

its true,
but since u are a lady , u have much more options,
honda city, /honda civic/kia cerato n rio, /hyundai/chevrolet, i belive brand new cars that are not more than 2.2m are better than any toks, cos u cud get finacing 4rm the banks,

take 4 example the 2002 camry, its definetely a luxury vehicle goes 4 btw 2.2 n 1.8m, far much beeter than a cerato, but its very few banks that will give u financing 4 a toks,
try oceanic bank though, a friend of mine bought his toks tru their loan

eryck:

Going by the WORLD rating of cars KIA is on the least (one STAR), beleive me NIGERIA is their market, those cars cannot withstand the tropics.
I will prefer 1998 toyota camry to 2007 Kia Cerato,

in terms of stability, durability they don't even match at all, Moreover toyota parts are readily available & quite cheap.

You can do otherwise if you have money to throw around. (DNT BE DECEIVED BY THE STYLES OF THEIR CARS)
These cars are TOYS,,,very very light & when the problem starts hmmm YOU will run MAD

THE REASON WHY WE USE KIA IS BECAUSE WE DONT PRODUCE & WE DONT KNOW HOW A GOOD & RELIABLE CAR IS SUPPOSE TO LOOK LIKE.

Is that based based on your personal opinion/experience or those of JD powers, Consumer Reports. Cheaper, low quality, more problems are synonymous words in cars.
Kia/Hyundai cars are getting better but there are still considered as bargain cars.Recent models are competing with premium brands, and they have shown remarkable improvement in quality within the last 3 years; going by JDPower initial quality ratings.

kaecy5:

the truth is simple, most people that condemn a kia car have never intheir life driven one, or own one
it is just simply stereotype

i have a friend that bought a kia from a second friend after both usage in 5 years time the car still cables ph to lagos regularly with no issues involve

for your own GOOD , DO NOT BUY A TOKUNBO CAR.

since your a lady mechanics would ripe u off and by the way by the time your getting ready to have problems with your kia your boyfriend may be your husband then he would fix it

Correct advice.

pls am about changing my car from a 2001 honda civic and my wife has been pushing for a kia ,but i want a corrolla even if not the 2006,probably the 2003 as far as its tear rubber.pls any info on the exact price for 2003/2004 corolla manual tear rubber.also how much exactly is kia rio(auto and manual)