What's New for the 2004 Kia Rio? The Kia Rio sedan and Kia Rio Cinco wagon gain new standard equipment for 2004 including body-color fog light blanks in the front bumper, lumbar support for the driver, and a rubber liner for the center console storage bin. A spoiler is now optional on the sedan.
Advantages of the 2004 Kia Rio:
Excellent powertrain warranty
Sedan starts at less than $10,000
Spunky engine
Objections to the 2004 Kia Rio:
Vague steering
Flaccid suspension
Lousy handling
Sloppy manual transmission shifter
Unlikely to fare well in crashes with larger vehicles
Editor's Advice: Really, don’t buy the 2004 Kia Rio. We know, it has a great warranty, it smells like a new car inside, and it even looks cute. But listen, there’s this thing called a certified used car. Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota all have plenty of two- and three-year-old certified used cars sitting on their lots that come with extended warranties, a complete detail job and a full inspection for worn bits and pieces. Just imagine, instead of the 2004 Kia Rio, you could buy a nice Honda Civic, a sporty Mazda Protege5 or a stone-cold reliable Toyota Corolla and get a larger, higher quality and better car to drive every day. Want that new car smell? Drop by the local car wash – they sell it in a little spray bottle. Trust us, the 2004 Kia Rio is rudimentary at best, proving that you do get what you pay for.
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