Kia · Compact Sedan

Kia Rio

Every model year 2016–2023: recalls, owner complaints, NHTSA crash ratings and EPA efficiency side by side, each value traced to the file it came from.

8 Model years 2016–2023

10 Recalls NHTSA campaigns, all years

226 Complaints owner reports, all years

A Newest grade 2023 Safety Signal

2023 Best on record cleanest filed year

The 2023 Rio →Which years to avoid Compare it

Kia Rio — photograph via Wikimedia Commons — Kia Rio · Photo: EurovisionNim · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Active NHTSA advisory on 2 model years of the Rio — park outside or do not drive. The year rows below carry it.

Every Kia Rio model year

Source: NHTSA · EPA · one row per year

Year	Powertrains	Safety	Recalls	Complaints	Crash	Best efficiency
2023	Gas	A	0	12	—	36 mpg
2022	Gas	B	1	12	—	36 mpg
2021	Gas	C	2	15	—	36 mpg
2020	Gas	A	1	27	—	36 mpg
2019	Gas	A	1	22	—	32 mpg
2018	Gas	A	1	28	—	32 mpg
2017	Gas	C	2	31	★★★★☆	31 mpg	Park outside
2016	Gas	C	2	79	★★★★☆	31 mpg	Park outside

Which model year the record favours

Source: recalls and complaints per year on the road

Years to avoid, with the reasons →Best on the record 2023

On the filed record so far, the 2023 is the cleanest Rio year we hold, and the 2017 the one to check hardest. The 2017 carries a standing park-outside or do-not-drive advisory, which outranks every other number on this page.

Both figures are divided by the number of years the car has been on sale, because otherwise the oldest year on the page loses every time simply for having been around longer. The current model year and any year under three on the road are left out: their records are not finished.

Year	Safety Signal	Recalls /yr	Complaints /yr
2023	A	0	4
2018	A	0.1	4
2019	A	0.1	3
2020	A	0.2	4
2022	B	0.2	3	1 critical
2021	C	0.4	3	1 critical
2016	C	0.2	8	Advisory
2017	C	0.2	3	Advisory

Also on file Beside the Kia Rio

Best year on file The 2023 Rio Recalls Every Kia recall on file Compare The 2023 Rio against anything

What changed year to year

Source: computed from the filed record

2020: best combined mpg 32 → 36; 2 → 1 EPA configurations
2018: best combined mpg 31 → 32; 3 → 2 EPA configurations

Common questions about the Kia Rio

Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kits

Which Kia Rio year is the best used buy?

On the recall record, the 2023 Rio comes out top of the years before the current one: Safety Signal grade A (100/100), 0 recalls and 12 owner complaints on file. That ranks paperwork, not condition — a specific car's history and service record still decide it.

What Kia Rio years should I avoid?

2016, 2017 have the weakest recall records in this range — one carries an active park-outside or do-not-drive advisory. The year pages list every campaign, its severity and whether a repair exists yet. Every Rio model year ranked, with the reasons.

How many recalls does the Kia Rio have?

Across model years 2016–2023, NHTSA has posted 10 recall campaigns for the Kia Rio. They are counted per model year in the table above, because a campaign almost never covers the whole run — it covers a build range.