Kia Pride: heads up...

[comfysofa]

Hi Everyone,

 

Long term lurker and occasional poster making you all aware of a fine piece of chod for sale. It's an Ebay listing that didn't sell for a 1993 Kia Pride 1.1 4 Speed. I was in talks to buy it but events conspired against me and i cant fetch it. It has MOT till next year and i believe he will be negotiable on price as he is handling the sale on behalf of a family who's grandparent the car belonged to.

 

I have no connection to the seller at all (promise!) apart from nearly buying the car, i thought i would give a heads up as i would hate to think it was fragged, this is most likely one of the earliest surviving Prides in the UK:

 

Original Ebay Listing:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-1-KIA-PRIDE-Very-Low-Mileage-/271980632061?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=r85Mxw5A%252ByMArUaZmQS1k3RYGbA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

 

Comfysofa

[oldcars]

This is class, love these early Kia's.

[hairnet]

225 and noone bit ffs

 

would. cant.

[MarvinsMom]

225 and noone bit ffs

 

would. cant.

isn't that always the way??

[Sloth in a bowl]

Do NOT show this to Mrs Sloth, she is still pissed that I auctioned the last one and she can't drive.

[chaseracer]

Hey Jude.......

 

[cms206]

Do NOT show this to Mrs Sloth, she is still pissed that I auctioned the last one and she can't drive.

I'll enter the raffle for this one too when you piss her off next year.

 

Blue Pride is still performing faultlessly...

[loserone]

RED PRIDE is doing a marvelous job (stupid mistakes excepted) at ferrying me back and forth to Newcastle everyday.  Proper envious of the manual windows, boxy steering wheel and floor mats.

 

B1 engine apparently not as good on the fuel economy front as the later B3, if I remember the reviews LP posted in the last but one Pride thread.

 

Can't recommend it highly enough though, it's a shitload better to drive than a K11C Micra.

[comfysofa]

Just to big up the Pride love here: I had a 1998 1.3 and it was one of the best cars out of nearly 30 i have owned...great fuel economy, a bloody hoot to drive, simple to fix and despite being a Kia, no Airfix grade interior plastics that smell like a burning chemical factory fire in a developing nation, which i have noticed early Sedonas/Rio's have a tendency to, although that may be my sense of smell...this thing is Mazda apart from the badge. If only Kia had bought the rights to produce the 323 instead of SAO, missed opportunity...

[oldcars]

Just to big up the Pride love here: I had a 1998 1.3 and it was one of the best cars out of nearly 30 i have owned...great fuel economy, a bloody hoot to drive, simple to fix and despite being a Kia, no Airfix grade interior plastics that smell like a burning chemical factory fire in a developing nation, which i have noticed early Sedonas/Rio's have a tendency to, although that may be my sense of smell...this thing is Mazda apart from the badge. If only Kia had bought the rights to produce the 323 instead of SAO, missed opportunity...

the plastics do on my Shuma too. I have a autosmart berry smelling dressing to get rid of it.

[loserone]

I've been bothering that ebay seller for bits. He wants to sell it whole though, which is presumably why it's listed as a brake disc.

[oldcars]

Never seen a 4 door pride before.

[gordonbennet]

I had an almost new Pride as courtesy car for a while, bloody crackin little motor, most noticeable being the acres of headroom where many cars you're scrunched up with your head jammed in the bloody roof.

 

The only thing i would do to one is stick some better rear dampers on cos they're about as bloody useful as Fiat Punto's arse end shockers were, other than that brill little motor.

 

Someone buy this for pete's sake.

[Station]

Blue with red trim 'piping' is the best colour on the Kias.

I'd love one, but I'll never have one.

[cms206]

Can't recommend it highly enough though, it's a shitload better to drive than a K11C Micra.

This. I don't generally like Japanese/Korean/Malaysian cars as a rule but the Pride pisses all over every other tiny Asiabox I've driven. Even my J-reg Proton.

