Anybody read Clarkson's scathing review of the Kia Rio in today's Sunday Times Driving supplement?
I was furious to read it. Clarkson's assessment was totally ill judged. He doesn't seem to appreciate the point of the Rio at all. It is not designed to deliver driver appeal by the bucket load. It is designed to provide reliable, decent transport for people on a budget. This it does do very effectively. Furthermore, his comments about the interior quality were totally unfounded. I have sat in a Rio and I found them to be totally acceptable, given the price.
Clarkson makes the point that for a few quid more you could get a new Fiesta or Micra, but again he is missing the point. The Rio is a Focus-sized car, and people buy it because it provides Focus-sized space for much less money. People considering a Rio do not consider a Fiesta or Micra because it is too small for their needs! They buy the Rio because it is considerably bigger than similarly priced superminis.
This may sound like a diatribe, but it is not intended to be. I simply felt the need to defend Kia from Clarkson's ill-judged review. I think this is yet another classic case of Clarkson having totally lost touch with the expectations of people on a sub-10K budget. He needs to realise that we are not all fortunate enough to drive around in cars worth over 50K, and nor can he expect this level of quality and refinement in the Rio range which kicks off at a snip under 6K.
Any other views on this?
Regards,
Rob E
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Clarkson is a a bit snobbish about the vast majority of cars and he's also out of touch with the motoring needs of the majority of drivers.
However, that's not the point - he's also quite entertaining and sells newspapers - best ignore/not take seriously.
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I quite liked it. Clarkson reviews are never about the car directly, more about what (he percieves) its place is in society. He did swing it round at the end by saying it was as good as it needed to be.......(top gear pause)
..............which is not very good
He nearly always mentions the war too.
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Clarkson's style is quite unique, and you really do need to read between the lines. He's contraversial and very intelligent, that's his style, he either loves or hates everything, there's little in between..
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although i havent any experience of the rio i must admit i do have a soft spot for kia after driving several sedonas and carens hire cars.
I think the main point here is not to take 'our jeremy' too seriously, he obviously hit a raw nerve,anyway thats his job to provoke a reaction.
after all his weekly rantings are almost as bad as Mike Rutherford's weekly jibes at Ford in the Mirror and no-one takes any notice of him either.
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Unfortunately I think a lot of people *do* take note of motoring journalists like Clarkson and Rutherford. I think that's one of the reasons why some marques have struggled in the UK. Journalists invariably hammer larger Japanese cars and Korean cars with comments like 'boringly reliable' and 'characterless' (i.e. they work as intended).
I saw a Clarkson review of the Kia Magentis (I think it was him that did it) and he rubbished it. The Magentis sells very well in the USA and Canada (as the 'Optima') and those people are as demanding as anyone, particularly when it comes to reliability.
The Honda Accord and Toyota Camry are two of the best-selling cars in the US; both having had a lot of stick from journalists this side of the pond. I have had Carmy hire cars in the US and they just great - strangely I see they are quite popular in Germany too....!
Still, a s/hand Camry in the UK is a stonking bargain!
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Clarkson piece last week on the Fiat Panda should surely show that he isn't a snob (Well maybe just a bit), he did say that he left his Merc and other cars alone the whole weekend while he had it.
I can remember him also saying that the Berlingo was a car he wanted to hate, but couldn't because it was so practical.
He just seems to hate Kia's.
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To be fair to JC, the Rio (especially in its first incarnation) has come in for some heavy criticism in the UK motoring press generally. Offering class-above space doesn't necessarily make a car any good.
Clarkson himself doesn't believe he has the power to influence the fate of models or marques; his original Top Gear review of the first Vectra caused a stir at the time, but as he pointed out, Vauxhall went on to sell a fair few (!) anyway over the next seven years.
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I can never be bothered to read the first 1000 words of a JC "review" before he even mentions the car. Self-serving inflated ego nonsense. Can't stand the man.
The Rio is a perfectly competent car that reliably serves many of the Asian middle class in whose affordability bracket it is.
Not all are in the Ferrari fancy house in the Home Counties sector.
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Clarkson's probably just saying that because Tiff Needell said it was surprisingly good in Fifth Gear's cheap car group test last year.
John
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I would think that Kia would admit to the Rio not being a brilliant car, its just basic transport. I'm a Kia fan (check out my past posts) but the Rio doesn't appeal at all.
One of the weekly's had a test recently of three cars, Kia Rio, city rover (can't remember the other). The Rio beat the city rover, so its not quite bottom of the pile.
