Purchase experience & initial ownership review: Kia Carens diesel AT

The introductory prices blew us away and I went straight home, picked up the family and drove down to the showroom with just one demand – give us the car.

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So, as mentioned here already, we got our new Kia Carens delivered on Sunday, 13th March. I have been a member here for almost 10 years now, 3 cars and 2 two wheelers later, this will be my first Ownership Report and hope it ticks all the boxes! But first some background so please bear with me for the longish post!

I have few indulgences in life and like to think I lead a simple life, but car / two-wheeler buying for me have always been an impulse / emotional purchase. Though I will look around, I find that rarely my mind changes once a machine has made an impression, despite what logic or naysayers may say.

It all started with my first purchase, a RE Electra 350cc 4S which I bought 2nd hand in Delhi from the Karol Bagh Market. I was initially trying to apply my mind to the buying process and looked at several 150cc bikes (Unicorn, Pulsar etc), but just one short trip as a pillion (I had never been on a RE before – EVER) among the congested lanes of Karol Bagh with blessings of Hanuman Ji in the background, I knew that this is the bike I was meant to drive – period. My first car, the Linea followed a few years later after a single and very short test drive and despite all the FIAT bashing threads, I just knew I would not be happy with any other car. I was in two minds at one point, reading about the horror stories associated with a owning a Fiat Car but my wife simply told me – Buy it, otherwise for all time and whenever you see another Linea out on the road you will feel regret.

Boy, was it a good decision, we had some amazing times and after 9 glorious years we had no plans upgrading or changing the car, except for a small itch!! An expanding family and an ever-expanding waistline meant we were casually on the lookout for a bigger car. Enter MG and the MG Hector! I still remember it vividly when I first saw a Black Hector on the Pune by-pass, bearing down steadily in my rear-view mirror! That grill… ooh, it was love at first sight. I found it hard to believe that I had gotten so involved in my work and had no clue about the car / brand’s launch whatsoever. Long story short, we took a test drive and if memory serves, we booked our Hector that very day. Now came the tough part, which was to sell or not to sell our beloved Linea. Being the only driver in the family, among other reasons, logic prevailed over the heart, and we had to let her go. Till today, i regret that decision and if you were to ask me my car registration number out of the blue, I would still probably rattle out our Linea’s number plate. My wife who is hardly ever a car enthusiast cried when our car was taken away.

But I digress. We have been extremely happy with our Hector, and during the lockdown my wife learnt to drive and drive confidently enough in Mumbai traffic. This meant that now the same car was being driven by both of us, which was perfectly ok! But then the pandemic subsided, my office re-opened, albeit in a different location from pre-lockdown days. This meant I would now have to drive or face the vagaries of public transport. It was an easy but expensive choice and meant on an average we were spending about INR 20-22,000 per month on fuel. Coping with ever-rising fuel costs, consistently high per month running and unexpectedly long road trips. Just during the lockdowns we racked up +37,000kms within two years of our car purchase in Nov 2019. All this coupled with the fact that we now sorely needed a 2nd car in the family, had us on the lookout again, with no clear favourites.

This time we were clear that we needed a good mileage car, preferably a diesel and an automatic. Test drove a whole range of cars and following were the cars we tried out / considered:

