CTC Review: 2008 Kia Rondo

[jcon]

They test what the manufacturers provide.

[conwelpic]

At night, the interior lighting is lacking — at the front of the vehicle the map lights do not activate when you open the doors, and this means it is dark when entering and exiting the vehicle at night.

thats incorrect - sounds like you haven't got the dome lights set to the "door" position.  When you unlock the vehicle with the remote the dome lights come on for 30 seconds, also if you open any of the side doors the dome lights come on for 30 seconds.  The overhead map lights work independently.

[Cortina]

I still think of Kia's as the budget Hyundai. I still don't think they are there yet, in overall quality in terms of fit and finish.  As for the mechanics who knows, We won't know that for a number years yet.  I think Kia's are only worth buying used unless you intend to drive them into the ground. B/C the depreciation is too big of a hit when buying Kia's brand spanking new. The public perception of Kia's has not change, Maybe with Hyundai slightly yes, even though they are the same company. But with Kia's no. But I have to say they are building a fine looking product. But only time will tell if mechanics are as good as the domestics and the Japanese. 

[gottarondo]

At night, the interior lighting is lacking — at the front of the vehicle the map lights do not activate when you open the doors, and this means it is dark when entering and exiting the vehicle at night.

thats incorrect - sounds like you haven't got the dome lights set to the "door" position.  When you unlock the vehicle with the remote the dome lights come on for 30 seconds, also if you open any of the side doors the dome lights come on for 30 seconds.  The overhead map lights work independently.

Glad you jumped in on this Conwel as in my 2007 it is also certainly NOT the case that the car is dark at night, but I couldn't be sure that hadn't changed for 08. 

And Cortina, you could be right, but for the moment the Kia mechanics have provided 10,000 km of completely trouble-free driving. 

[wing]

The dome light is set but it is not at the front of the car..... am I missing something, There are 2 dome lights, one in the middle one at the rear.  Both come on, but the map lights do not and consequently it is dark at the front.

I triple checked this before writing, it's dark in there.

[gottarondo]

Ah OK, I understood you to be saying there was no internal lighting, not just that there was not enough at the front.  That I'm willing to concede, although I have always found it to be adequate, but then maybe I park under a brighter street light or something.  I do value the fact that with the two dome lights, the whole rear compartment is very well lit (speaking as a rather paranoid female). 

Sorry to hear the leather steering wheel on your tester is peeling.  No such problems here.  I look forward to hearing your further impressions, both good and bad. 

[MedicineMan]

The dome light is set but it is not at the front of the car..... am I missing something, There are 2 dome lights, one in the middle one at the rear.  Both come on, but the map lights do not and consequently it is dark at the front.

I triple checked this before writing, it's dark in there.

Yes, you're right about that.  As for my own experience, it would have been nice if the map lights came on automatically in the front row while entering and exiting the vehicle, but the lighting coming indirectly from the dome lights in the back seem to be good enough on most occasions for my purposes.

There are a few things that fall short in the Rondo that you may not notice on a 10 minute jaunt around the block. The steering wheel controls are intrusive during parking lot maneuvers - I’m not sure how many times I have either changed the radio station inadvertently or upped the volume but it has happened enough to annoy me already.

I've owned the Rondo for about eight months now and I've yet to accidentally change the radio station or the volume due to inadvertently touching the steering wheel controls.  Okay, maybe it has happened once or twice, but obviously it hasn't occurred often enough for me to remember.

Kia still has a weight problem : this thing is nearly as heavy as my much-roomier MPV.  The regular doors, 2nd row bench and mandatory slushbox pushed the Rondo off the list of a few Mazda 5 owners I know.  Even in Quebec, the Rondo is a rare sight.  By coincidence (or not), both the 5 and Rondo were side-by-side at last year's Montreal Auto Show.  3rd row access - and room - is much better in the Mz5; if your needs include two child seats, then the "spare" 3rd row is useless.  With 2nd row buckets, you just walk through to the back.

This just proves that different people have different needs.  The fact that the Rondo comes with regular rear doors, second-row bench seats and auto tranny (especially the V6) are reasons why some people have chosen the Rondo over the Mazda5. 

