2012 Kia Rio engine problems
25 complaints about engine have been filed for the 2012 Kia Rio, which is 33% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.
At a glance
- Complaints
- 25 33% of this year's complaints
- Typical mileage
- 97,000 miles 15 complaints with mileage
- Crashes and fires
- 0 and 8
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
When engine problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 2 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 2 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 1 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 0 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 4 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 2 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 2 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 15 engine complaints that report mileage, the median is about 97,000 miles, and 33% were reported before 60,000 miles.
These complaints mention 8 fires.
What owners wrote
My 2012 kia rio caught fire the other day. I pulled into the driveway, went into the house to put my laptop down. I had shut the car off. Came back out to grab some stuff from the trunk and the car was smoking from the hood. Thought it had overheated. Pulled hood release and went to open the hood when I realized flames were coming from the right side of the engine area. Tried putting the fire out with a garden hose & was instructed by 911 to get away from the vehicle. Car ended up bursting into flames.
Brief loss of throttle control along with engine overspeed possibly due to dirty electrical contacts in connector at electronic throttle body -- restored proper operation via flushing of electrical contacts in connector with 100% isopropyl alcohol aerosol spray -- vehicle was being driven into a crowded parking lot at the time -- brakes were effective in keeping the speed under control -- had to shut engine off while in drive in order to keep it from overspeeding -- engine had been running and car had been in…