Open safety recalls, the components owners report failing most often, crash-test results and running costs for the 2011 Kia RIO — assembled from NHTSA and EPA records.
Everything on this page applies to the model as a whole. Run its 17-character VIN to decode that exact car — its engine, trim, assembly plant and factory equipment — alongside these records. Free, no account.
Run a VIN →Recalls and complaints are filed against a specific model year, so figures differ from one year to the next even within a single generation. See every Kia RIO year.
Over 5 years this costs $750 less in fuel than an average new vehicle.
Rated configuration: 2011 Kia Rio SW FWD
The parts named most often across 24 owner complaintsfiled with NHTSA for this make, model and year — the closest free answer to “what is likely to go wrong?”
3 crashes · 2 injured
1 crash · 1 injured
Complaints are self-reported and skew toward problems people find alarming, so treat this as where to look, not a defect rate.
Coils, I have been through 6 sets of coils since I bought this car in 2011. This causes the engine to run rough , sputter & have no pick up when trying to accelerate. The 1st set I paid the dealer $125 a piece bc they said I must replace all 4 at once even though when 1 coil burned out under warranty they only replaced the 1. I got smart after dealing with the dealer. I bought lifetime coils from autozone and about every 1.5 to 2 years I am replacing them. It's easy to do but thats not the point. I've never had or heard of any car doing this except mine. And please let's not talk about resetting the computer brain. That is an impossible task in LA the land of teaffic....please take a moment & read the hoops you have to go through on kia's Rio forum. After trying to get my car slogged for a year I paid a guy 135.00 gave him my car for the night so he could do it. Utter [XXX] ! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Painting peeling off the whole car. It’s going to cause the car to rust.Defect in Kia painting process.
The engine and all electrical shuts down without warning. This happened three times in heavy traffic and nearly caused an accident. The engine stops running and the electrical components turn off which shuts down power steering and power brakes. Each time this has happened the electrical is disabled and the car is completely dead with zero response when the ignition key is turned; no dash lights, no starter, no power. After the first incident the plugs and coil packs were changed out. After the second incident the fuse block was changed out which was said to have been overheating. After the third incident the car was parked and has not been driven since. After the "dead" car is towed and it sits for a couple of hours it will start again and run for indeterminable amount of time before shutting down.
It was 12/21/2022 at about 3:15 PM in the afternoon and I had just turned right into the parking lot of St. Alexius Medical Center, 1555 Barrington Rd, Hoffman Estates, IL 60169. I took a left turn, and went north about fifty feet and stopped at a stop sign. A car was stopped at the same intersection from the right facing west. As I waited for the other car to turn in front of me, my 2011 Kia Rio started to surge in speed without my foot on the accelerator. I instinctively jammed on my brake pedal to avoid hitting the car turning in front of me. Luckily, I did not hit the other vehicle, but I am concerned that this might happen again unexpectedly. The temperature at the time was about 20 degrees outside.
AS I WAS DRIVING STRAIGHT THROUGH AN INTERSECTION OF WHICH I HAD A GREEN LIGHT, THE VEHICLE COMING THE OPPOSITE WAY THROUGH THE INTERSECTION FAILED TO YIELD AND TOOK A LEFT TURN HITTING ME HEAD-ON. WE WERE EACH GOING BETWEEN 30-35 MILES PER HOUR. I SLAMMED MY HEAD ON THE STEERING WHEEL, SHEARING MY BRAIN FROM THE INSIDE OF MY SKULL RESULTING IN A MASSIVE INTERNAL BLEED. I ALSO SUFFERED A SEVERE CONCUSSION AND TORE SEVERAL LIGAMENTS IN MY NECK. I CURRENTLY CONTINUE TO SUFFER FROM TERRIBLE MIGRAINES AND HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO RESUME MY PREVIOUS PROFESSION AS AN ARCHITECT. WHY DID MY AIRBAG NOT PROTECT ME FROM SLAMMING MY HEAD ON THE STEERING WHEEL? IT SEEMS MY AIRBAG ONLY PARTIALLY DEPLOYED. I REMEMBER IT TOUCHED MY FACE BUT DEFINITELY DID NOT PROTECT ME FROM HITTING MY HEAD ON THE STEERING WHEEL. I WAS IN A SERIOUS BRAIN FOG FOR MONTHS AFTER THE ACCIDENT AND MY LAWYER MIS-ADVISED ME IN NOT PURSUING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST THE AIRBAG MANUFACTURER. NOW THE CAR HAS BEEN SOLD FOR PARTS.
I WAS DRIVING ON INTERSTATE 8 IN LA MESA CALIFORNIA AT APPROXIMATELY 70 MPH WHEN THE THROTTLE ON MY VEHICLE STUCK. I WAS ABLE TO SHIFT MY VEHICLE INTO NEUTRAL AND PULL OVER. THE ENGINE CONTINUED REVVING UNTIL I SHUT OFF THE IGNITION. THE THROTTLE CABLE WAS STUCK. I HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO KIA OF EL CAJON WHERE THEY DIAGNOSED A FAULTY THROTTLE CABLE AND THROTTLE BODY. THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT STOP ACCELERATING, AND IF THERE HAD BEEN MORE TRAFFIC, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A COLLISION.
