General Kia Rondo Thread

[Bob]

Update: gas mileage still hovering in the high teens - basically no change post-coil.

[Bob]

I have now gone almost 4k miles since the last oil change that was completed on 12/23/17 @ 95,557 miles. The oil is still full.

The transmission sounds less healthy lately. It still performs okay and if it dies, I will just have to slightly overpay for an "emergency" Vsport purchase. I am actually considering trading it in because of this, and it would be more rational to trade it in while it can still be driven to the dealer. I feel like many private party buyers would object to the noise, even at this relatively low price point and the delta of what I would get from a private party sale might not be worth the hassle.

[kevm14]

What are the trade-in and private sale values?

[Bob]

More on transmission whine from kia-forums.com:

I have a 2007 V6. I bought the car new and it now has 154,000 miles on it. Currently on my third transmission. This transmission was put in the car at 82,000. All three of the transmission have had loud whining sounds (it sounds like differential noise in an old truck with a manual trans.). The current trans has been making the noise since about 100k miles. At first I thought I was going to have to replace it again, this time outside warranty! Well, 72,000 miles later it is still loud and annoying, but it going strong. Because I'm paranoid I actually do a drain and fill on the transmission every 10k miles (drain and fill will get approx 3.5 qts. of ATF out). I've been using Valvoline Import Synthetic ATF and find that it shifts much more smoothly than the Kia fluid. So far, so good. I just have to turn up the radio so as not to be driven crazy by it! Good luck with yours.

[Bob]

Had a well-regarded independent shop do a BG clean, flush, & refill with their Universal Synthetic ATF. They commented that the trans fluid was very dirty and hence ran the cleaner longer than usual. Makes me wonder about the dealer's trans flush just a few months ago. Anyway, the gear noise has noticeably lessened. Maybe this was a $190 well-spent.

Not sure I'm willing to spend this much money, but might be worth a shot if I want to sell private party.

[Bob]

What are the trade-in and private sale values?

I really feel like this is low across the board, but if this is true and reflective of what I would get in both scenarios, then it's not worth it to sell private party.

[Bob]

I was thinking somewhere around $3,000 - $3,500 private party based on comps I have seen lately. If I can get this and the dealer still offers me like $1,300 for a trade in, then it's worth it to sell private party.

[Bob]

Comps:

2007 LX V6 with 147k for $4,900. Appears to be in much better overall condition than our Rondo. https://columbia.craigslist.org/cto/d/2 ... 63930.html

2007 LX 4 cylinder with 148k for $2,900. Appears to be in worse condition than ours, especially the interior with cigarette burns in the seats. https://greenville.craigslist.org/cto/d ... 21601.html

2008 LX V6 with 149k for $3,450. Seems to be in fair condition overall, maybe similar to ours. https://greenville.craigslist.org/cto/d ... 80333.html

[Bob]

One other item: the parking brake really needs to be adjusted. It can barely hold the car on flat ground.

[Bob]

Trans whine video. Oh how I wish this was fatal....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tyoWlaUDP4