Get to know how much it may cost to keep a Kia on the road with costs that range from service parts, repair parts and items that you may need to replace in the event of an accident. Factor this into the fuel consumption of your selected model and you'll know what you may have to spend to keep it on the road.
Before you purchase a new vehicle, one of the factors that you should consider is the long-term running costs of the said vehicle. This is especially true for older models that are out of their manufacturer warranty. Some brands are notoriously expensive to maintain out of their respective service or maintenance plans and warranties. If you’re considering a Korean offering, you may be wondering if Kias are expensive to repair.
Kia has come a long way from their troubled days in the 90s. Massive investment in technology and knowledge has seen the brand rapidly climb the ranks and can now be considered a semi-luxury offering. Their high-end models offer amazing features and have a remarkable build quality and their specifications are usually rather high, negating the need for extensive options lists.
AA Kinsey report
Each and every vehicle is unique in its own way. There’s no way to guarantee that all the components are created equally and factory faults do exist. The best way to ascertain how one brand compares to another is to sample the same set of parts across the board. The AA Kinsey report is one such study that looks at three different aspects of parts and services. Section A looks at the service parts prices, items like air filters and spark plugs. Section B considers wear and tear items, components such as brakes and shock absorbers. Section C looks at crash items, items that would typically need replacing after a minor, offset front end collision.
These three sections are calculated and are also combined across all the models sampled. This total is then calculated as a percentage of the purchase price, a handy indicator as to which makes and models work out more expensive than others.
Kia repair costs
The AA Kinsey report sampled two Kia models in its 2020 report, the Kia Picanto 1.0 Street and the Kia Seltos 1.5 CRDi EX. These were compared against other direct rivals.
The Kia Picanto finished with a parts basket price of R4151.14 in section A and R11 800.60 in section B. Section C came in at R117 587.27 for a combined total of R133 539.01. This amount equates to 69.92% of the purchase price. The Kia Picanto had the highest total parts basket of the 7 vehicles sampled and its percentage was ranked the highest of the sampled group.
The Kia Seltos ended up with a section A total of R5467.26 and a section B total of R14 438.65. The section C total of R157 606.80 bumped the combined total to R177 512.71. On the percentage front, this equates to 42.17% of the initial purchase price. The Seltos placed 9th out of 12 vehicles sampled on total parts basket cost and ranked 11th out of the 12 vehicles sampled.
This points to Kia being more expensive to maintain in South Africa than its contemporaries with high parts prices.
Warranties and service plans
The AA Kinsey report gives an indication of what these vehicles cost to maintain but doesn’t factor in standard service plans or warranties. Kia offers 5-year /Unlimited km warranties on all its models and the service plans range from 2-year / 30 000 km plans to more extensive 6-year / 90 000 km service plans for some of the more upmarket offerings.
Keyword: Are Kias expensive to repair?