• Maruti Suzuki Baleno: Was ok to drive and the showroom was willing to part with pre-facelifted Balenos in stock for a substantial discount before the new one was launched. But the car felt underpowered and tinny. Panels flexed liked mad, and the doors felt so lightweight and cheap. Also, Maruti didn’t have a diesel and an auto box wasn’t available in stock.
• Maruti S-Cross: Was a good drive and though the auto box was an age-old design, it worked well enough for us. However, again no diesels engines and the car just seemed a little too old and outdated.
• Hyundai i10, i20, Venue: All 3 were good offerings for the price but were too small for me personally. The family again just didn’t bite at all and after the Hector, they found it too small. Embarrassingly during the test drives my daughter kept harping on how the car was too small, didnt have a panoramic sunroof etc etc in front of the service exec.
• Hyundai Creta: A genuine contender but none of us liked the looks. Also, we flet that the space was at a premium in the 2nd row.
• Tata Altroz, Nexon: Good cars but were severely let down by a pathetic showroom / sales experience. We also felt the space was not good enough in both the front and second rows for 5 persons.
• Tata Harrier: Amazing car but again severely let down by the showroom experience and the top end Diesel Auto was well beyond our budget.
• Tata Safari and Toyota Innova were not considered because they were too big for our parking space and the well kitted out trims were too big for our wallets.
• Polo TSI: Great to drive and still looks good from the outside. On the inside is a different story, thought the interior aged well but it was just too small, too expensive and way to long in the tooth now. I tried it out solely because I think it is still a great car and fun to drive.
• MG Hector, Hector Plus: Nice cars, but we didn’t like it to the extent to buy a 2nd Hector. Also the Diesel was well beyond our budget and our parking would just not accommodate such a big car!
• Jeep Compass: A nice car but the diesel auto was way out of our budget, not even worth considering. Did not even take a test drive.
• VW Vento: Overall a great car but lacked a diesel. Also, we were not inclined to go back to a sedan and why we didn’t consider the Honda City, Verna or the Rapid or Slavia.
• VW Taigun: both 1ltr and 1.5ltr: Beautiful car, nice build quality, lovely interiors and the 1.5TSI was an amazing drive. But again, no diesel and it didn’t really feel like an upgrade from the Hector or even in the same category somehow. The family too just wrote it off completely.

The VW and KIA showrooms are adjacent to each other here in Navi Mumbai and I happened to see the Carens. The test drive cars were in Aurora Black, and I instantly took a liking for it. Crossed the road, asked for a test drive on what seemed to be a busy day. The showroom people were very receptive. We were promptly attended to, a far far far cry from the Tata Showroom and were asked to wait till the test drive vehicles came back. In the meantime the service advisor offered us tea / coffee and my daughter was given a Kia Carens colouring sheet with colours to keep her busy while the service exec took us through the trims, features etc. Though we had already made up mind for the diesel auto, we test drove the petrol 1.4 DCT as well.

My wife test drove the petrol and came away very impressed. I sat behind in the captain seats and loved every minute of it. My daughter had a ball of a time jumping between the last row and 2nd row. Next up was the diesel auto (7-seater), which I test drove and had decent drive of about 4-5kms. By the end, my mind was all but made up. Once we got back, the service exec got busy showing us the features and I simply told her – leave it, just book it! Following details and price break up shared at the time:

Model – Kia Carens D 1.5CRDI VGT 6AT Luxury-Plus 6 seater.

• Ex-showroom: INR 16,99,990/-
• TCS: INR 16,999/-
• RTO: INR 2,45,296/-
• Insurance: INR 64,736/-
• Total: INR 20,27,021
• Add Optional EW + Care Package: INR 50,000
• Total OTR: INR 20,77,021

This was on Sunday evening, 13th of Feb and two days before the price reveal. Me and my wife decided that if the ex-showroom price for the top end diesel would be around 18, we would buy the Carens. On the day of the price reveal, I locked myself in a conference room in my office and waited with bated breath. The introductory prices blew us away and I went straight home, picked up the family and drove down to the showroom with just one demand – give us the car.

Our service exec assured us that she would manage delivery latest by the end of March or by early April. I told her that my wife’s birthday is in the 1st week of April, and this would make a lovely present. She assured us that she would be able to make it happen and asked us to apply for our loan, which we promptly did and got the loan sanctioned soon thereafter. As luck would have it, my wife called me one fine evening early March saying that the showroom had a an allotment for our car and could get us delivery by 10/11 March if we could manage the payments etc. We immediately confirmed but asked for the delivery to be made on Sunday, 13th March as we had plans to travel in the 2nd half the same week.

