2010 Kia Rio vacation rental

[SentraSE-R]

My last two tanks were both 49.7 mpg, over a total of 750 miles. I hit slow traffic entering Denver and ABQ, and discovered long gradual downhills going into both places, which really helped my mpg efforts. Plus the last fill was a little short (no sense giving the car rental place a full to the brim tank), to compensate for the likely short tank I started with.

That brought my overall average for the trip to 43.37 mpg over 3586 miles. If I throw out the two outlier tanks, my avg mpg rises to 45.05 mpg! I'd say a Kia Rio is a definite garage candidate in my future.

[Arragonis]

Last time I rented a car it was in the US and they wanted to 'upgrade' me to an SUV - this was when petrol prices were high (for the US) in 2008.

I started telling the nice lady about the time I overturned the last SUV I drove and how they always make me feel unsafe...

[gasstingy]

The 2010 Kia Rio has a higher rated EPA mileage than the 2009 model that I have. I've not taken a road trip in my 2009 yet, but in mixed small town / rural 2-lane highway driving, I consistently get near 40 / over 40 mpg. Worst tank to date is over 37 mpg, best is 41.86. Mine is the SX model with a 5-speed. AFAIK, I believe the automatic is rated 1 mpg better than the manual. I'm pleased with the quality of the car so far.

According to the brochures I read, the base 2010 Kia Rio comes with manual windows, locks, etc.....and no air conditioner, not even as an option. In my neck of the woods, that rules the base model completely out. The person who dreamed up the expression, "It ain't the heat, it's the humidity" lived in the southeastern United States, I'm sure.

[jkp1187]

Originally Posted by Clev

Last time they tried to pull that crap on me, I flat-out refused, telling them that I don't drive SUVs and they had better find me a car. I ended up getting a Prius for the price of a compact.

Rental companies don't seem to realize that some people have to pay for their own gas. Every time, they try to "upgrade" me to some POS truckster, and every time, I've gotten them to find a car--any car. (Hell, even the Buick Lucerne, which did 32 mpg average, was better than the 19 mpg PT Cruiser I got previously.)

Yeah, we weighed that idea, but we were at the Brownsville-South Padre airport, which is pretty small, and it was either take the Tahoe or wait an unspecified number of hours for a different car to show up. After spending seven hours on airplanes, we just wanted to get going.

[Arragonis]

*puts Kia Rio Diesel on prospective list, 60 MPG!

Kia Rio Hatchback - Summary - New Car Review - What Car?

[SentraSE-R]

My FE avg for the 12 day road trip was 145% of the EPA's 30 mpg combined FE estimate, although it's only 120% of the 36 mpg highway estimate. If I throw out the 2 outlier tanks, I got 150% of the EPA combined mpg estimate, or 125% of the highway estimate.

The 2009 Kia Rio AT and MT both get the same 30 mpg combined estimate, but the AT gets a 35 mpg highway estimate, and the MT gets a 33 mpg highway estimate.