That first one is a silver 4-dr 2010 SX. I found it the hard way. It's a little rough around the edges and 2010 didn't do streaming audio.
No more 2 doors. They hurt my old body getting in and out in small parking spaces.
That blue one I've been staring at for weeks. But I want a hatch this time.
OK, it looks like my next car is going to be red. Down to the Cleveland car and the Michigan car. I think the michigan car I can get down to $4500, butit has 50k more miles. Cleveland car looks super clean and I may have one of y'all go take a closer look because those pics suck. After finding this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyOPEvi-1-s I was sold. Evilla Motorsports has some nice stuff for the cars and Veloster NA intakes are bolt ons so Fleabay $70 CAI are a thing. Wheel dynos are showing 120-125 whp to be pretty common with intake/exhaust and weight around 2500 means it will still be faster than my first Korean car which made the same power but weighed 400lbs more.
The original New Plan is back on! 4x100 life for me! Learned why they are so hard to find.... they brought 400 to the US in 2013 and called that good enough. If you want a manual in this chassis with ammenities go buy an accent (2012-2017). So I'm in for a unicorn it appears.
Typical Bob, making life harder than it has to me.
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
Would I want it any other way?
I just caught this thread. I remember being really interested in these cars when I was shopping around at the end of 2013. And it seemed like if you wanted a manual trans Kia decided you didn't want anything else in the car. Like power windows means no manual. Eventually I gave up on that idea and ended up with my SX4 hatch.
Does the Accent hatch have the modern conience items you want actually available in the car you want? Or did they do the same as Kia and made them mutually exclusive?
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
So the Accent SE (through 2015) was the top tier and was available with both transmissions. in 2016 the SE became the lower model and the Sport replaced the SE and again has all the doodads and both transmission options through 2017. Sad thing is I really don't like the look of the Accent, even though it is easier to find.
I agree that the Rio is the better looking of the two. I would get over it if I found a car that I otherwise really liked / it had the right equipment.
The right wheel & tire package, maybe a vinyl wrap in something interesting to look at, some other little tweaks could help in the appearance department.
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
HEre's the thing, if I don't look back at the car I'm driving when I park it and smile, why did I buy it? I won't do that with an accent, I don't car if it has the best wheels in the world and is completely wrapped in dayglo orange. The Rio, I like it. I like it a lot.
EDIT: and think about it, I'll have a super rare car. 1 of 400 ever imported.
Makes sense (although you may go crazy in the process of getting what you want). Can you swap in the parts you want into a low-option car, like power windows, is the wiring already run in all of them and you just need power regulators, switches, and whatever changes are needed to the door panels to get the job done?
Not sure what else the "normal" manual trans cars are missing / what you want that they don't have. I remember being bummed out that they didn't have a sunroof option on the manual cars at all and I was planning to buy new so I expected to be able to option one out the way I wanted.
It would costs THOUSANDS to swap over an LX to SX standards. And even then, I doubt the wiring harness is going to be the same because of the huge differences in packages.You'd pretty much need 4 doors, a floor and dash harness, head unit, fog lights, bumpers and headlights.
The LX hatch does not have the backup camera, bluetooth streaming, power windows, mirrors, cruise, some didn't have AC, fog lights, LED DRL's, bumper cutout for exhaust, different front sway bar and smaller brakes.
EDIT: As far as "going crazy", I currently have three on the table right now. The red one in Cleveland has the least miles but the highest asking/selling price around $6k. There's a blue one in PA for $5995 with 25k more miles than the Cleveland car, but it has the windows already tinted and came from Texas. The third is another red one in the greater Detroit area for $4800 with another 25k over the blue one. They all have the exact same equipment, the SX Manuals were all identical except color and there were only 4 options that I have found to date. These cars also had factory NAV and a better stereo over the auto cars.
This is why I love this bar. We are DEEPLY discussing the plus/delta on which exact obscure version of a by the numbers obscure economy car that is basically a members dream car that will be aquired for <$5500.
And this is not a knock on your dreams. I also think a ~22lb/hp playful FWD momentum car that you can absolutely FLOG at a track where the difference between a perfect lap and 6" off of that perfect apex is .5+ seconds because HP can't save you seems like a blast. Buy the one you want even if it's $1000 more. The cost of a wrap is enough to ensure you find one of the color that makes you happy.
In reply to CJ (FS) :
Saw that one. I think it has been smacked, the lower grills are supposed to be black and the cover was replaced poorly.
In reply to nocones :
Right? and who wouldn't want a one year wonder of less than 1000 copies of said obscure econobox.
EDIT: and I like to roll to and from the track in relative comfort with my tunes, AC and cruise
I vote for the blue Pa. car just cuz it came from Texas and likely has less rust, assuming it spent a significant portion of its early life in the south.
Also, this is my main reason I do not like the Accent:
They all have the same crappy tan interior.
That color wouldn't bother me. Just find one where nobody was murdered in the front seat.
In reply to ProDarwin :
that's the problem, even low mileage ones look like that.
Mr Welsh you have a message
In reply to bobzilla :
Wouldn't have posted but the ad indicated one owner and no accidents - and I have no idea what the front end should look like
In reply to CJ (FS) :
I still appreciate it. I always look in Phoenix because the I laws live in Tucson.
Snrub
Dork
3/10/21 8:18 a.m.
I wouldn't normally think this idea makes sense, but maybe it does in your case...
There is a mythical frozen land to the north which contains a treasure trove of manual transmission Kia Rios. Autotrader.ca shows 131 in Ontario and Quebec (total population 25M) vs. 67 in all of the US. Smaller cars are more popular here, especially in Quebec. In terms of SX models, I don't see a lot, but there are some. Your dollar buys additional buys arctic pesos, but there will be additional import costs and travel is difficult at the moment, You can however, get a car towed across the boarder.
Here's one in my town with ~100k miles for $4k US: https://www.autotrader.ca/a/kia/rio/london/ontario/5_50684145_20181112150720353/?showcpo=ShowCpo&ncse=no&orup=16_100_131&pc=N5V%202V7&sprx=1000
I think that generation of Rio/Accent are a great buy for a daily driver. My wife has an Accent sedan and we bought my mother in law a hatch.
Absolutely approve of this plan. While my Accent is a daily assembled out of goofy parts to relive the 90s glory days, there IS an aftermarket for this generation of cars that surprises me. The coilovers I bought for this thing are genuinely nice and were 400 shipped. Not sure how many track days they would last but they've definitely made the little 2020-21 driving I've done way more enjoyable.
I wouldn't fuss about creature comforts—no matter what trim level, they feel like a 90s civic.
Does anyone know if manual swapping an auto model is a worthwhile endeavor?
Snrub
Dork
3/10/21 9:35 a.m.
One more thing - What do the LX/EX models lack that you need? The model lineup here might be a bit different, but I had it in my head that LX+ (not regular LX) and up models had AC/power windows. Some ads suggest LX+ has bluetooth/heated seats too. The Accent here had L, GL, GLS. My wife has the GL which has bluetooth, heated seats/mirrors, cruise, power windows/mirrors, etc. My mother in law's GLS has a moonroof, some nicer interior bits, upgraded stereo, leather wrapped wheel, 16" alloys, fog lights.