2013 Kia Rio Hatchback or 2012 Honda Civic LX sedan?

Let s say you had the following cars:

2013 Kia Rio Hatchback for $13,900
2012 Honda Civic LX sedan for $13,900

Which would you choose, and why?

Added (1). Oh, and I should have clarified. You would be buying either one used. The Rio would have about 18,000 miles on it, and the Civic would have about 25,000 miles on it.

Added (2). Well they used to suck. I've read a ton of reviews, and apparently Kia really stepped up their game with the Kia Rio, at least versions 2012 and newer. That's why I'm asking.

Civic by a mile even if it had 125,000 miles over a POS Kia Rio. Surely you are kidding. Have you ever read Consumer Reports, Edmunds, or in fact ANY car website or magazine? If you had, you would know how much Kias suck.

KIA has certainly come a long way with their styling, their reliability and their build quality… But they haven't reached Honda levels yet. And assuming the same mechanical condition and considering they are priced the same and you could get the same drive out price on either I'd still rather buy the Honda. I wouldn't make a lot of that small mileage difference either.

If everything is equal (and it appears they are) the Honda has the edge because of their remarkable record for reliability and resale value.

The advantage for KIA is the styling. If you like that hatchback look over the Civic sedan I'd choose looks first.

Honda, and its not even close. Unless the Kia was $4000 less.

I used to buy old kias, lots of them for $800-1400 each. Could hardly ever get Hondas for that price.

The old Kias were good sellers for me, off the side of the road. But they don't stand up to Honda, Toyota, Nissan or Mazda. They just weren't as good.

But, I've been out of the car business for over 10 years so I haven't kept up with them recently.

Honda Civic without any doubts. It has become a synonym of reliability long time ago. The newest generation, all new for 2012, builds on the car's traditional strengths-sporty roadholding, good gas mileage. The all-new 2012 Honda Civic remains a strong contender in the compact car category, but other new models now effectively match the Civic and threaten its traditional dominance in the marketplace. While this vehicle has always remained towards the front of the pack, it is no small feat that its popularity steadily climbs from generation to generation.

You didn't mention options or condition (both of which affect the value of the cars), but assuming both are similar I'd go with the Civic. I own a 2008 Accord and a 2012 Veloster (Hyundai and Kia are the same company), so to those that say Kia's suck they obviously haven't owned one built in the last few years. I have 55K from new on my Veloster with no problems whatsoever. That said - I would still go with the Honda - the reasons are it still has more of a quality feel and it will hold its value better. If the Kia has more options and/or the mileage is a lot lower I might think about it - also consider the Kia probably still has a lot of factory warranty left, so that's a plus.

Both prices seem kind of high to me BTW - but I don't know where you live. Go to Edmunds.com and make sure these are fair prices - and don't pay them what they are asking, if they are asking 13.9K you can bet they will take less - somewhere in the 13 - 13.5 range.

And - always get any used car you are considering checked by a mechanic to they can verify no signs of abuse and or an accident. Carfax doesn't cover everything

2013 Kia Rio Hatchback