My li'l Blue Buggy got in an accident last month. The driver (who shall remain unnamed -- me) changed lanes without checking his blind spot and got hit squarely on the driver's side by a frickin' Toyota Highlander, creaming the front door, rear door, rocker panel and B pillar. Of course the Toyota sustained minimal damage, mostly cosmetic. But not my 2014 Versa Note S with just shy of 50k miles on it. Initial estimate from the body shop was $4k, but when the pulled the doors they realized that the B pillar would need to be replaced ( cut out and the new one welded into place) they tacked on another $3k. At that point my insurance totalled it. My Baby!

Can you believe that for an 8 year old car, bone stock, electric nothing (manual 5 speed, crank window, manual door locks, no blue toooth, just a CD player and AM FM radio), they settled for $9800?!?! I paid $11,500 brand spankin new. We live in strange times.

I took the money and ran.

But I miss my buggy, warts and all.

Nobody was injured BTW.

txchamps wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 29, 2022 1:50 pm

Nobody was injured BTW.

Only the insurance company's pride.

Sheesh, $9800?
Let's go Brandon!

Glad no one was hurt and you got paid well by the insurance.

I'm actually kindof impressed it was 11,500 brand new.

PapaSmurf2k3 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 28, 2022 10:27 pm

I'm actually kindof impressed it was 11,500 brand new.

VStar650CL wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 29, 2022 1:59 pm

Sheesh, $9800?

That's exactly the point. How utterly ridiculous.
Let's go Brandon!

Damn, that sucks. Glad you're ok though. That's awesome that insurance actually did well by you. The inflated used car prices are to blame for that.

So, what's the plan for replacement? Unless you're willing to buy Korean, I'm not sure anyone sells a quality cheap car anymore, though I haven't shopped that segment in ages. If do you go the Korean route, research the engine. I know there's at least one that has premature failure issues. They're not all being covered under warranty.

Ended up getting a Kia Rios S. I wanted the Forte, but they want way too much for them. Quite a nice little car -- it had better be at these prices -- . And thank you float, I did do the engine research. They have solved all those direct injection carbon fouling problems -- or at least improved them. What I really like is that the engine is STILL a 1.6 litre straight 4, but it gets a bit more horse power than my other Versa, and they have somehow talked a CVT into acting more like a 6 speed automatic, with a good deal of up front grunt and a minimum of whining and moaning. And I still get 36 mpg in mixed driving. Not gonna win any races at the Winternationals, but it gets you on the freeway without as much white-knuckle terror. AND, it handles really nicely. Much better than the 2000 model Kia Rio I once had --which was, lets face it, a massive turd for such a little car. I had a 2007 Kia Rio 5 manual shift that I adored, they had improved that much -- lost the clutch at 65K miles, and then the head gasket departed this mortal realm another 20K after that. Sigh. Hopefully this one will last longer. Everything I read says they are getting better and better. I want to drive this one for 200K miles. I'm 69. I don't see myself buying too many more cars.

Sorry, Nissan.....

PapaSmurf2k3 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 28, 2022 10:27 pm

I'm actually kindof impressed it was 11,500 brand new.

Well, I looked back and found that I actually paid $12,900. Don't know where i got that $11,500 figure. Damn that CRS disease.

I'm with you on the Koren's improving things. They're getting to be decent cars now. I don't think I've heard much bad about the 1.6L's. I have a family member with the larger engine that's in one of the SUV's and that engine failed WAY before it should have, but just outside of warranty. She's a single mother and a social worker, so money isn't great for her. She ended up having to borrow money to get the engine replaced. Pretty bad deal. She still loves the car though.

And I'm hearing similar things about CVT's in general. Subaru is putting them in the "big" engine cars now and they seem to be holding up. On paper, CVT should be better. I think it's been a matter of figuring out the software and materials to get them to last. Time will tell!

Congrats on the acquisition.
I always advocate an oil catch can on any direct-injection only fuel delivery system (some Toyotas and such have dual injection so they don't need it), along with a periodic valve cleaning.

PapaSmurf2k3 wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 15, 2023 10:44 am

Congrats on the acquisition.
I always advocate an oil catch can on any direct-injection only fuel delivery system (some Toyotas and such have dual injection so they don't need it), along with a periodic valve cleaning.

Great advice! Valve fouling on DI only engines is a legit issue.

PapaSmurf2k3 wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 15, 2023 10:44 am

Congrats on the acquisition.
I always advocate an oil catch can on any direct-injection only fuel delivery system (some Toyotas and such have dual injection so they don't need it), along with a periodic valve cleaning.

Thanks for that. The current 2023 Kia Rio has the 1.6 litre Gamma MPI engine. I believe I erroneously said direct injection on a previous post. Do you think I should still take the same precautions?

I really appreciate you people with the expertise being willing to share that with me.

Hey if its multi-port, you're golden!
Looks like they claim 11.2 compression ratio on Kia's website. Pretty darn high for multiport + regular fuel.

PapaSmurf2k3 wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 15, 2023 3:49 pm

Hey if its multi-port, you're golden!
Looks like they claim 11.2 compression ratio on Kia's website. Pretty darn high for multiport + regular fuel.

This is good to know. The Gamma II is what my buggy has, and according to Wiki, they can range up to 13:1 compression ratio. How they achieve such tight clearances is not clear to me, but I will tell you that it is nimble, and does have a surprising amount of pep off the block, and so far getting nearly 37 MPG in mixed driving, so the efficiency is there -- so far. I am waiting to see if they have fixed the oil consumption issues of the past, as the reviews say they have.

Good to hear no one was hurt. Sounds like your Rio S is very fuel efficient.