 

Just to big up the Pride love here: I had a 1998 1.3 and it was one of the best cars out of nearly 30 i have owned...great fuel economy, a bloody hoot to drive, simple to fix and despite being a Kia, no Airfix grade interior plastics that smell like a burning chemical factory fire in a developing nation, which i have noticed early Sedonas/Rio's have a tendency to, although that may be my sense of smell...this thing is Mazda apart from the badge. If only Kia had bought the rights to produce the 323 instead of SAO, missed opportunity...

All of this too; mine is a mega late Pride registered three months before end of production but it's properly screwed together and feels like a little big car. A Kia 323 would've been tremendous too but they must've done something right with the 121... the Iranians are still building them.

Never seen a 4 door pride before.

They did 3-door and 5-door hatches, 5-door estate, 4-door saloon, van and pickup variants; we didn't get them all here but an estate really tickles my fancy.

 

I had an almost new Pride as courtesy car for a while, bloody crackin little motor, most noticeable being the acres of headroom where many cars you're scrunched up with your head jammed in the bloody roof.

 

The only thing i would do to one is stick some better rear dampers on cos they're about as bloody useful as Fiat Punto's arse end shockers were, other than that brill little motor.

This as well; I'm 6ft3in tall and BLUE PRIDE has been my daily drive for 5k miles. I've only managed to upset it once on a backroad at indecent speeds but I reckon it could be made to properly handle without much effort.

 

 

 

.I'd love one, but I'll never have one.

I always thought this. Now I'd love another. If one comes up for a hundred quid or so they're genuinely a bloody impressive little car despite the image. I can't praise BLUE PRIDE highly enough.

[Matt]

I think their goodness has to do with their conception; if Wikipedia is to be believed they were designed by Mazda by the request of their owners, Ford. I reckon they were designed to sit near the Fiesta but mainly for the US market where the Fiesta wasn't sold at the time. I would guess they were badged as Kia's for our market to artificially separate them from the Fiesta as to us they are both small cars, not something they had to worry about in the states hence them getting the 'better' Ford badges and, to us, better quality than might be expected. They've got a fairly large following in the States I think, same with the Geo Metro but here? Nowt. Shame.

 

I saw one on Auto Trader a couple of years back that had light blue metallic paint and a mad, yet OEM-ish, body kit. Anyone know if those were OEM or something aftermaket? It's the only one I've seen but it looked kinda cool. I can't even find any on Auto Trader or Ebay for sale now, only one on Scumtree.

[loserone]

A Kia 323 would've been tremendous

 

I've only managed to upset it once on a backroad at indecent speeds but I reckon it could be made to properly handle without much effort.

 

 

Can you imagine a proper pop-up-lights-Kia BG GTI? Mental.

 

I'd go with the earlier comment about the rear dampers too - I've definitely had to correct the steering a couple of times as the back end has helped me round the corner more enthusiastically that I had anticipated.  It's a bit bouncy and tramlines a little, but not unpredictably and only when driven like a lunatic.

[comfysofa]

Couple more for you Pride botherers...

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kia-pride-/262088725121?hash=item3d05b49281

https://www.gumtree.com/p/kia/1993-kia-pride-1.3lx-78000-miles-1-owner-mot-sept-2016-drives-perfectly-%C2%A3375/1135081871

Thanks for that Nyphur...just texted the Gumtree one as that is in my vicinity, the other one i made this post about was a bit too out of reach for me really, was going to be a real arse to get it back.

[comfysofa]

This. I don't generally like Japanese/Korean/Malaysian cars as a rule but the Pride pisses all over every other tiny Asiabox I've driven. Even my J-reg Proton.

 

All of this too; mine is a mega late Pride registered three months before end of production but it's properly screwed together and feels like a little big car. A Kia 323 would've been tremendous too but they must've done something right with the 121... the Iranians are still building them.

They did 3-door and 5-door hatches, 5-door estate, 4-door saloon, van and pickup variants; we didn't get them all here but an estate really tickles my fancy.

