Kia Rio: which model years to avoid
Complaint and recall totals for every Kia Rio model year we track, ranked by severity.
| Model year | Complaints | Recalls | Crashes | Fires | Severity | Most-reported system |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 52 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 188.5 High | ENGINE |
| 2013 | 153 | 1 | 8 | 18 | 133.3 High | ENGINE |
| 2014 | 51 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 200.0 High | ENGINE |
| 2015 | 52 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 315.4 High | ENGINE |
| 2016 | 77 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 127.3 High | ENGINE |
| 2017 | 31 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 258.1 High | ENGINE |
| 2018 | 27 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 118.5 High | ENGINE |
| 2019 | 21 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 257.1 High | UNKNOWN OR OTHER |
| 2020 | 26 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 653.8 High | UNKNOWN OR OTHER |
| 2021 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 53.3 Medium | UNKNOWN OR OTHER |
| 2023 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 Low | UNKNOWN OR OTHER |
Across 11 model years, the 2020 Kia Rio carries the highest severity index (653.8, driven by unknown or other), while the 2023 is the cleanest at 0.0.
Source. NHTSA public complaint and recall APIs. Complaint counts are not normalised by units sold; a high-volume seller will attract more filings than a rare trim.