HA! I bet all you non-Kia Rondo owners out there are wishing that you didn't waste your money on something as uncool as a Evo or Camaro! Look at that thing, it's got stickers stacked up on the front door. STACKED UP ON THE DOOR MAN!
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Aug. 17, 2010 3:35 p.m. pinchvalve SuperDork
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Aug. 17, 2010 3:42 p.m. DukeOfUndersteer SuperDork
wow!
I'd drive the snot outta that!
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Aug. 17, 2010 3:43 p.m. 93celicaGT2 SuperDork
Don't know if want....
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Aug. 17, 2010 3:53 p.m. rob_lewis Dork
Drop the stickers, raise up the rear suspension to keep it from looking like it's squatting to go pee and get rid of the pearl paint and I'd drive it all day long!!
First time I saw one of these I wondered if you could make a fun family hauler out of it. IIRC, you can get them with a 5-speed.
-Rob
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Aug. 17, 2010 4:15 p.m. Lugnut HalfDork
Meh. It has that humpback whale look. But it goes to show you wheels, clean shiny blue paint, and ricer stickers make any car look like that. Still doesn't mean I want to drive it.
( Until they reach triple-digit prices, and then I'll drive one and drive it quickly just to beat people with expensive and/or pretty cars :) )
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Aug. 17, 2010 4:33 p.m. RexSeven Dork
There was a stock Rondo at an autocross school last spring. The tires looked like they were going to roll off of the car! Kudos to the owner for being willing to wring it out- He drove it harder than the R35 GT-R that was there was driven.
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Aug. 17, 2010 4:43 p.m. Kia_racer HalfDork
I wonder if that cage would fit my Sephia.
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Aug. 17, 2010 4:50 p.m. Stealthtercel Reader
FWIW, one of Canada's better known auto journalists is on record as saying that his week-long encounter with a Rondo was so (unexpectedly) satisfying that he went out and bought one.
It just seems to hit a sweet spot for size & utility up here, but then you have to remember that Canada bought/buys HUGE numbers of Vibes, Cavaliers/Sunfires, Aveos, etc. Not to mention minivans.
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Aug. 17, 2010 5:09 p.m. Appleseed SuperDork
I'd rock that. Hard.
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Aug. 17, 2010 5:49 p.m. VanillaSky HalfDork
I'm a fan of wagons. I love that.
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Aug. 17, 2010 5:58 p.m. Marty! Dork
VanillaSky wrote:
I'm a fan of wagons. I love that.
Me too, but I wonder how much that cage cuts into it's wagon hauling ability.
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Aug. 17, 2010 6:19 p.m. alex Dork
Turn the rice down a couple notches and I'd be all over that like white on--wait a minute...
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Aug. 17, 2010 6:59 p.m. VanillaSky HalfDork
From here, it looks like it just blocks the rear doors. Who cares about rear seat passengers?
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Aug. 17, 2010 7:37 p.m. Platinum90 SuperDork
I would rock it!
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Aug. 17, 2010 8:21 p.m. jrw1621 SuperDork
The roll bar may hamper second row seating but I like to think that third row seating is still left intact!
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Aug. 17, 2010 9:57 p.m. neckromacr New Reader
jrw1621 wrote:
The roll bar may hamper second row seating but I like to think that third row seating is still left intact!
As much as it ever was. When the Rondo first came out the wife and I went to go look at them at a local Mazda/Kia dealer with the prospect of being a "mini-mini van".
I looked in the back of one and realized that the third row was some kind of sad joke in these. So we walked over to the Mazda 5's.
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Aug. 17, 2010 10:27 p.m. Appleseed SuperDork
Any details? Coilovers? Wheels?
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Aug. 17, 2010 11:50 p.m. neon4891 SuperDork
I'd rather build a Speed5. Sliding doors are so much cooler.
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Aug. 18, 2010 7:28 a.m. 4cylndrfury SuperDork
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Aug. 18, 2010 7:41 a.m. pinchvalve SuperDork
OK, it was a bit tounge-in-cheek. I love my Rondo, but certainly don't consider it a bad-ass ride yo! But I was impressed to see one all done up. Having my daughter climb over the roll bar 6 times a day would get old, but a little less roll and a little more stick would be nice.
I drove the Mazda 5 back-to-back with the Rondo and liked them both. The 5 is way sportier, but the Rondo is bigger. In the 5, you get six seats in all models, which cuts down on rear space. In the Rondo, you can get 5 or 7 seats (admittedly small in the 3rd row). We had a need for a 4 seater +dogs, so the Rondo was the better options for us. If they offered a Mazdaspeed 5 with the turbo, it would have been no contest. I would have bought two!
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Aug. 19, 2010 7:38 a.m. pinchvalve SuperDork
Perhaps you need to learn more about the amazing Rondo: Cheesy Video
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Aug. 19, 2010 3:23 p.m. John Brown SuperDork
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/19/kia-rondo-discontinued-in-u-s-market-with-nary-a-whimper/ said:
"Thank you for inquiring about the Rondo. As the saying goes, 'all good things must come to an end.' But with endings, come new beginnings..."
That's the message visitors receive when they attempt to learn about the 2010 Kia Rondo from the Korean automaker's U.S. website. Interestingly enough, when we contacted Kia officials for confirmation that the Rondo wouldn't be around for 2011, we received the following response: "Kia has not yet decided on a 2011 model, but the 2010 is still available in dealerships."
Yes, that sounds like a typical canned response, and our best guess is that the Rondo is pretty much a goner. Taking a look at sales figures from last year, the Rondo was Kia's third slowest seller just behind the full-size Borrego SUV and the faux-luxe Amanti sedan. Worse yet, the Rondo's 2009 sales total of 14,206 units was less than half of the 28,645 sales it managed in 2008.
Kia is naturally hoping it doesn't lose out on customers that would otherwise have considered a Rondo. In lieu of the micro-minivan, Kia's consumer website is pointing buyers towards its new-for-2011 Sportage cute ute, which does have a good bit of space for stuff but surely isn't quite as family friendly as the apparently outgoing seven-passenger Rondo.
Interestingly enough, Kia of Canada does not seem to have the same message on its site, so we wouldn't be surprised if the MPV soldiers on with our neighbors to the north. If you're still interested in getting a Rondo of your very own in these United States, there are massive incentives that remain active on the 2009 model, including $2,000 cash back, $1,000 for a competitive vehicle turn-in, $1,000 for Kia owner loyalty, and/or a $500 discount for military service. That's a whole lotta cash on the hood.
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Aug. 19, 2010 4:26 p.m. pres589 HalfDork
Would much rather have a tweaked out Kia Rio5.
