2001 KIA RIO — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 217 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (40 complaints · 18.4%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 20
  • Fires 14
  • Injuries 11
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 2000 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ENGINE appears in 40 of 217 owner complaints (18.4%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 40 complaints, 18.4% of reports ENGINE 40 · 18.4% · 4 fire reports WHEELS: 29 complaints, 13.4% of reports WHEELS 29 · 13.4% AIR BAGS: 22 complaints, 10.1% of reports AIR BAGS 22 · 10.1% · 11 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 19 complaints, 8.8% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 19 · 8.8% · 2 crash reports 4 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 16 complaints, 7.4% of reports POWER TRAIN 16 · 7.4% · 1 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 15 complaints, 6.9% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 15 · 6.9% · 1 crash reports 4 fire reports SEAT BELTS: 13 complaints, 6.0% of reports SEAT BELTS 13 · 6.0% · 2 crash reports SUSPENSION: 12 complaints, 5.5% of reports SUSPENSION 12 · 5.5% · 1 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 11 complaints, 5.1% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 11 · 5.1% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 150 complaints, 69.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 150 · 69.1% · 13 crash reports 10 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ENGINE 40 18.4% 0 crashes · 4 fires
WHEELS 29 13.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 22 10.1% 11 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 19 8.8% 2 crashes · 4 fires
POWER TRAIN 16 7.4% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 15 6.9% 1 crashes · 4 fires
SEAT BELTS 13 6.0% 2 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 12 5.5% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 11 5.1% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 150 69.1% 13 crashes · 10 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Oct 2000. 2000-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2001-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2001-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2001-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2002-Q1: 15 owner reports 15 2002-Q2: 12 owner reports 12 2002-Q3: 15 owner reports 15 2002-Q4: 9 owner reports 9 2003-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2003-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 2003-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2003-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2004-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2004-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2004-Q3: 15 owner reports 15 2004-Q4: 13 owner reports 13 2005-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2005-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2005-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2005-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2006-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2007-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2007-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Oct 2000 Jan 2017 Investigation PE02022 ● Investigation PE02022 Investigation EA02009 ● Investigation EA02009 Investigation PE03016 ● Investigation PE03016 Investigation EA03015 ● Investigation EA03015 Investigation PE04030 ● Investigation PE04030 Investigation EA04020 ● Investigation EA04020
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2000-Q4 Owner reports 3
2001-Q1 Owner reports 8
2001-Q2 Owner reports 8
2001-Q3 Owner reports 10
2001-Q4 Owner reports 4
2002-Q1 Owner reports 15
2002-Q2 Owner reports 12
2002-Q3 Owner reports 15
2002-Q4 Owner reports 9
2003-Q1 Owner reports 8
2003-Q2 Owner reports 9
2003-Q3 Owner reports 10
2003-Q4 Owner reports 8
2004-Q1 Owner reports 6
2004-Q2 Owner reports 10
2004-Q3 Owner reports 15
2004-Q4 Owner reports 13
2005-Q1 Owner reports 5
2005-Q2 Owner reports 5
2005-Q3 Owner reports 10
2005-Q4 Owner reports 5
2006-Q1 Owner reports 1
2006-Q2 Owner reports 2
2006-Q3 Owner reports 1
2006-Q4 Owner reports 3
2007-Q1 Owner reports 4
2007-Q2 Owner reports 2
2007-Q3 Owner reports 2
2008-Q1 Owner reports 1
2008-Q2 Owner reports 1
2008-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q4 Owner reports 1
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
2011-Q1 Owner reports 1
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2011-Q3 Owner reports 1
2012-Q3 Owner reports 2
2013-Q3 Owner reports 1
2013-Q4 Owner reports 1
2017-Q1 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE02022
Defect investigation 1 EA02009
Defect investigation 1 PE03016
Defect investigation 1 EA03015
Defect investigation 1 PE04030
Defect investigation 1 EA04020
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 217 complaints · page 1 of 9

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources