2020 Kia Rio Hatchback with CVT

I like the RIO hatchback. I've always like little hatchbacks. KIA did a good job with this car and I think the new IVT(CVT) will be FINE! - 10 yr/100K warranty, easy to drive, easy to park, easy to maintain, easy to wash.

As ALEXonAUTOS(AoA) said, the RIO feels like a more expensive car with content removed(to keep the price down) rather than a cheap car with content added like the Versa NOTE(one of my favorite little NISSAN's).

Consumer Reports liked it simplicity. - And according to other sources, the RIO is KIA's best selling car around the world so it is important for KIA to get & keep it right.

The RIO and other subcompact cars & hatchbacks don't get a lot of PRESS as so many folks are moving to CUV/SUV.
 
If my Focus kicked the bucket tomorrow I'd try a manual Rio hatchback. If they did the CVT right I don't see it as an issue, you can extract pretty good mileage out of them. If you are a race to the next red light driver then maybe get a used one with a normal auto, or a manual.
 
What do you guys think about this car? They changed the engine and transmission for 2020. They went from direct fuel injection to MPFI and from a 6-speed auto to a CVT. I have my reservations about buying a CVT and a Kia, but the car looks nicely put together and I can likely get a better deal than a Honda Fit. The Chevy Spark is a real turd in comparison.
Good looking small hatchback for gas sipping driving.

I would not be worried about CVT.
 
What do I think? I think run and run far away lol I have worked on too many Kia to like them and one having the CVT is even worse. I high school my auto teacher was a Kia mechanic for 30 years and he said he would absolutely never buy one ever.
 
Hyundai’s IVT also features technology that simulates gear shifts. This makes drivers feel the changes in gear like they would with an automatic transmission

I'd consider that to be a deal breaker.
 
That’s nice, they can keep replacing transmissions every 7,000 miles until you get a good one. It’s on KIA’s dime for 10 years/100,000 miles. That would not deter me from a new car purchase. What would deter me is if you buy the Rio model that actually has safety features, they have priced it to the point where you could get a much better compact car instead.
 
My complaint about cars in this price range purchased new: The only good thing about it is newness. Brand new is nice but a few years go by and its just any old used car. So in general i would suggest a nicer used car. Some people just want a micro machine and thats cool. The same money might get you a really nice 9th gen Accord with a proven CVT and bullet proof engine. I would put more faith in a lightly used Accord than a brand new korean car. They are great under warranty but if we are talking about 100-200k+ miles quality the Honda/Toyota is going to win.
 
CVTs are the future, but I don't think they are the present. Too many CVTs with high failure rates. Hyundai should just source a U340e from Aisin and be done with it haha.
 
These failure rates are very low given the amount of vehicle that now have them. Bash them all you would like but these iVT's are actually really good compared to others out there.
 
These failure rates are very low given the amount of vehicle that now have them. Bash them all you would like but these iVT's are actually really good compared to others out there.

They may or may not be any good, but we won't really know that for several years. The design seems at least less bad in that it has a regular 1st gear and uses a chain instead of the normal push belt (which clearly a poor design). But the preprogrammed shift points in a CVT seems like a poor decision that will negativity affect long term reliability.
 
This whole thread has thrown me for a loop. I had no idea that the Hyundai 1.6 has switched back to MPI for '20.

My father special ordered a base 6-speed manual '14 Accent, brand new, that I personally maintained for a little over 100k miles. The largest repair outside a brake job was a clutch at 100k, otherwise the car was bulletproof. So good, in fact, that he sold it for darn near half what he had into it, including the original purchase price. He replaced it with a 2018 Accent Limited (first year of the redesign), and he loves it. That one still has the GDI engine, although this time he went for the auto.

Just a quick observation: The existing GDI engine was rated at 130HP/119TQ. The new MPI is 120/113.

If I'm honest, that '14 Accent reminded me a lot of my old 1G DSM hatch's. No, it's not a hot hatch. No, it doesn't have that "flick flick" shifter of an original DSM car, but it was just fun to drive. It wasn't fast, it wasn't buttoned down, it was just honest.
 
Would you take this over a Chevrolet Sonic?

I would look at a Sonic first. My reasoning being that the 1.4L Turbo engine is less likely to give me unfixable problems than a CVT. I would not want the 1.8L engine due to it being an interference engine. If the 1.8L engine was non-interference I would have bought one of those by now.
 
Truthfully, if I were buying a RIO hatch, I'd like this years non DI engine and last years regular 6 speed automatic transmission. For me, that would be a perfect little hatch(since hatch's are a preference of mine) and a perfect little car regardless of the MPG difference that the IVT offers. And I like the manual hand parking brake in the RIO unless they've changed that too.
 
" He replaced it with a 2018 Accent Limited (first year of the redesign), and he loves it. That one still has the GDI engine, although this time he went for the auto. "

We have an '18 Accent SE with the 6 speed auto . Like it very much . It's averaging 39.1 M.P.G. calculated since purchased in th fall of '18 , the diplay ( computer ) is off up to 4 m.p.g.. There's an issue with the car slowly warming up to the operating temperature . Especially in temps below 30 . The needle of the temp gauge drops suddenly during temps beneath 25 . Heat is very weak as well . Is the '18 SEL experincing this ? There's a T.S.B. for the '19 Accent for this issue . Hyundai won't do the fix since it's an '18 , so doesn't apply to it . Last , there's a very loud rattle in dash close to the window . The more coarse the road surface the worst the rattle . Tried fixing with no luck .
 
Laugh at the Spark all you want but I know one person who has owned one for years bought it as a used rental car. Only problem was the coolant tank randomly exploded and that took 10 mins to replace. Then someone else I know has the updated one, bought it new, uses it for delivery gigs, not a single issue. I'd much rather take that or a Sonic over a HyunKia or Mitsubishi!
 
My personal experience was renting this vehicle for 5 days in Tahiti this year. My impression was that it displayed nimble handling, nice utility but too little pep even with a manual transmission. Maybe the international model is different than the USA Rio, but I really had to dog this one to get it to move.
 
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