IllustrationTAKATA RECALL. THE COMPUTER THAT TELLS THE TRANSMISSION TO SWITCH GEARS IS STUCK AND DOASNT WORK. MY CAR WILL ONLY STAY IN 3RD GEAR AND REVERSE. IT HAS NO POWER AND GOES IN LIMP MODE. I HAVE 3 SMALL KIDS AND IT IS VERY DANGEROUS FOR ME TO DRIVE WITH IT LIKE THIS SINCE THE DAY I BOUGHT IT. PLZ HELP ME.
2008 Kia Rio
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Similar to other model years
Owner complaints for the 2008 Kia Rio do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 38.5.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Rio years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
150–25K
625–50K
450–75K
775–100K
6100–150K
1150K+
39 reports with mileage · 7 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Air Bags. Review the 27 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Engine. Review the 3 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Service Brakes, Hydraulic. Review the 3 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
11 crash reports0 fire reports7 injury reports
Vehicle Speed Control complaints
3 reportsTL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 KIA RIO. WHEN PUTTING THE VEHICLE INTO GEAR, THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT ACCELERATE. SUDDENLY, THE VEHICLE WOULD ABNORMALLY ACCELERATE WITHOUT DRIVER INTENT. THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED ON 3 SEPARATE OCCASIONS BUT COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED. THE DEALER ATTEMPTED TO REMEDY THE FAILURE ON 2 OCCASIONS AT NO EXPENSE…
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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 KIA RIO. WHEN PUTTING THE VEHICLE INTO GEAR, THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT ACCELERATE. SUDDENLY, THE VEHICLE WOULD ABNORMALLY ACCELERATE WITHOUT DRIVER INTENT. THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED ON 3 SEPARATE OCCASIONS BUT COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED. THE DEALER ATTEMPTED TO REMEDY THE FAILURE ON 2 OCCASIONS AT NO EXPENSE TO THE OWNER, BUT TO NO AVAIL. THE FAILURE PROGRESSIVELY BECAME WORSE. ALSO, WHILE TRAVELING AT SPEEDS OF 5MPH AND UP, THE VEHICLE WOULD EXHIBIT A WHINING SOUND. THE DEALER ADVISED THE LOWER BALL JOINTS WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER HAD NOT BEEN CONTACTED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 50 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 21632. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE AT THE TIME OF THE COMPLAINT.
WHILE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE AT 70 MPH, VEHICLE SPEEDOMETER AND TACHOMETER WENT TO ZERO AND THERE WAS NO RESPONSE WHEN PRESSING ON GAS PEDAL. VEHICLE THEN DIED AND HAD TO BE RESTARTED. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO DEALERSHIP. DEALERSHIP HAD VEHICLE FOR 1 WEEK WAS UNABLE TO FIND ANYTHING WRONG AND WOULD NOT REPLACE ANY PARTS. VEHICLE …
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WHILE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE AT 70 MPH, VEHICLE SPEEDOMETER AND TACHOMETER WENT TO ZERO AND THERE WAS NO RESPONSE WHEN PRESSING ON GAS PEDAL. VEHICLE THEN DIED AND HAD TO BE RESTARTED. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO DEALERSHIP. DEALERSHIP HAD VEHICLE FOR 1 WEEK WAS UNABLE TO FIND ANYTHING WRONG AND WOULD NOT REPLACE ANY PARTS. VEHICLE HAS YET TO DUPLICATE ISSUE. 3 DAYS PRIOR TO RETURN OF VEHICLE DEALERSHIP STATED THEY HAD FOUND ISSUES WITH THE VEHICLE AND SOMETHING WAS WRONG AND THEY WERE GOING TO ORDER PARTS. WHEN THE DEALERSHIP CALLED STATING REPAIRS WERE COMPLETE THEY INFORMED ME THAT THEY COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG AND THEY HAD DRIVEN IT 300 MILES IN AN ATTEMPT TO DUPLICATE FAULT HOWEVER THEY PUT LESS THAN 100 MILES ON VEHICLE. *TR
Official recalls
112V244000 · Air Bags:frontal:sensor/control MODULE-INACTIVE
May 31, 2012
KIA IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2006-2008 RIO VEHICLES, MANUFACTURED FROM FEBRUARY 20, 2005, THROUGH DECEMBER 9, 2007. THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT OCCUPANT SENSOR MAT CAN EXPERIENCE FATIGUE CRACKING. IF SUFFICIENT CRACKING OCCURS, THE OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (OCS) WILL CEASE TO FUNCTION SUCH THAT THE SYSTEM WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DETECT WHETHER A CHILD PASSENGER IS IN THE SEAT AND THE AIRBAG WILL DEPLOY DURING A CRASH NECESSITATING DEPLOYMENT.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT WITH A CHILD IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE SEAT INCREASES THE RISK OF INJURY TO THAT CHILD.
Remedy: KIA WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE OCS SEAT SENSOR MAT, FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JULY 26, 2012. OWNERS MAY CONTACT KIA CONSUMER ASSISTANCE CENTER AT 1-800-333-4542.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.