2005 KIA RIO — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 35 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (14 complaints · 40.0%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 4
  • Fires 4
  • Injuries 8
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 2004 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints 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.

Component Problem Distribution

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

Component Problem Distribution ENGINE appears in 14 of 35 owner complaints (40.0%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 14 complaints, 40.0% of reports ENGINE 14 · 40.0% · 2 fire reports AIR BAGS: 3 complaints, 8.6% of reports AIR BAGS 3 · 8.6% · 1 crash reports SEAT BELTS: 3 complaints, 8.6% of reports SEAT BELTS 3 · 8.6% · 2 crash reports STEERING: 3 complaints, 8.6% of reports STEERING 3 · 8.6% · 1 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 3 complaints, 8.6% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 · 8.6% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 2 complaints, 5.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 2 · 5.7% · 2 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 2 complaints, 5.7% of reports POWER TRAIN 2 · 5.7% STRUCTURE: 2 complaints, 5.7% of reports STRUCTURE 2 · 5.7% FUEL SYSTEM: 1 complaints, 2.9% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 1 · 2.9% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 10 complaints, 28.6% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 10 · 28.6% · 2 crash 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 14 40.0% 0 crashes · 2 fires
AIR BAGS 3 8.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 3 8.6% 2 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 3 8.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 8.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 2 5.7% 0 crashes · 2 fires
POWER TRAIN 2 5.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 2 5.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 1 2.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 10 28.6% 2 crashes · 0 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 Jul 2005; the first recall shown was reported in Dec 2005. 2005-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 2005 Oct 2020 Recall campaign 05V557000 ◆ Recall campaign 05V557000
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2005-Q3 Owner reports 3
2005-Q4 Owner reports 2
2006-Q1 Owner reports 2
2006-Q3 Owner reports 1
2006-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q2 Owner reports 1
2007-Q3 Owner reports 2
2009-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q2 Owner reports 1
2009-Q3 Owner reports 2
2009-Q4 Owner reports 2
2010-Q1 Owner reports 1
2010-Q2 Owner reports 1
2010-Q3 Owner reports 2
2010-Q4 Owner reports 2
2012-Q2 Owner reports 1
2013-Q4 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 2
2014-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 1
2015-Q3 Owner reports 1
2016-Q1 Owner reports 2
2020-Q4 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 05V557000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 05V557000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    IN THE EVENT OF A VEHICLE CRASH, IF THE CHILD SEAT IS NOT PROPERLY INSTALLED, PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH COULD OCCUR.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE LOWER ANCHORS FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JANUARY 30, 2006. OWNERS MAY CONTACT KIA AT 1-800-333-4542.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints 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.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-22
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 35 complaints · page 1 of 2

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 2026-08-21
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 2026-08-22 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.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-22.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources