"How reliable is the 2002 Kia Rio Cinco?"

"Based on 31 NHTSA complaints, the 2002 Kia Rio Cinco has a median complaint mileage of 56500 miles. The most common issue is ELECTRICAL SYSTEM."

"What are common problems with the 2002 Kia Rio Cinco?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 2002 Kia Rio Cinco is ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, accounting for a significant portion of the 31 total complaints filed."

2002 Kia Rio Cinco: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 31 complaints

Total Complaints

56,500mi

Median Mileage

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

28,003 25th Percentile

56,500 Median Mileage

67,750 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

POWER TRAIN:CLUTCH ASSEMBLY

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CATALYTIC CONVERTOR

AIR BAGS

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE

FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS

SEATS

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"I HAVE HAD MY MANUAL TRANSMISSION KIA RIO CINCO BACK TO THE DEALER 6 TIMES SINCE ITS PURCHASE (07/02) FOR THE SAME REASON. THE CLUTCH IN THIS CAR DOES NOT SEEM STRONG ENOUGH TO WORK. I DRIVE APROX 60 MILES EACH WAY TO WORK, AND RARELY USE THE CLUTCH. I HAVE BEEN DRIVING MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS ALL MY L..."

"VEHICLES STALLS AFTER MOVING FROM A STOPPED POSITION. VEHICLE HAS BEEN RECALLED FOR THE PROBLEM AND THE PROBLEM IS STILL OCCURRING. CAR HAS BEEN OWNED FOR A YEAR AND HAS BEEN SERVICED TOO MANY TIMES FOR THE SAME PROBLEM. PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED SINCE THE RECALL AS IF IT WERE NEVER FIXED. DEALER WANTS T..."

"THIS VEHICLE HAS A HAZARDOUS STALLING PROBLEM THAT SURFACED WHEN THE MILEAGE WAS BETWEEN 49,986 AND 52,281. THE PROBLEM PROGRESSED FROM INTERMITTENT TO CHRONIC. THE VEHICLE STALLS AFTER STOPPING AT STOPLIGHTS OR STOP SIGNS OR UPON RESUMING DRIVING FROM A STOPPED POSITION (STALLING HAS OCCURRED WHI..."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28