Some of you may recall I owned a Fabia Greenline Diesel until just over a month ago. I had bitterly complained about the car not giving a better MPG and had, had it into the dealers five times for them to say nothing was wrong with the car! One or two members here suggested I was driving it all wrongly and presented a method by which I should be driving it albeit contrary to how I have driven motors all my life and would also mention contrary to the 'change gear' prompts on the maxi-dot dash. I certainly don't want to engage in a flame war so please accept my comments on a non personal level. Much of the advice and comments in this forum were either useless or complete nonsense.

The last straw so to speak, regarding my getting rid of the Fabia, came after a trip to the Midlands from North Wales when I managed a mere fifty to the gallon for the round trip! That was it! It's going!

I picked up my new Kia, Rio MK 111 version 2 from a major dealer in Cambridge swapping the Fabia and handing over some money. As it happens I got a hell of a deal through Carquake online if anyone is interested.

There were 9 miles on the clock when I picked up the new car. Coming home my heart sank as I had done a mere fifty to the gallon on the trip home, yes, just like the Fabia. Next fill up, low fifties, then next mid fifties. Today, nudged over the 60 MPG and the returns appear to be improving day by day! Now the Kia Forum members are telling me to do about 3000 miles and then really see what to expect from a gallon! Already the Kia is ten miles to the gallon above the Fabia and truthfully climbing each fill up! Now also bear in mind we in North Wales, have had the most foul of weather with extreme low temperatures over the past weeks and this car is already outshining the Fabia as far as returns are concerned. So with another couple of thousand miles to loosen the Rio up and with summer diesel just now then I'm confident we're going to get very close to the published figures for the Rio! Don't worry, I don't do bull, I will tell it as truthfully as I can.

Out of interest, I believe the Fabia was a very stylish car and had it delivered some economy then I would have stayed with it for many years as I drive about 20K a year. As you see I went for the version 2 Rio and now wish I'd gone for the version 3 as I really do miss the cruise control on the Fabia. Build and comfort wise the cars are very equal though I would say the suspension seems a lot firmer on the Rio, hard even?. I thought I might have a problem with six gears, a first for me but soon found it fun and wouldn't do without it now. Talking gears the space between gears on the Rio are a hell of a lot more linear whereas the Fabia could improve their ratios for a better feel to the drive. Again style wise, little between the cars. I thought the steering on the Fabia was a dream but the Rio really is superior with a mere stroke to keep it level and straight. Also another one up for the Rio, it will take bio fuel. I happen to think it a bit of a gimmick as the makers suggest no more than 7% bio but slightly helpful on a tank full as that means I can put, say three litres of rapeseed oil, for three pounds instead of £1:45 a litre for diesel so thus saving £1:35 each time a fill up. Every little helps, as the saying goes. For some reason I miss the outside temperature displayed on the radio as with the Fabia though I can hop about for the information on the Rio. Most of the rest of the bells and whistles are similar for both cars.

I actually drive the new Rio in the style I've always driven and already finding it out stripping the Fabia in terms of returns! So much for all the advice meted out in this group as to how one should drive a car with a three pot engine, sorry folks! I can't guess where the MPG will level out on the Rio as I have only done 1,300 miles but said, it seems to improve by the day. Already doing just over 60 to the gallon which is 20% more than the Fabia and of course 20% less fuel to buy! Who knows with summer coming and loosen up the engine somewhat in a few more miles what claims I can then make. I will keep you posted.

It might well be I had a bad 'un with my Greenline Fabia and wouldn't let it detract if some of the members are deliriously happy with theirs. Mine didn't work for me but the Rio does and I'm so happy I done the swap.

Wish you all well.

It may be worth checking if you can use SVO (Straight Vegetable Oil) in your car, or if it is supposed to be BioDiesel in the Rio.

Rapeseed oil is considered one of the better bio oils by some manufacturers. If not full diesel fuel, Kia recommend B7 bio fuel which is 93 parts diesel and 7 parts bio oil. It doesn't really seem a lot and more a gimmick I feel, as said in my post but works out to be 1 litre of bio oil for every 14 litres of diesel or thereabouts. ALL diesels will run on SVO but in the case of rapeseed oil the ambient outside temperature needs to be over 15 C or the oil becomes too viscose so not really a go in British winter months if using straight. In the case of the Fabia, Skoda advises no bio whatsoever as this will ruin the DPF, they say and in turn, invalidate the warranty. I remember when I owned a Punto diesel, Fiat advised I could use 5% bio though there was no DPF to consider so expect they may have been particularly cautious.

