I had a "what car" thread a couple weeks ago for a friend of mine. He is from South America and needed some basic transportation. He wanted a used car for under 10k or something like that. I kept feeding him links to cars that fit all of his criteria, but he wanted the dealership experience.
Fast foward to this week and he picks up his 2013 Rio. I have a hard time holding in my thoughts, but I keep it together... Then he tells me that he spent 19k on the freakin thing and it is "well optioned." I fall out.
Fast foward to this weekend and we decide to go to the beach. We always take my car because it is comfy and I have a better sense of direction. This time, he wants to take the Rio. He is excited about his car, so I go along.
First look. Its kinda plain and nothing special to look at. I get in the backseat and I am a little pleased to see enough leg-room. That is the last positive thing that I can say. Next, I notice that the rear cup-holders wont fit a small fast food cup. Odd. I hold my cup for the rest of the trip.
Today, he asks me to drive back and I am thrilled to get behind the wheel of this finely crafted machine. The car drove terrible. The 138 hp rating from the factory seems about 40 too high. From 30 mph, you have to plant your foot at least 75% down for 10 seconds to get to 45. The Eco option that cuts the power to the car is clunky and can dissrupt when parking. The buttons in the interior are right out of a 90's Caravan. The car actually has no trunk popper on the key-fob. It was an option that comes with navigation and a sunroof. The car does have a back-up camera. It sticks out from the trunk and looks like the back has a dingle-berry. The cell-phone sized touch screen is nearly useless. It is just a big clock, when you arent changing radio stations.
The car was just not very well thought out and seemed to be a bargain at $11k, but terrible for $19k. I also learned that people in South America do NOT negotiate prices. He paid sticker for a program vehicle that had already been driven for a couple hundred miles. But hey, it has a big fancy warranty and gets 35 combined mpg so if he is happy, then who am I to judge...
