[Mrtech931]

Hello there, I have a 2019 rio sport and it wanders all over the road. When it’s little windy it is awful. Has anyone else had this problem? I have took it back to dealer twice and they are saying there is nothing wrong on their 5 min test drive. It has 5000 miles on it. It’s done it since I got it with 10 miles on it. Any ideas? Thanks so much for any help

 

[iuygoig]

Checked the tyre pressures?

 

[Vartel]

What are you comparing it to? I upgraded from an old shape picanto to my 2019 Rio a few weeks ago. I have driven it about 500 miles, including through the storm which hit the UK last week. It seems much more planted and stable to me than my picanto did.

Might be a silly question, but are you gripping the steering wheel enough to counter-steer against any wind? With the power steering it shouldn't take much force to keep it straight even in strong winds/

 

[iooi]

W
Might be a silly question, but are you gripping the steering wheel enough to counter-steer against any wind? With the power steering it shouldn't take much force to keep it straight even in strong winds/

Or gripping it too hard and over compensating for deviations.

 

[KevinBattle]

mrtech931: - are you in the UK? The Rio Sport doesn't seem to be available in the UK, but does come up as available in Australia.
5,000 miles since Jan 2019 is going some on UK roads!

Read the Oz review mentioning it was a "light" car and a "breeze" to drive....

Seriously, it doesn't seem to have Lane Keep Assist, as the higher priced GT Line, and that may assist with the problem.
To be honest, I can't see how a 5 minute drive can establish any "wandering" - is there another Kia dealer you could ask to look more seriously at the problem, or a breakdown organisation that could give you an independent assessment?

Keep trying if you're not happy, then you need to escalate the complaint.

 

[Mrtech931]

Checked the tyre pressures?

Yes. Thank you.

 

[Mrtech931]

mrtech931: - are you in the UK? The Rio Sport doesn't seem to be available in the UK, but does come up as available in Australia.
5,000 miles since Jan 2019 is going some on UK roads!

Read the Oz review mentioning it was a "light" car and a "breeze" to drive....

Seriously, it doesn't seem to have Lane Keep Assist, as the higher priced GT Line, and that may assist with the problem.
To be honest, I can't see how a 5 minute drive can establish any "wandering" - is there another Kia dealer you could ask to look more seriously at the problem, or a breakdown organisation that could give you an independent assessment?

Keep trying if you're not happy, then you need to escalate the complaint.

Thank you for the reply. The 5000 was typo. Actually at 9000 now. Lol. I am in United States. Tennessee actually. I drive 200 miles round trip to work each day. Will read review. I will also try another dealer. I could tell when I took it back they weren’t interested in figuring it out. They said it has some kind of different steering that I was not used to. But I know there is something wrong. I heard lots of good things about kia’s and love gas mileage it gets. Just scared when it does that. Thank you again for the reply. Will let you know how it goes.

 

[Mrtech931]

What are you comparing it to? I upgraded from an old shape picanto to my 2019 Rio a few weeks ago. I have driven it about 500 miles, including through the storm which hit the UK last week. It seems much more planted and stable to me than my picanto did.

Might be a silly question, but are you gripping the steering wheel enough to counter-steer against any wind? With the power steering it shouldn't take much force to keep it straight even in strong winds/

I have a 2014 Altima, 2007 fusion and a 2012 Honda. This Kia floats all over road and when it’s windy it feels like you are right behind a 18 wheeler doing 70 mph.

I have tried everything as far as holding wheel. When dealer said it was normal I figured I would ask other Kia owners if they experienced anything like that. Gonna put little more pressure on the dealer to take it serious and see what happen. Thank you very much for your reply.

 

[KevinBattle]

I realise UK and US specs may be considerably different, but this UK review doesn't mention the car being affected by side winds, so I'd certainly recommend you a) Roll up as a new prospective buyer for a test drive in another Rio Sport to see if that is twitchy or not and b) Try another dealership to check yours out, and have one of their guys drive it with you to see if they experience the same effects.

If the test drives also show the Rio as "twitchy" it might be worth asking for a drive with the model with Lane Keep Assist and see if that cures the problem - you then have to decide on whether it's worth an upgrade....

Let's hope they can resolve before you need to go down that route. Good luck

 

[Vartel]

I realise UK and US specs may be considerably different, but this UK review doesn't mention the car being affected by side winds, so I'd certainly recommend you a) Roll up as a new prospective buyer for a test drive in another Rio Sport to see if that is twitchy or not and b) Try another dealership to check yours out, and have one of their guys drive it with you to see if they experience the same effects.

If the test drives also show the Rio as "twitchy" it might be worth asking for a drive with the model with Lane Keep Assist and see if that cures the problem - you then have to decide on whether it's worth an upgrade....

Let's hope they can resolve before you need to go down that route. Good luck

That is a really good suggestion to be able to test if it is the nature of the car or an issue with the specific car.

Hope you find out what is wrong, if anything with the car OP. Keep us updated!

 

[dilus]

Recently drove my 17 plate Rio for the first time in very strong 40mph crosswinds on the motorway with the “lane keep assist” turned off and it did have a slight tendency to wander but not much worse than any other car of its size and weight. KIA’s have electronic assisted steering and it does take a bit to get used to it. You do have to concentrate a bit more and make more smaller inputs on the steering to keep them perfectly straight, especially in strong wind, you might as others have suggested find yourself gripping the steering too hard and exaggerating the problem further ?

 

[KevinBattle]

As an aside, I recently was given a lift in a friends Mercedes.
Every 100 yards or so she tugged at the wheel to keep it from wandering.
I wasn't in it for long, to decide whether it was her wayward steering or if there was a fault that needed correcting, but she didn't seem to notice anything unusual.
It wasn't a windy day, just "normal" roads and I wouldn't have wanted to be in there for a long drive, the twitching was a bit unsettling!

 

[RioSpanez]

Look into TIE BARS! (Rear torsion bar - bolt on)

They help create a more rigid frame for the car.

One side effect I noticed is it handles much easier in the wind, as it wanders much less in general

 

[KevG57]

Tyres, this may be the biggest single cause of bad handling, cheap tyres feel awful as does under or over inflated.

My 2017 Rio on 17 in continentals feels pretty planted in any weather and not affected by wind.

 

[KiaEngland]

Thank you for the reply. The 5000 was typo. Actually at 9000 now. Lol. I am in United States. Tennessee actually. I drive 200 miles round trip to work each day. Will read review. I will also try another dealer. I could tell when I took it back they weren’t interested in figuring it out. They said it has some kind of different steering that I was not used to. But I know there is something wrong. I heard lots of good things about kia’s and love gas mileage it gets. Just scared when it does that. Thank you again for the reply. Will let you know how it goes.

Very late to the party, Get the tracking on the front wheels checked. Makes. Such a difference. Find a good shop who knows what they are doing and talking about.