VehicleVerdict

2001 Kia Rio engine problems

The 2001 Kia Rio has 56 engine complaints filed with NHTSA — 16% of the year's total, and up sharply from the prior model year.

56

Engine complaints

16%

Share of year

0

Crash-involved

0

Related recalls

Engine complaints by year

Rio engine complaints by model year56 complaints2000: 1 complaints2001: 56 complaints2002: 41 complaints2003: 20 complaints2004: 12 complaints2005: 17 complaints2006: 8 complaints2007: 3 complaints2008: 5 complaints2009: 8 complaints2010: 4 complaints2011: 7 complaints2012: 24 complaints2013: 56 complaints2014: 24 complaints2015: 27 complaints2016: 41 complaints2017: 11 complaints2018: 15 complaints2019: 6 complaints2020: 5 complaints2021: 2 complaints2022: 1 complaints2023: 3 complaints
Rio engine complaints by model year. Red bars are years to avoid.

What owners report

“THE CONSUMER PARKED THE VEHICLE AND LEFT THE ENGINE RUNNING. AFTER A FEW MINUTES, THE CONSUMER RETURNED TO FIND THE VEHICLE ON FIRE. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT DETERMINED THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE WAS DUE TO A MECHANICAL FAILURE. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. *NM”

Complaint filed with NHTSA · Engine · December 9, 2003 · fire

Common questions

How many engine complaints does the 2001 Kia Rio have?

NHTSA has 56 complaints about the 2001 Kia Rio engine — 16% of all complaints filed for that model year.

Related

Based on NHTSA ODI data through June 2026. Complaints are consumer-reported and unverified. Updated July 5, 2026.

Compiled by Sharon Ben-Moshe, Founder.