New little beast in the fleet, Replaced the beat-up old Taurus with a new(er) Rio Options

[bhorste]

So Monday night we replaced the well-loved-but-falling-apart-rapidly '98 Taurus my wife's had for the last 6 years with an '03 Kia Rio. Nothing quite like shedding 5 years and 101k miles (165k down to 64k), if only it didn't have the payment attached.

The big question I have (and can't seem to locate the answer to) is: the 1.6 DOHC under the hood is an Alpha, correct? As such, is it also an interference engine like the Beta (which will be getting a new timing belt at 100k, just because I don't know if it's had one yet)? I may just be up for a bunch of mechanic-ing if it is.

[bgilbert1]

If it has 64,000 kms it should be good for another 36,000 before it needs a belt. That will give you time to bone up on how to change one. My 02 Accent went 76,000 miles on the original belt, but it has the 1,500 cc engine and only one cam.

[MEly]

If it has 64,000 kms it should be good for another 36,000 before it needs a belt.

I think those numbers were in miles... which means he should probably do the T-belt now(ish).

[bhorste]

If it has 64,000 kms it should be good for another 36,000 before it needs a belt. That will give you time to bone up on how to change one. My 02 Accent went 76,000 miles on the original belt, but it has the 1,500 cc engine and only one cam.

Even though Windsor is South of where I am, we still use English units here. I know it's overdue if it hasn't had it done already.

I think those numbers were in miles... which means he should probably do the T-belt now(ish).

So, what I'm gathering is, yes it is the Alpha and yes, it is an interference engine and yes, I should call the service department and see if they show any record of it being changed.

Thanks for the input.



Oh, just got off the phone with the dealership... TB has been done already. I'm good on this car until 120k! WOOT!

This post has been edited by bhorste: Aug 28 2008, 04:12 PM

[Doohickie]

Yep. Get 'er done asap. Did you know that year/model of Kia was regarded as the worst new car you could buy in those days?

My wife drives a Taurus too. A little newer and fewer miles- it's an 03 with 102k on it- but it still looks and rides like brand new. They are considered dated and rental queens, but I quite like the car.

[Alex2013GT]

Great news that the Timing Belt was already done. That should be a nice little car that should be very economical for you. Congrats on the purchase

[bhorste]

Yep. Get 'er done asap. Did you know that year/model of Kia was regarded as the worst new car you could buy in those days?

My wife drives a Taurus too. A little newer and fewer miles- it's an 03 with 102k on it- but it still looks and rides like brand new. They are considered dated and rental queens, but I quite like the car.

I missed out on that tibdit of info... and what's more interesting is this car started life as a rental. Still goes down the road really well (although I'm going to have to have the "new" tires balanced... nasty 1st order noise). We were going to look at an '03 Taurus that had ~65k on it, but it sold before we got the chance. My wife really liked her Taurus (and my dad worked on the shift quality in the transmission), but it just had too many problems to make it worth fixing.

Great news that the Timing Belt was already done. That should be a nice little car that should be very economical for you. Congrats on the purchase

Thanks. She really likes it, and the price was right. Heck, the salesman at the dealership stuck around what turned out to be 3 hours after the place closed... we didn't get there until 8:45 Monday, and we left the gas station (yay free tank!) at 11. I'm still trying to catch up on sleep (get home at 1, get up at 5, get to work at 6).