Kia Rio

sharon1038 SG

Hi guys, wanna ask for opinion towards Kia (Rio, Hatchback), decided to own a 2nd hand car from start after considering my budget. But I'm still skeptical towards korea car. btw, is a 3yr old 2nd hand car having a mileage of 65,000km consider ok?

BrUtUs SG

hw much ur budget? y not get 2nd hand vios? purpose of getting car?

Kickass69 SG

you may wana go www.sgkiaclub.com to enquire.....cheers

lianamaster SG

I drove my friend's Rio hatchback before.. it's pretty fun to drive. But I dun like way the reverse gear is engaged. You need to lift a ring then engage it....a bit troublesome for me to adapt ..... hehe.

But for Korean cars, now that new ones are affordable and it's not easy to find those reputable 2nd-hand car dealers, it would be better to purchase a new one.

Do take note that since your choice is a 3-year old car, chances are the agent warranty is up and you might need to spend quite a bit on maintenance...

sharon1038 SG

I sat on my fren's Rio before too, it accelerate damn fast! and its not noisy too, quite surprise abt it.

hai.. the low COE and the low prices of car as compared to the past seem tempting to get new ones now. but being a new driver and tight budget and with the HIGH insurance that i got to bear, hai.. like no choice got to get 2nd hand whereby i can get a car at only 30k. I've got car allowance by company at $560 per month, so i hope to squeeze (car+insurance+road tax+season parking) with just a little top up every month.

btw, fyi, there's 100% interest free instalment for road tax and insurance for OCBC credit card!!

lianamaster SG

Your company car allowance will at most save you on the instalments if you purchase a second hand car. The motor insurance itself is a big headache if you are young. Maintenance/servicing is unavoidable and as the car ages, the cost of servicing is higher.

Well, savings no matter how small is still savings in my opinion, so it's all up to you.

sktan10 SG

The new generation of korea car like verna,rio & avante r good car.The car r quiet compare with entry level jap car.
U may like to know that rio is running on timing belt which require to change at 80000km unlike avante which ran on timing chain & does not need to change every now & then thus save u on maintenance cost.
Now C&C is selling the new rio hatch for 34K only.Why dont u buy new?Just 4K difference get u a new car with 3yrs warranty.Isnt is more worth than a 3yr old car with 65k mileage?

mh2 SG

well,

if you ask me, i say: dun get china, korea, malaysia, usa car.

Get european Or japanese is good.

european is expensive,, so there left the japanese car ,,

but dun consider Mitsubishi, becos the quality issue in the domestic market..

so looking at your budget...hmm...consider the Daihatsu Sirion i guess. It got DVVT engine, which is fuel saving and responsive to your acceleration pedal.

My advise only on new car, second hand car , the choice is many la.

sharon1038 SG

guys, its abit difficult to understand when we talk about cars in japan. For example, toyota, Japanese brand:

1) toyota yaris - make in thailand

2) toyota vitz - make in japan

advise by car agent, get car make in japan (vitz), easier to sell off, better car.

nOrmalbOi SG

I would suggest u put in about 20% downpayment and get a suzuki swift or a daihatsu sirion. Both are about 40ish thousand. The downpayment is to facilitate you getting the loan approval so that you can buy the car. Getting loan is the hard part nowadays.

Both are IMHO nice cars to start out your driving life, cheap small and easy to drive. They do not attract super high insurance premiums too. To find out, just walk into the showroom.

You might also wanna walk in and check out the hyundai Avante and Kia Cerato Forte. The forte is a very new model so you might need to ask the SE about it coz there is no price list yet AFAIK.

nick34 SG

guys, its abit difficult to understand when we talk about cars in japan. For example, toyota, Japanese brand:

1) toyota yaris - make in thailand

2) toyota vitz - make in japan

advise by car agent, get car make in japan (vitz), easier to sell off, better car.

Yaris -

1. 1.5L 1NZFE engine

2. Speedometer with RPM meter

3. OEM 15" rims

Vitz -

1. 1L , 1.3L and 1.5L (RS version)

2. Speedometer w/o RPM meter

3. OEM 14" rims

Aftermarket parts widely available for Vitz but not for Yaris.

Suzuki Swift leg room and boot space is much smaller than Yaris IMO.

nOrmalbOi SG

But the price is also smaller. For the Vitz, I'm not so sure. but I doubt the Vitz will cost less than the Swift. 1.3 vs 1.3, 1.5 vs 1.5

If TS is into ICE, then also no need worry. Hatchback also can hold enough hardware to make very very nice music.

lianamaster SG

The Swift is competitively priced, with the Swift Sport currently retails from
$49,900 for a manual version. But it urgently needs a facelift in my opinion.