CarComplaints.com Notes: The only reason we don't give the 2009 Kia Rio our top award is because of poor side & rear crash test ratings.

7.0

pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
No data
Average Mileage:
70,000 miles
Total Complaints:
2 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. new transmission (1 reports)
  2. replace transmission (1 reports)
2009 Kia Rio transmission problems

transmission problem

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2009 Kia Rio Owner Comments

problem #2

Jul 202013

Rio LX

  • Automatic transmission
  • 130,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I would like to say that once this car hit 100,000 miles and the warranty ran out is when the problems begain. I have replaced hub bearings, all 4 engine coils, the transmission has not been right since I purchased the vehicle, it will literally jerk you back in the seat while on the freeway driving 65 to 70 mph. I will be driving smoothly and all of a sudden it will down shift real hard and slam into a higher gear without any notice and now the transmission main rear is leaking. Two mechanics have told me I need to put a new transmission in at the cost of 1500.00. Its pretty said when I still have two years of payments to make. There are numerous other noises the car is making, timing belt and some I can not figure out. My suggestion to people that are thinking of purchasing this car, IT IS A THROW AWAY MODEL, one of the cheapest vehicles I have ever owned with more problems than I care to remember. I am 52 years old and took great care of this car, oil changes every 3 to 5000 miles etc...I am very disappointed in this car and would never purchase another one. I will go back to Toyota or Honda anyday, they may cost a little more, but you get what you pay for. Oh yes and the over head light in the front seat has had a short in it since I drove it off the lot, return to the dealer 3 times and they never could fix it, so if I need it to work I literally have to beat on the roof of the car, what a joke. As far as having the Kia dealer service my car, there is no way, as I have never purchased a vehicle and had the dealer tell me it would cost me $50 for them to look at a problem after 36000 miles. If they are so confident in their product they should look at it for free as long as you have a 100000 limited warranty. Maybe I would have found the transmission problem before the warranty ran out.

- babiclee09, Concord, OH, US

problem #1

Aug 102010

Rio

  • Automatic transmission
  • 10,000 miles

I bought the car brand new. Like just a couple of miles on it. Around 5,000 miles the car started jumping into drive from reverse. it slowly worsened to anytime I changed gears it jumped. It's annoying, not overly dangerous, but annoying. At 8,000 I took it to the dealership to get a tire patched (apparently I had a nail in it) and to try to figure out what was going on since my check engine light had come on. They said the light came on because of some eletric sensor something or another. They said this is why it jumped. Not true.

It continued jumping into gear so I called back and made another appointment. Waited 3 hours for them to say hey you need a new transmission. Seriously, car has like 9,000 miles on it....oh well so they have to go through corporate to get the new transmission. We set it up and it gets replaced. Free with warranty. At 12,000 it was starting to do so again. I was gonna call them when I rear ended the vehicle in front of me going no more than 20 mph. Guess what, the engine came off it's mount and hit the firewall. Needless to say car was totalled. Seriously would not reccomend it people!

- anh4y, Smyrna, TN, US

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