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I think one could argue that Clarkson is so far removed from the Kia's intended buyer that he's not qualified to judge! I enjoy his writing, mostly, but he's deliberately provocative (because it keeps him in work) and not to be taken seriously.
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Never driven one but unlike JC think that it is quite an atractive car or rather, well proportioned.
JC + pillar of salt = OK read.
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CM,
"JC + pillar of salt = OK read."
Think you meant pinch of salt - Freudian slip?
Matt35.
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I suppose it depends on whether one is buying a car to get from A to B, or to make some kind of lifestyle statement. For the latter group maybe Clarkson's ramblings are of some value :-/
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Pinch vs pillar
Was going for something bigger than a pinch and seem to remember that the person seeing Sodom and G (can't begin to spell it) was turned into a pillar which is bigger than a pinch.
(PS kids were up a 4am so brain not functioning and no I didn't drive to work!)
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Lot's old lady, if memory serves. Gomorrah is what you're looking for (well, the word, I mean).
Getting back to Kias and their ilk I am old enough to remember when Toyotas were considered in the same way by snot-nosed UK motoring journalists who considered the acme of automotive magnificence to be some rot-ridden piece of unreliability from a strike-bound over-subsidised factory in Coventry full of idle bludgers run by pinko unions who had no comprehension of the golden goose principle.
Doubtless they are now turning in their graves and rightfully so.
Hubris and schadenfreude do have a habit of biting in the bum those who ignore them at their peril.
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No, to digest a full Clarkson article in one hit does require more than a pinch. A pillar should just about do it!
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That's Clarkson, like it or lump it! I remember a sort of roadtest he did on the Porsche Cayenne. He ended up supposedly in the middle of nowhere and then decided that it was such rubbish that he walked home and left it there, plain daft!
Incidentally, I have no experience of the Rio but it gets the same treatment from the local version of JC, it's obviously just uncool to own one.
Cheers,
Bill
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"just uncool to own one"
Funny thing, perception. Owning a Rio must still be a lot cooler than having to walk, and why on earth should it matter anyway? I daresay the oiks who drive round in body-kitted Fiestas and Novas, with more bass output than a cinema, think they look cool too, but how many observers will feel the same way? Obviously, the trick must be to feel cool, whatever your mode of transport - after all, you're never going to know what other people think, even if it does matter to you...
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"just uncool to own one"
Am I alone in finding myself wanting a Rio in order to enjoy the perverse pleasure of owning something so comprehensively trashed by Clarkson?
Sadly I can't claim to have been influenced by what he said about my chosen make of car because I hadn't seen it at the time: 'But no matter how many times we're told differently, Skoda is still the crappiest badge that money can buy. Telling people you have one marks you out as someone with no style at all.'
Returning to the Rio, I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned the rather more considered review at www.honestjohn.co.uk/road_tests/index.htm?id=63 , which seems to be saying it's OK for the money.
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Well, that's because HJ is in the business of objective analysis and hard information, not entertainment.
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"..someone with no style"
As opposed to someone who wears expensive jackets with jeans, presumably!
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And can't tuck his shirt into said jeans! Too much in his waistband already perhaps!
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..and as for these journalists who drive expensive cars wearing jeans - they should be strung up!!!
Clarkson is contentious and if we could all afford to drive Merc SLK's (or whatever it is that JC drives), we too would probably criticise Kias as being rubbish. In the real world they offer good value for money for those who want "honest" transport, as others have already replied.
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the general concensus is that jeremy clarkson is a pink fluffy dice so why do we still week after week read his columns?
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the general concensus is that jeremy clarkson is a pink fluffy dice so why do we still week after week read his columns?
Because it is often amusing.
Not because we want to know anything about the car that the column is constructed around.
Clarkson is an entertainer not a car reviewer. If you like his style of entertainment then tune in. Don't expect a simple car review, though.
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the general concensus is that jeremy clarkson is a pink fluffy dice so why do we still week after week read his columns?
Because:
a. he is entertaining
b. people love to be outraged
While I often disagree with JC he usually makes me smile and it's nice to see someone who says what he thinks even if it is biased and is certain to annoy someone.
I bet he even drinks proper beer.
Anyone who has a Lightning fighter in their garden can't be all bad.
Having said all that, I wish we could have 5 or 10 intelligent minutes in Top Gear each week, but I suppose I should treat it as a light entertainment programme that happens to be about cars rather than a car programme.
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the new face lift rio seems to be alot better, especially handling.
gear box is still poor - spoils what is a decent motor.
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