Me personally, I would rather have the second-row bench seats than two bucket seats because you have the option of seating three in the second row.  Not only that, the seating for seven obviously gives you more flexibility and more options with the passenger/cargo combinations than with seating for only six. 

I've also checked out both vehicles before eventually choosing the Rondo and I would say that the third-row roominess is about the same in both vehicles, except that the Rondo has slightly more legroom and the Mazda5 has slightly more headroom (this is after adjusting all the rows in both vehicles so that there were adequate legroom in each row).  But if we're just talking about that "closed in" feeling, then the Mazda5 subjectively feels more roomy in the third row since there's an opening to the back between the second-row bucket seats.

I'm not sure what you meant about the third row being useless when your needs include two child seats--do you mean that if you place two child seats in the second row, you then can't access the third row?  That's true, since you would have to remove a child seat in the second row so that you can fold the back of the second-row seat forward a bit to access the third row.  I would say that's more inconvenient than useless, though.  It's not ideal to place child seats in the third row, either, since the third row lacks the special tethers and LATCH attachments for child seats (that only appears in the second row).

I'm curious to see what fuel consumption will be at the end of the test; if the V-6 drinks like a full-size minivan, then, what's the point ?

The point is, some people don't want a full-size minivan and don't need that much capacity all of the time, and would rather have a smaller vehicle so it's easier to negotiate the urban nightmare.  At least, that's my reasoning.  Yes, size does matter (although not in the way that we usually think of it--bigger being somehow better).

Let's remember that the Rondo and Mazda5 can seat four quite comfortably and the additional seating is in reality for occasional use only.  If you need seating for six or seven all of the time, you're better off with a not-so-minivan.

[The Mighty Duck]

"I estimate you could fit 100 or so pylons in there."
What the heck is that measure!!!!!

I had the same thought...  did you drive this thing to an AutoX event or something, and wonder how they transport all those pylons?

[MedicineMan]

I will plead with you though, please, please, please if you buy a Rondo, put winter tires on it. The stock tires are absolutely horrible in the snow and deadly on ice. Even on dry cold roads they have very little grip.

James, do you mind my asking what tires are on the tester?  Your tester, the EX-V6 Luxury, should come with standard all-season 17" Michelin tires.  I'm surprised that they're performing so poorly, although living in mostly snow-free Vancouver, I haven't noticed how well these tires perform in the snow.

[wing]

Yes those are the tires it sports.  Everytime I remember to look at the model it is too dark to read it.  I'll try this morning. 

It is VERY cold in Ottawa right now and we have so much snow it is insane.

[stodge]

Yes those are the tires it sports.  Everytime I remember to look at the model it is too dark to read it.  I'll try this morning. 

It is VERY cold in Ottawa right now and we have so much snow it is insane.

It's not that cold!

[jww]

Yes those are the tires it sports.  Everytime I remember to look at the model it is too dark to read it.  I'll try this morning. 

It is VERY cold in Ottawa right now and we have so much snow it is insane.

It's not that cold!

Were you up at 5:30 am yesterday?? Brrrrrrr!

Much nicer today, that's for sure.

Anyway -  back to the tires. All-season radials - even Michellins - are made of much harder rubber, which means that they tend to be very slippery in the colder and wetter weather. I got winter tires 4 years ago, and can't believe the difference thay made even on my 02 Altima which did not have ABS or traction/stability control. On my Sonata, which has all of the aforementioned, the snows perform even better.

Frisby Tire is running their "It's just as cheap to have snow tires as it is to have all-season tires all-year round" ads right now. That's a faily accurate statement, so long as you change you tires at the right time of the year.

[wing]

Surprisingly Michelin MXV4 tires but the tread depth seems VERY shallow on these tires than what I tested in Alabama last spring and the pattern even looks slightly different. I'm guessing it's OEM spec and not the same.

[The Fuzz]

I believe those are the OEM tires on the 6. Terrible in anything but dry weather.

[conwelpic]

It's an interesting comparison to the Mazda5. I think the Rondo needs a 5 speed auto to match the 08 Mazda5. Otherwise, the Kia's spec is good, though I didn't find the interior quality to be that great. Maybe it deserves another visit.

