Thinking about buying the Kia Rondo

[Moemg]

My next car will be a Hyundai, probably the new body style Sonata (2011), or the Genesis sedan............

I absolutely love the looks of the new Sonata . It will probably be my next car also .

 

[HFWR]

Like my Subaru (built in Indiana)?

Like my Ford (designed by Mazda, tranny made in Japan)?

We have a lot of trannies here in DFW...

I'm considering the Kia Soul; good mileage, cargo room for a guitar and amp, [-]cheap[/-] inexpensive.

Btw, been driving Chevies since '89, with no serious issues. My current truck, at 102k miles, still has the original brake pads...

 

[tsturbo]

120k on a used Honda is low mileage. Would you buy a Kia with 120k? Didn't think so. Honda absolutely

I have to admit, I eat a lot more off of McDonald's valu menu than I should.

Of course, I might mention that you aren't considering the opportunity cost of having an extra $11k tied up in a vehicle for 7 years.

If I spend $22k to get a 2008 Honda CRV with 35k miles, and drive it for 7 years (assuming 12k miles per year), I will be left with a 9 year old vehicle with about 120k miles.

How much am I really going to get for that vehicle at that time? It looks like I can buy a 9 year old CRV with those miles for about $8k. Kelley blue book lists its trade in at less than $5k.

Even if we use the $8k, I'm still paying $14k to drive the Honda for 7 years.

It only costs me $11.4k for the Ronda, and I get to invest $11k for 7 years as well. That's assuming that the Rondo is completely worthless in 7 years (probably not really that far off).

Heck, if the stock market does better than average over the next 7 years, the invested savings may entirely pay for the Rondo.

Of course, if the Rondo keels over at 60001 miles, I'll look pretty dumb, but I'll take my chances and see what I get.

 

[Hamlet]

Update on my Rhonda. Still going strong at 100k+ miles. I've had a few repair issues, but nothing extreme. I've never had it not start, which is really the deal breaker for me.

It's not fancy, but it has been very cost effective transportation for me.

I'll drive it until it gives me a reason to worry about its dependability.

Considering how the stock market has done, the opportunity cost of driving a more expensive CRV or RAV4 would have been substantial.

 

[KmmFIdreamer]

I have a 2008 Kia optima that that proven to be a pretty nice little car... Someone I worked with called Kia "throwaway cars" once, but mine has been reliable and held up pretty well. I think I will replace it in about 2-3 years though and pass it on to my young adult son who is currently carless (on purpose - avoiding that under age 25 insurance premium).

 

[Music Lover]

120k on a used Honda is low mileage. Would you buy a Kia with 120k? Didn't think so. Honda absolutely

That depends...what's the difference in price? Most cars these days are pretty reliable, but IMO, used Hondas and Toyotas are over-valued due to an over-rated reputation.

My friend has taken his 2007 Honda CRV into the dealer at least 8 times to have things fixed that should not have failed...and yet in spite of that he still tells everyone how awesome Honda is. It only has 140k kms (86k miles) on it. I'm pretty sure if he had a Kia Rondo that had been to the dealer 8 times, he'd be calling it a piece of crap.

 

[euro]

That depends...what's the difference in price? Most cars these days are pretty reliable, but IMO, used Hondas and Toyotas are over-valued due to an over-rated reputation.

My friend has taken his 2007 Honda CRV into the dealer at least 8 times to have things fixed that should not have failed...and yet in spite of that he still tells everyone how awesome Honda is. It only has 140k kms (86k miles) on it. I'm pretty sure if he had a Kia Rondo that had been to the dealer 8 times, he'd be calling it a piece of crap.

Agree - Honda and Toyota built-in "premiums" are too large. Especially for the more popular models (civic, corolla, camry)

 

[Bamaman]

I worked for a major auto manufacturer for 24 years, and I'm a "car guy."

I lean toward more tier 1 car companies like Honda, Ford and Toyota. My problem with Hyundai/Kia is that they change body styles and mechanics very, very often. That means body parts and even motor parts are not easy to obtain. That doesn't mean they're not good vehicles, however. I just prefer to be able to find parts and service on more popular vehicles--especially in salvage yards for vehicles intended to be kept long term.

In the small SUV world, the Honda CRV is the king with the Ford Escape right behind them. The CRV's are maybe $25K new, where their new HRV smaller SUV is built on the Fit mechanics and is probably going to be their top seller in the future @ $22K new. I also wouldn't hesitate to go with an Escape, new or used.

The Toyota RAV4 is another good one, and they have a new model Corolla iM smaller SUV that's going to be a big seller @ $20Kish.

I really don't desire to have anyone's 8 year old used car at this point in my life. With dealership labor @ $100 per base rate hr., I'm driving vehicles with very low incidence of repairs--like a Honda Civic, Lexus IS and a Ford F250 diesel pickup. My last 550K miles in carefully chosen cars have been without a single warranty claim.

 

[GTFan]

I really don't desire to have anyone's 8 year old used car at this point in my life.

OP necro'd this thread with an update, it was only a couple of years ago when they bought it. Check the first post date.

 

[DAYDREAMER]

I think the Kia and Hundai styling is pretty nice and would consider one for next vehicle purchase. I was once a Honda snob, swearing to only buy Honda cars until we bought our 2004 Accord. Biggest piece of crap car. Many component failures, including switches, transmissions, and AC. Will be a long time before Honda is back on my list of desired cars. Also realized that we did not like the visibility due to the monster windshield driver side pillar. Multiple times, we couldn't see pedestrians in crosswalks because of the pillar, and almost hit them. Say bye-bye to ER if we ever hit a pedestrian!

 

[Big_Hitter]

Say bye-bye to ER if we ever hit a pedestrian!

nah. check out the threads on umbrella coverage.

 

[brett]

I had three Ford Escapes. Each year I got a new company vehicle. I liked every one...except for the service issues.

Great vehicles especially that last full load one. But I lost it for three weeks at 15K, the transmission failed and had to be replaced and it took that long to get the the transmission. I was obviously not the only person having this challenge. Several others in our fleet had power steering problems. A good number experienced engine module replacement issues during the year. And we had to wait for those to be sourced as well. Last one we had was four years ago. Hopefully they solved some issues since then.