 

This as well; I'm 6ft3in tall and BLUE PRIDE has been my daily drive for 5k miles. I've only managed to upset it once on a backroad at indecent speeds but I reckon it could be made to properly handle without much effort.

 

 

 

I always thought this. Now I'd love another. If one comes up for a hundred quid or so they're genuinely a bloody impressive little car despite the image. I can't praise BLUE PRIDE highly enough.

I probably shouldn't be saying this, but this one above i managed to get knocked down to £175, it was mainly due to not having too much time to go and collect it that put me off in the end, at that sort of money it's a bargain.

[cms206]

Nearly Matt... they were designed by Mazda for Ford, but were built for Ford by Kia; Mazda built the 121 badged variants in Japan but didn't sell them there as thay was the Festiva's intended market. We only got the Pride when Mazda stopped selling that generation of 121 in the UK.

[comfysofa]

the plastics do on my Shuma too. I have a autosmart berry smelling dressing to get rid of it.

My ex wife's sister had a early Sedona, which didnt have any effective means of ventilation other than the front windows and A/C. They were heavy smokers and that plus the plastics on a hot day in the back on the way to Great Yarmouth got me wanting to call for Huey, in fact even thinking about it now five years on makes me ill

[Matt]

Nearly Matt... they were designed by Mazda for Ford, but were built for Ford by Kia; Mazda built the 121 badged variants in Japan but didn't sell them there as thay was the Festiva's intended market. We only got the Pride when Mazda stopped selling that generation of 121 in the UK.

 

Ah I see. I think the for Ford is the key part though. I'm sure they were keen to make sure it was a Ford quality product regardless of how little they were involved in it's construction (or at least not a Kia quality product in the eyes of consumers).

[Sloth in a bowl]

I think Mazda built them for about 5 years (86 to 91?) before handing production over to Kia who then built them for another 10.

[HH-R]

Just to big up the Pride love here: I had a 1998 1.3 and it was one of the best cars out of nearly 30 i have owned...great fuel economy, a bloody hoot to drive, simple to fix and despite being a Kia, no Airfix grade interior plastics that smell like a burning chemical factory fire in a developing nation, which i have noticed early Sedonas/Rio's have a tendency to, although that may be my sense of smell...this thing is Mazda apart from the badge. If only Kia had bought the rights to produce the 323 instead of SAO, missed opportunity...

 

I haven't noticed a smell, but the plastics in my Rio are more fragile than a ming vase. The bottom half of the dash too, the bit that gets grief from bags/feet. Just look at it wrong and it's scratched!

[comfysofa]

Going for a look at the one in Milton Keynes Nyphur spotted on Gumtree tomorrow night, will see how that pans out...

[oldcars]

All of this too; mine is a mega late Pride registered three months before end of production but it's properly screwed together and feels like a little big car. A Kia 323 would've been tremendous too but they must've done something right with the 121... the Iranians are still building them.

They did 3-door and 5-door hatches, 5-door estate, 4-door saloon, van and pickup variants; we didn't get them all here but an estate really tickles my fancy.

 

 

 

 

 

The Shuma uses 323 running gear and engine and a few other bits i am lead to believe.

[Alan_Green]

Are Picantos the new Prides? I've liked the Picantos I've driven and mega-mile examples keep coming up on Ebay. Here's a 174,000 one for example:   http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121782938204?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT 

[comfysofa]

How did you get on?

Hi Nyphur,

 

Rang the guy. Seemed ok. Looked at the pics: Old car in front of respectable garage: check. Went to have a preliminary look at the car last night in the dark just as a recce: Turned out to be on one of MK's less desirable areas to live, car full of baccy wrappers and stunk to high heavens of petrol inside due to jerry can on rear seat. Nice enough people but a "tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk" noise from the engine was concerning me, for a shiter, i'm no mechanic but know that my last Pride didn't sound like that, nor the heavily strained and abused 1.0 Polo i have now, so i have made my excuses and left for now. Part of me says "walk away" but it was bang on-original, even down to the Kia radio cassette in it.