For nearly the same money you can get the new Honda Civic with more power, more economy, and better resale. So why buy the Kia? The answer is the warranty and the fact the Kia pricing is very much a haggling price proposition and the Honda Civic is much in demand.

We tested the Hyundai LX and the “station wagon” or Rio5 model with a base prices about $14,000 with an automatic transmission. We always question buying an automatic vehicle when price and fuel economy are the two main reasons for buying a small car, but nevertheless it has a good power train and could handle the four speed automatic. We got just under 28 mpg in mixed driving, far less than the 29/38 government rating, The manual transmission might yield another mile or two per gallon in town and is the most fun to explore with, but if you drive mainly in town the automatic is the easiest way to go and you get better mileage on the highways.

This Rio, loaded to the gills rang in a full $5000 less that a basic Honda Fit... And could drive circles around it.   With a set of 16x6.5" wheels with 205/45/16's on them, this car could corner phenomenally.  It would start in any temperature, do about 650 km to a tank (45l) and was actually pretty fun to drive.   Had it not been for the consistently horrible service that I had received at *EVERY* Kia dealership including the one where it was purchased I would have kept this car.

a little soft in corners but nice quiet ride for a SMALL car...heated seats are nice in Canada