2012 Honda City 1.3 S Manual VERSUS 2012 Kia Rio Ex Manual

[MacMac2016]

Hi Everyone!

I'm planning to buy a new car and I want to know ask people's opinion about these two cars I've selected (2012 Honda City 1.3 S Manual VERSUS 2012 Kia Rio Ex Manual).

Which of the two cars is better overall? Thank you po

[17Sphynx17]

Well, just with the brand alone, you can have assurance when you buy the honda as a new unit and with the after sales service.

My beef with the 1.3 engine is that it feels weak to pull the cars weight so accelerating seems harder for this vehicle compared to the previous generation, even though it was an i-DSi and not VTEC. Plus the price seems a bit too high for what you can get if you are really looking at it.

At a price of around 750k, you could get a compact sedan, instead of a sub compact. Namely the Ford Focus just by adding around 50k to the budget. This would be a good car especially if you plan to take it on long drives from time to time plus you got a bit more room in your vehicle for "stuff". But again, you may just want a city car and the fuel efficiency maybe the one at play which is why you considered the 1.3 MT of the Honda City.

On short stints, we only got around 8-9km/l on our old 1.3 Honda City (similar to the current gen engine) for exclusive city driving. On the i-DSi Honda City, we also got roughly the same fuel economy but it was more responsive an engine for us compared to the current 1.3 engine.

Since you are opting for a manual, then I think you could consider the 1.4MT of the Ford Fiesta not the AT Model (hate the transmission while we wait for the update to the compubox). Up to you if you want to consider the 5-dr or 4-dr. It can fall below your budget for the City 1.3MT so you may have accessories put in to change "stuff" you may want upgraded. =)

As for the Rio, now that is certainly a looker. Again, I just have hesitation, not with the build quality when it comes out of the factory but with the after sales service of Kia Philippines as well as parts availability. This has been an issue with them for how long yet I do not know if they have resolved this or not. So I can not update you with the current performance of the after sales service. But the car itself looks like a great buy as well. =)

Good luck in you purchase. Cheers!

 

[17Sphynx17]

Forgot to mention, you may also want to consider the Accent, just remember it will need to use 95 octane rating fuel. So that's an increase in fuel price of about 1 pesos. Given the difference in price between the Rio and Accent of about 60k, then yoy have room to play in terms of future fuel costs for the higher octane rating.

Cheers!

[MacMac2016]

Thank you for your reply! I appreciate it a lot. The Ford Fiesta was my third choice.

[ArturoWaltz]

hi macmac i prefer you to buy honda city. it has a good car parts and i swear that they give you what you want, many freebies too.

[reyjason]

@MacMac2016

go for the city if because of parts availability, after sales services and resale value

[bvnzn]

I am a current 2010 Honda City 1.5 A/T owner and I have to tell you that I am very satisfied with everything it has to offer, both what the car can give and what Honda can give as well. The performance is excellent, the looks, the parts, the maintenance, the fuel consumption of around 11km/l on city driving, and almost everything. The only thing I don't like is how the front bumper scrapes on steep areas like basement garage, or going down a rail. The under chasis also scrapes on high humps, but you would expect that on a small car like this.

The Kia Rio is actually a pretty nice car. The only difference is the maintenance and reliability because of the lack of availability for the parts - and that is a huge difference. So, the Honda is the highly recommended car here. If you could save up more for the 1.5 A/T then go for it because truth be told, the 1.3 is under power and you're engine will have a very hard time pulling you and you're passengers along. May explain the reason why the fuel consumption goes down for the 1.3.   

[weweng20]

2012 HONDA CITY .. GO GO GO !

[patrick_j]

i'd still stick with the ever reliable japan-made car.

[IT-Guy_Cebu]

I know this is an old post but I believe there is a little bit of truth about the parts. Well some parts may still not be here but recently they are catching up on inventories.  As for reliability, well a car is a car depending on how you drive it.  Honestly, I just bought a new Kia Rio 2012 (4-door sedan manual transmission) and the services sucked at first but ever since I transferred from one service center to another one located somewhere up north (It may be a bit far from home but worth it) the service has been excellent! I don't mind driving a few kilometers more from home to avail of their service.

As for reliability it is not totally true that this is not a reliable car. Koreans have caught up with the Japanese in terms of how they make their cars.  And for those who do not know, Kia is a subsidiary of Hyundai, so I guess they make reliable cars because they more or less share production facilities and capacities and leverage on both the companies experiences on car making. For this car, I get consumption like between 9 to 14 Kms per liter (depending on road conditions) and I'm satisfied with it.  Six gear box is just awesome when I'm on long drives.

The interior is absolutely fine with me.  I got a two toned one and it looks great. The accessories are now here so I guess I will start dressing it up.  What is important is your relationship with your auto dealer and its all about relationships. I got discounts from a recent accessory purchase so you be the judge of that.   

[maranello_5775]

Good day,

I'll just share my experience with our 2010 city 1.5 a/t and 2011 city 1.3 m/t. Despite the larger displacement and automatic transmission the city 1.5 logs similar fuel economy to the 1.3 while providing a more powerful drive. I find the 1.3 a bit weak especially for a vtec, you needed to rev it high to get a decent pace. I haven't personally driven the new rio yet but the ride is better than the city. If your budget permits get the 1.5 city over the 1.3 manual.

[niky]

There's actually an advantage to the Rio MT ovee the current City MT. Kia specs it with ultra short gears, so that acceleration at low speeds is good, even with the puny engine.

The City, like most Japanese cars, has long 1st-2nd-3rd spacing. The Rio has ultra-tight 1st-2nd-3rd spacing and an extra long 3rd to 4th shift. This gives you three acceleration gears and two overdrives on the highway.

Good combo. And the 1.25 liter engine isn't bad in terms of economy, either.