So Kia allow no more than 7% bio but although there is a DPF on the Rio it would seem it is far more robust then the Fabia version for them to allow its use. Using straight vegetable oil i.e. 100% bio, will invalidate the warranty and cause damage, so Kia claim so a no go with that one with the Rio.

It might be useful also to know, that the Customs and Excise people now allow individuals to use 1100 litres of bio per annum without paying duty. After that figure if you are to use more you must inform them and pay the regular duties as one would pay for petrol or diesel. I haven't a clue how they police this policy but regard 1100 litres as a damn fine allowance if only the car was allowed to burn it by the manufacturer.

Hi Greenline11, nice review and very pleased you are getting good mpg. Kia make some dandy car these days and the warranty is so good. There is no doubt in my mind that your old Greenline was suffering from a fault in spite of it going undiagnosed, otherwise your car would have responded more positively to the advice everyone was giving. No Greenline Mk2 will normally generate such low mpg's as yours did even if driven in an apalling way. I never ever managed to get one to dip under 61mpg with a heavy engine in the back and running at motorways speeds with two of us in it. Worth mention maybe that all diesel has at least 5% bio in it already and most has 7%. Soon that will be rising in some brands to 10% and later 15%. I'm thinking that's what Kia Uk are referring to. But I'm not fully aware of the Kia's fuel needs concerning that aspect. You will find the suspension will soften as the miles go on too and the power will increase. Get your foot down (in accordance with the running in instructions) to get it run in. Don't spend all your time trying to get good fuel economy in the running in period. That's not good for your engine, but otherwise enjoy! Do keep posting to tell us how you are getting on. Good luck!

Glad you are happy with the new car, sounds like some sort of mechanical prob with the Fabia. Always abit sceptical about losing a load of cash to trade in a car for potential better mpg tho, often a false economy! How long do you reckon it will take to claw back the financial hit you have taken on doing the swap?

Hello Estate Man,

Yes I forgot to mention that one, the Rio has a seven year guarantee from bumper to bumper excluding consumables. The sales people told me the radio and battery only, come with a two year guarantee as these are the only items on the car not made by Kia. But surely that is fine? Anti-perforation is a whacking 12 year guarantee!

You always did insist there was something wrong with my Fabia but after five visits to the dealer I simply gave up. If you recall the local dealer even downloaded the engine signature back to VAG in Germany and they too said nothing amiss! But 50 miles to the gallon, where the heck are they coming from?

Some weeks ago another poster suggested I was off my head swapping as I would need to keep the car for fifteen years simply to break even. Not at all sure on what figures he was working? I have done some maths this morning and at present pump prices and and the difference I paid for the car then I will break even easily in 6.6 years but that is based on what the car is returning now. It really does seem to be improving by the day and as I said earlier, summer is on the way and my experience is that returns on MPG zoom upwards plus some more loosening of the engine should by all accounts give me some fairly lively figures to witness just now? If the Rio went as far as say 70 to the gallon, who knows, then slash the break even term by half again. I have not of course vectored any figures in that I have renewed my car within 18 months nor have I tried to imply the 7 year warranty would prove substantial in the long term.

I've had the Rio four weeks now and has climbed from 50 to just over sixty to the gallon and that was just about the worst weather we could experience this last month and driving half the time at night, you know the thing, lights fully ablaze and the heater blasting while the tyres were certainly for the first fortnight of its life displacing hundred of gallons of surface water each time it went out in the rain, rain, rain! All takes a lot of energy out and hence a drop in MPG in anyones' experience! It has been amazing watching the onboard computer shoot up the MPG figures after about 10 miles of a 35 mile journey. A warm engine is an efficient engine. My journeys are identical to when I drove the Fabia by the way. True MPG is configured from tank to tank fill up. My experience so far is that the onboard computer is only a couple of miles optimistic.

Perhaps someone will buy my old Fabia and be delighted with it. I notice the dealer has it up for sale describing the MPG return as 83MPG [combined] on his advert so the trade aren't afraid to quote the manufacturers published figures to sell their cars.

Thanks for the info regarding bio. Had a look at Wiki to discover as you say, all diesel sold in the UK must have at least 5% bio by law. Now how does that square with Skoda who say absolutely NO BIO in their Greenline 11 diesel? Remarkably Wiki report that bio is excellent for diesel engines protecting them from wear and prolonging the life of the fuel system and engine. Perhaps the fuel companies have a huge lobby with the car makers not to encourage bio as we can all, at the moment at least, get the stuff a lot cheaper than fuel at the pump. I will leave that for another day ................

Ta again.