I prefer the 6 seats in the Mazda5. For me, the 60/40 split in the Rondo is the wrong way round. It looks from the photo that the left rear-seat is the 60%, which means that if we bought one, our daughter's car seat would be behind the driver's seat. In our 500, the 60% seat is behind the passenger's seat. Why do I care? The car seat will only fit in the 60% seat. If that makes sense.

Can't fault the fit and finish of the interior, I guess a 5 speed for the 4 cylinder wouldn't be bad, but not that critical.

Regarding child seats:  if your seats use the LATCH system, then they have anchors on either the side of the 60/40 split, if it requires the seat belt set up then it can be fastened in three positions on the rear 2nd row seats.  You can find out details by downloading the 2008 Rondo owners manual at
http://www.kia.ca/page/owners_manual

[MedicineMan]

Interior room is generous in the first two rows, while the third row is somewhat of a pain to gain access to and, unlike the Mazda5, where a small child could easily climb to the third row themselves, the same maneuver Kia would require some assistance.

I totally agree with those remarks, but I just wanted to qualify it a bit with my own take.  It obviously does take one or two more extra steps to access the third row when compared to the Mazda5, but that's the trade-off for having bench seats in the second row and total seating for up to seven.  It all depends on what one's preferences are.  In my own experience, it ain't no thang for my nephews and nieces to get into the third row.  The second-row seats slide forward quite a bit and it's much easier entering/exiting the back row of the Rondo than the back row of a typical two-door vehicle.

Like I said before, the Rondo and Mazda5 can seat four quite comfortably and the additional seating is in reality for occasional use only.  If you think you'll be using the third row more often than not, you're better off with a larger vehicle.  Why?  Because with the third row up, you're left with precious little cargo space behind the third row (tiny in the Mazda5, tinier in the Rondo).  So my point is, is it an absolute necessity to have "pain free" access to the third row when it's used only occasionally?  To me, that's a bonus rather than a necessity, and it's not enough of a bonus to sacrifice the benefits of having second-row bench seats for up to three (i.e., the extra configurability of 2+3+2 seating vs. 2+2+2 seating).  Like I said, it all depends on one's preferences, so I don't expect everyone to come to the same conclusion.

Anyway, I'm just nitpicking here.  I did enjoy the day-by-day review of the Rondo and I thought it was fair and informative.

[gottarondo]

It had never become clear to me before that accessing the third row of the Mazda 5 from between the seats is an option, and I didn't notice it when I saw the car due to the tray between the seats being folded out.  What I did notice was that to access the third row from the sliding door, which I think is more likely, you had to step over the sliding door hinge, which made it harder than the Rondo to go in that way.  The step in the Rondo is so easy that my elderly mother was even able to make it. 

In any case, both cars do a better job of the third row than most SUVs because of their lower floors.  And as MM points out, we're not talking about using that row on a regular basis, and you can shuffle your inhabitants to put the smallest, most agile back there. 

[safristi]

 ....geez Giant Dwarf is getting mad about that arrangement..................

[Blueprint]

Regarding tires, I had two week-long experiences with rental Grand Caravans.  The first had steelies with Goodyear Integrity all-seasons and fared incredibly well in deep snow.  The other had alloys with the same Michelins MXV4s and it was like driving on slicks by comparison.

About minivans and not-so-mini vans, well, in the end, it seems the Mazda MPV was just-right for so many Canadians.  Too bad we only get the new MPV disguised as the CX-7 !

[conwelpic]

For occasional use read never for me. Since my interest stretches only to second row seating; I would hope to find more utility in the vehicle with second row folded. I think that hard backed folding seat, providing a 'flat floor' from front seats to the back door is a very saleable feature. Soft seat backs waste the space that the design offers. Hyundai please make it so like Matrix.

PS. A slight step at folded second row is acceptable as long as resulting surface is horizontal.

in my 5-seater Rondo when the 2nd row is folded forward, it provides a flat floor from behind the front seats to the rear tailgate without any gaps.  It is not a hard surface like the Matrix (one of the first vehicles we considered) but has more height and length.  We have a large dog and the hard surface would not work too well as there is no grip (same would apply with any cargo) and also it could scratch easy.  I just trimmed a $20, 4' x 6' carpet to fit and this protects the original material and provides all the protection we need.