When we last checked on our Kia Rondo, the odometer was shy of 11,000 miles and its long-term test was 3 months from completion. At this rate we still had 9,000 miles to reach our goal. So we found a volunteer.
"Don't come back until it turns 20k," blurted a shapeless mass of editors as it shoved our eager volunteer out the door. "Welcome to the team."
One month and 5,000 miles later the Rondo returned. Our mileage experiment fell short of expectations, but the Kia took it all in stride. At one point the tire pressure warning light clicked on. We topped off the tires for now, and will check them again in a couple of days.
Mike Schmidt, Vehicle Testing Coordinator @ 16,264 miles
billt9 says:
05:59 PM, 07/25/08
Well finally Kia is employing designers.
The new Kia lineup seems to be shaped after the Koup.
Wow people with artistic talent designing cars instead of engineers, who have no sense of aesthetics. Amazing.
johnmarco says:
09:03 AM, 07/26/08
That's all we get for 5,000 miles in one month? Who was the volunteer? Where did the Rondo travel? Hellloooooo.......?
cartester16 says:
02:01 PM, 07/26/08
Next time you need miles on a car, please let me know. I am a retired (but only 40yrs old) vehicle test driver and engineer and can travel anywhere, anytime, and give you at least comments per day, and any recorded data you wish to collect. I have my own equipment. One summer I took some vacation and put 15,000 miles on a Miata in 4.5 weeks, just for fun. Needless to say, I love to drive.
the_big_al says:
02:36 PM, 07/26/08
so yeah - where's the comments during those 5K miles??
Heres a thought though - I think you guys should do a mileage test to see how far and well a vehicle would hold up over a month of constant driving. The only time you should stop is to change the oil and put gas in. Seriously. 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week for 31 days. How well will the car hold up? How well will the driver(s) hold up? And how many miles can you put on??? I'll bet you could crack 20K in one month doing this. You could have your one year 20K mile test done in a month! :D
dougtheeng says:
06:08 AM, 07/28/08
The Rondo looks good in that photo.
Until now I forgot you had it though. I guess thats sort of the Rondo experience.