However, tragedy struck, my daughter broke her arm exactly one week before the planned delivery and everything went awry. I could not do the PDI at the stockyard, nor explore or negotiate on the insurance etc. Plans to try and apply for a BH registration number also fell through. Our travel plans were shelved and though we could take an early delivery, but between loan disbursement delays, multiple hospital rounds, office duties etc meant that delivery would at the earliest be on Saturday, 12th. Saturday delivery was struck down since my wife didn’t want to buy metal on a Saturday (shani etc). So, Sunday the 13th of March it was…

We completed the delivery formalities and paperwork. Gifted our KIA RM a box of sweets and a small gift which was followed by a very nice hand over ceremony by the Kia showroom staff and they also gave us a lovely set of 4 coffee mugs, which was very thoughtful and frankly amazing:

The final price and break up is as follows with the invoice copies also:

• Ex-showroom: INR 16,99,990/-
• TCS: INR 16,999/-
• RTO: INR 2,45,296/-
• Insurance: INR 61,642/-
• Fast Tag: INR 500/-
• Total: INR 20,24,427/-
• Add Optional EW + Care Package: INR 50,000
• Total OTR: INR 20,74,427/-

Tax invoice:

Insurance, RTO, Fast Tag, TCS:

Kia Convenience Package for 5 years:

Straight out of the showroom we drove down to the nearest petrol pump and filled up a small amount of Diesel and headed for a celebratory lunch with our friends. In the evening I dropped off the Carens to the Nerul 3M workshop for the following treatments:

• PPF for the entire car, including bonnet and roof: INR 92,250/-
• Sunfilm, including fore and aft windshields: INR 30,424
• 3M Mats: INR 9,600/-
• Underbody Anti Rust: INR 5,212/-
• Anti Rust Silencer Treatment: INR 1,186/-

We managed to wriggle some discounts and finally settled the bill rounded off to INR 130,000/-

Got the car back on Wednesday evening finally, shining and sparkling in all glory:

The Carens has been immediately been put into service and I drove her down to my office on the Thursday, just before the long Holi weekend starting Friday. I was very curious about the fuel economy and got a MID indicated economy of 14.4kmpl. This was driving through really bad traffic in the evening, with everyone heading out of Mumbai before the long weekend. Have a look at the situation below.

I took the below screenshot before starting from office but eventually the route had become far more congested by the time I transited:

The corresponding screen grab from my Kia Connect App for the same period:

And a shot of the MID for the trip. Do note that the car was driven the entire time in the default City Mode:

The upcoming weekend we took the opportunity to try out the Carens on the Lonavala ghats to ascertain the power delivery with a full load of 4 adults and 2 children and the corresponding fuel economy. I asked my friend and his family to join for the experiment and headed to Kinara Dhaba on the old Mumbai – Pune highway for lunch.

Tanked up the car to auto-cut off with normal diesel (oh tis so sweet to pay for fuel below 100 rupees…):

Tanked up again to auto-cutoff while returning:

Distance done between refills was 137kms and yielded a kmpl of 16.74kmpl as against a MID indicated figure of 16.50kmpl – pretty close and accurate. AC was on all the time and the engine remained in the default City Mode with few short bursts using the Sports Mode, especially while going up the ghats. We did not get much traffic, except for a few stretches in between, barring which it was very smooth sailing.

Driving experience:

Since delivery have completed 450kms and this is my first owned diesel Car and though I have driven diesel mills before, I haven’t driven one in the past 2-3 years. A disclaimer that a lot of my impressions will be in comparison to the Hector and the Linea, which maybe helpful to some but in the end are prejudiced nonetheless.

The car has a good amount of low end torque, which I felt helps mask the initial lag, but it does still feel just that little bit lethargic moving from a standstill, especially on inclines and more so with a full load of people. However, it is far far better than what I face in the Hector but not even close to the sprightly Linea TJet. My friend who drives a Hyundai Xcent too mentioned he felt the same after driving our Carens. Once the car is past 1400rpm, it is very eager and feel more than adequate. During our run up the Lonavala Ghats, I frequently resorted to using the sports mode to get the engine gunning a little faster and which makes a substantial difference. In daily runs to office, I now use use the Sports Mode like launch control at traffic lights, driving otherwise in the City Mode for the rest of the time. This is not to say at all that the car feels underpowered, which it isn’t at all, but to me it just feels a little bit heavy, a little lazy at very low rpms and this behavior accentuated itself on the ghat sections with a full load of people. In Eco mode, the Carens is significantly slower and is IMHO best left to long highway runs. I found the Eco Mode useless in city and have hardly ever used it, relying more on City and Sports Modes.

