Quick test: 2008 Kia Rondo
Gas prices may be dropping like a girder -- I saw $2.99 in Pennsylvania yesterday and darn near soiled my trousers in delight -- but I think the experience of paying $4+ per gallon, even if only for a while, has finally led Americans to change their car-buying habits. And if credit is getting as hard to come by as some people say it is, sticker price is going to become a much bigger factor in people's buying decision.
Enter the Kia Rondo. At $17,395, it's the cheapest way to haul seven people in an atmosphere of new-car-smell. With its low price and standard electronic stability control, I figured the Rondo would appeal to my inner cheapskate as well as my inner mother hen. So is the Rondo a real bargain? Find out in my 2008 Kia Rondo test drive. -- Aaron Gold
Photo © Kia
I don’t know if this is true in the US model, but the base model in Canada has the third row only as an option, which leaves a huge cargo area, making for a cheap “tall wagon” type of vehicle.
Another advantage over the Mazda5 is seating in the front for the “above average”. At 6′0″, my wife was not able to get the passenger seat in the Mazda far enough back to keep her knees/shins from pressing against the dashboard. No problem in the Kia. And the sliding second row still allows enough leg room for whoever is behind her.
@Brian:
How is the leg-room in the 2nd row of the Mazda5? I saw one quickly the other day and it looked ok but not great…
Four or five years down the road at trade-in time the Kia probably won’t get down payment money. Suddenly the difference in price between the Mazda and the Kia becomes ominous… especially when extrapolated over the total number of payments. If you drive the Kia till it drops, then and only then, do I see it as a good choice.