IGNITION COILS. EVER SINCE I BOUGHT MY KIA IN 2015 I HAVE HAD TO REPLACE THE IGNITION COILS EVERY 3-6 MONTHS. AT FIRST, WHEN IT WAS STILL UNDER FACTORY WARRANTY, THE DEALERSHIP KEPT TELLING ME THEY CANNOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR EVEN THOUGH IT WOULD JUMP AND EVEN SHUT OFF ON ME WHEN IDLING. IT TOOK 3 MONTHS OF ME TAKING THE CAR BACK AND FORTH TO THE KIA DEALERSHIP BEFORE THE FIGURED OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH MY CAR BECAUSE THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT NEVER CAME ON. IT TURNED OUT TO BE THE IGNITION COILS. ONCE THEY WERE REPLACED EVERYTHING WAS FINE. ON TOP OF THIS, I WAS SO STRESSED OUT ABOUT MY CAR THAT IT MADE ME PHYSICALLY ILL AND GAVE ME A RASH ALL OVER MY BODY (I HAVE MEDICAL RECORDS TO PROVE IT) AND ONCE THE ISSUE WAS FIXED, ALL OF MY PHYSICAL AILMENTS DISAPPEARED. SINCE THEN, I HAVE HAD TO CHANGE ALL 4 COILS EVERY 3-6 MONTHS. THIS LAST SET ONLY LASTED ME 2 MONTHS BEFORE IT STARTED WITH THE SAME ISSUES AGAIN. I HAVE RESEARCHED THIS ISSUE AND FOUND DOZEN OF FORUMS REGARDING THIS SAME ISSUE WITH MY SAME EXACT MAKE, YEAR, MODEL. THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING THAT IS CAUSING THIS TO HAPPEN SO OFTEN. I KNOW IT'S A KIA BUT I SHOULD BE ABLE TO DRIVE MY CAR MORE THAN A FEW MONTHS BEFORE IT BREAKS DOWN. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE I AM, WHAT SPEED I AM GOING OR HOW LONG I AM TRAVELING, THIS ISSUE STILL OCCURS.
I WAS DRIVING AND THE CAR STARTED DRIVING ROUGH AND FINALLY STOPPED.
SOLD A CAR THAT TURNED OUT TO BE A 'LEMON' AFTER ONLY A MONTH OF HAVING IT BEGAN BREAKING DOWN THE MOST RECENT ISSUE BEING THE CADILLAC CONVERTER MAKING IT A LITTLE DANGEROUS TO DRIVE BECAUSE SPEED IS AFFECTED ALONG WITH TOXIC FUEL, WHENEVER I DRIVE UP A HILL THE CAR IS LOUD SLOW TO WHERE IT SOMETIMES ROLLS BACKWARDS OR STOPS AND AT A GREEN LIGHT CAR CAN NOT REACH MINIMUM SPEED CAUSE OTHER CARS ANGER AND STRONG FUEL ORDER SOMETIMES WHEN STARTING CAR, CAR CUT OFF ONCE AT RED LIGHT AND WHEN TURNING VEHICLE MOVES ENTIRELY TOO SLOW TO WHEN ONCOMING CARS ALMOST MAKE CONTACT
MY CAR KEEPS RANDOMLY TURNING OFF WHILE I'M AT A STOP OR WAITING AT A RED LIGHT. THE FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED I WAS WAITING AT A RED LIGHT & THEN I TRIED TO MAKE A RIGHT TURN AFTER IT TURNED GREEN AND IN THE MIDDLE OF ME TRYING TO TURN IT TURNED OFF. THANK HIS THERE WERE NO CARS AROUND OR ELSE SOMETHING COULD HAVE HAPPENED. RANDOM PEDESTRIANS HELPED ME PUSH THE CAR OUT OF THE WAY. & AFTER TRYING TO RESTART IT FOR ABOUT 20 MINUTE SIT FINALLY STARTED. THE SECOND TIME IT HAPPENED WAS THE VERY NEXT DAY. I WAS WAITING AT A RED LIGHT AND IT JUST TURNED OFF. BUT IT STARTED BACK UP RIGHT AWAY. THE THIRD TIME & THIS WAS YESTERDAY, I GOT TO WORK AND I WAS IN THE PARKING LOT. MY CAR WAS PARKED BUT STILL RUNNING AND IT TURNED OFF. IT WOULDN'T START BACK UP UNTIL ABOUT 15 LATER. SOMETIMES IT WILL START BACK RIGHT AWAY & OTHER TIMES I HAVE TO WAIT FOR 15/20 MINUTES OR MORE AND TRY AGAIN AND IT WILL START. I'VE DONE A DIAGNOSTICS TEST & BATTERY CHECK. EVERYTHING COMES BACK GOOD. NO ONE CAN FIGURE OUT THE PROBLEM. I DO NOT FEEL SAFE DRIVING THIS CAR. I'M NOT SURE IF YOU GUYS HAVE RECEIVED ANY OTHER COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM BUT CAN SOMEONE PLEASE CONTACT ME. I'VE BEEN HAVING THIS PROBLEM FOR ABOUT A MONTH NOW.
FELT LIKE I COULD NOT GO SPEED I WAS ATTEMPTING. THE BRAKES STARTED TO LOCK UP AND ONE SIDE WAS SMOKING, NOW BOTH SIDES ARE SMOKING AND IS STILL LOCKING UP.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 KIA RIO. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IDLING AT ANY STOP, THE ENGINE THREATENED TO SHUT DOWN WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT CALLED A LOCAL DEALER AND WAS INFORMED TO HAVE THE VEHICLE TOWED TO A SHOP, BUT THE CONTACT DID NOT WANT TO PAY FOR THE TOWING. THE FAILURE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED. THE MANUFACTURER ADVISED THE CONTACT TO TOW THE VEHICLE TO THE ORIGINAL DEALER. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TOWED. THE FAILURE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REMEDIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 62,000.
Showing 12 of 24 complaints.
HTTP 400 Bad Request