Handling:

The Carens handles well and feels very stable and planted at 100kmhr+ speeds on straight highways but it is certainly no corner carver. A few high speed turns gave me the goosebumps and have decided to lay off till i develop more confidence in the car. One issue I am facing is that I feel the car continually understeers. Not sure if this is normal given a heavier Diesel Engine upfront or for some other reason. Though this is hardly a major issue, it feels very different after driving the Hector and is no comparison to the Linea, which was in a different league altogether. Rest all is great, the car is big on the inside and not so big on the outside, so parking and squeezing into tight spaces is now much easier.

NVH, ride and comfort:

This is a a BIG plus point for the Carens. The ride is very comfortable and not floaty or unsettling. I can confidently say that the ride is better than the Hector over good, bad, ugly roads, though suspension travel on deep bumps will probably be less than it is on the Hector. On our lunch trip to Lonavala, it was the children who hijacked the middle row seats to and fro, while the moms were relegated to the last row. However, both Moms said it was very comfortable and in fact my wife snoozed all the way back after lunch. Her friend is given to motion sickness, too had no issues at all. NVH levels are remarkable and the car is very quiet and does an amazing job of insulating everyone from the outside world. Our Hector is a very silent car and the Carens with a diesel engine is right up there with only a slight vibrations reminding that this is not a petrol engine. Seats are a bit soft but super comfy in all three rows and the seat ventilation function is out of this world. It is now probably a must have feature in all my future purchases!

Other points – Likes and dislikes:

• BIG LIKE – Bragging rights like no other for the time being. In the 10 days we have had the Carens, I have just seen exactly one more Carens on the road other than mine!
• But compared to the Hector, the Carens misses out on street cred and sheer presence. In black, it looks even more diminutive and I felt doesn’t attract eyeballs like the Hector did and still does.
• Ample storage spaces in the car and ergonomics are spot on, far better than the Hector and way better than the Linea. One sore point is that though the bottle holders in the doors will hold a 1 litre bottle easily, the top or the bottle cap sits outside the armrest bottom and tends to rubs against the side of my knee. A picture below to better illustrate the problem.

• Physical buttons, oh you sweet sweet sweet physical buttons, i love you! I sorely missed physicals buttons in the Hector for basic functionality towards the ACC, Radio, Infotainment Shortcuts etc and it is so great to have it all back. Moreover the use of metal and knurled finishes on the vents, ACC fan and Temp controls and steering controls feels awesome. It was the one thing that really caught my eye during the test drive.
• ACC is a chiller and took no time to cool down the cabin, even when parked in the sun for 2-3 hours.
• The steering Volume controls feel small for my fingers, and I have often ended up muting music while trying to raise the volume.
• The horn has an absolutely annoying “clack” sound each time you press it and is possibly the worst thing in this car. I do get some other minor sounds as well – my goggles rattle in the sunglass holder even though it is felt lined, the passenger side seatbelt bumps against the B pillar when not in use and going over rough roads and the tyre change tool kit in the dicky will clang together while going over bumps, though this was a quick fix once we arranged it.
• The ORVMs are the same size as the Hector but are better shaped and I felt give a better view behind. ORVM Controls are however not backlit which is surely a miss.
• Dead pedal is perfectly sized and positioned.
• Storage try under the front passenger seat is very nifty and useful.
• Exterior and Interior panels and materials feel very good, but do flex and at times a bit too much. For eg – the door panel visibly flexes while opening and closing the windows.
• Interior ambient lighting looks uber cool at night.
• Damped movement of the coin tray, bottle holder feels very premium but at the same time the totally undamped “khut opening” of the glove box is a downer.

Thanks for reading. I guess I have covered all that I had to say and do let me know if anyone has any queries.

Keyword: Purchase experience & initial ownership review: Kia Carens diesel AT