[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by Brishti

The worst thing is that I have pre-booked the car and cant exactly call everything off because the only other car I like is the Compass which might be 5lac more.

I have a similar dilemma, having pre-booked Hector and Seltos somehow both cars don't quite make the cut. The Hector is starting to feel simply too garish, the Seltos is better but I am a bit worried the build quality and safety may not be great. The Compass still trumps as the most desirable vehicle out there.



I feel we should start seeing some good lightly used Compass Limited/Limited Plus 4x4 units with 6 airbags should start to come out in the secondary market for reasonable prices. Saw a couple of postings in OLX for around 17-18 lacs, I am seriously thinking about this now.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

I have a similar dilemma, having pre-booked Hector and Seltos somehow both cars don't quite make the cut. The Hector is starting to feel simply too garish, the Seltos is better but I am a bit worried the build quality and safety may not be great. The Compass still trumps as the most desirable vehicle out there.
I feel we should start seeing some good lightly used Compass Limited/Limited Plus 4x4 units with 6 airbags should start to come out in the secondary market for reasonable prices. Saw a couple of postings in OLX for around 17-18 lacs, I am seriously thinking about this now.

Neither the Hector or the Seltos will feel like an upgrade for you. The Compass is probably what would come closest to filling the shoes of your previous cars. I bought the Compass after my Yeti and it is a good car and better in driving dynamics and stability and power compared to both the Hector and Seltos. These new cars have compromised driving thrill and engagement for tech gimmicks and sunroofs. The irony is that the mass consumer is more swayed by a fancy touchscreen and a sunroof than by six airbags and driving dynamics

[urajkumar]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

I have a similar dilemma, having pre-booked Hector and Seltos somehow both cars don't quite make the cut. The Hector is starting to feel simply too garish, the Seltos is better but I am a bit worried the build quality and safety may not be great. The Compass still trumps as the most desirable vehicle out there.

I am in the same boat and after sitting inside the seltos & MG, realised both dont make the cut. Both are very gimmicky and while seltos is better in overall refinement, the low roof, small steering, cheap grill and poor thigh support (I am tall) with poor plastics on the door panel etc, I was leaning towards compass but again nothing great is told about the petrol engine automatic there.

I am now negotiating with Hyundai Tuscon petrol cos i have always liked the way it looks (better SUV proportions), 2 litre engine and its quite loaded too. The interiors are quite refined and had a huge Sunroof (my sons only condition on my next car).

Fingers crossed I can finalise it in next couple of weeks.

[MukundanMK]

Originally Posted by ramansh

Received invite for unveiling and test drive from sparsh kia today for 3rd august, 2pm.

Same here. 3rd Aug 12 pm is the showroom opening and Seltos unveiling @ Kia Automotive, Kondapur, Hyderabad. The display vehicle arrived yesterday, but its not going to be available for public view before 3rd Aug.

[AGwagon]

Sorry mods, posting again as I couldn't EDIT now. Please delete my previous post.

Originally Posted by ramansh

Received invite for unveiling and test drive from sparsh kia today for 3rd august, 2pm.

I happened to visit Sparsh yesterday to check out the car in person. They had the usual two suspects - the HTX+ Crdi in Grey and GTX+ in Red. Unfortunately, the guys there had little knowledge of anything apart from only one SA, who seemed to be in the same boat as most of us...CONFUSED! They are expecting an unveal from none other than Mr. Kim , whereas, they are yet to even get furniture.

Well anyway, here are some of my observations:
1. The car does looks attractive, especially in red. The front looks quite good, while the back, to me, looks ordinary. The side looks well proportioned and the front brake calipers in Red in the GTX+ does stand out

2. The car definitely lacks street presence. Having bought it, you will be quite annoyed to see it in company of big boys, as its stance is sub-Creta. The height makes quite a difference when you have a reference point.

3. The headlights are drool-worthy. Even when they are on high-beam they don't really blind you - may be something to do with the design and positioning.

4. The DRLs, all the way up to the nose, are not that bright and with all the chrome beside, they will be easily missed.

5. The Ice-Cube fog lamps are super bright. From the front they easily outshine the main beams.

6. The LED heartbeat tail lamps are too small for my liking and quite subdued. There are no separate parking lamps and brake lamps. When you braken the same lights glow brighter, and only these are LEDs.

7. The indicators in the front look nice and bright, but at the back, they look fairly ordinary. Tail lamps could have been much better designed IMO.

8. The high placed reflectors just above the rear bumpers are indeed only reflectors.

9. The GT red stripes in the lower parts, does look nice. Only the front brakes callipers are red. The red in the alloys also looks nice.

10. I would imagine that the car would look really nice in dual-shades, however, the not so knowledgeable SA confirmed that it will then be missing the sunroof.

11. The sunroof is tiny and has a manual blind. I can imagine now that why most people would say these are hardly ever used. Whereas, if you start looking at the panoramic beauties in Hector, Compass and Tuscon, it is a totally different ballgame and something that you would definitely end up noticing as soon as you get in.

12. The HUD is bright, it has a dedicated button near the headlamp leveller. Since the car was standing still, I couldn't see what all it can show. Although again, IMO, it is an overkill as you are surrounded by screens.

13. Coming to interiors, in the GT, the dual tone beige theme, to me, looks awful. The the seats having almost a cream, then a black outer layer and then red stitching, looked awful. Don't know what others thought of that. If this is the only GT option, I would be quite unhappy!

And yes they are soft due to the ventilation function. The all-black theme will also make it quite gloomy as the window line is fairly high. The seating position is car-like and not akin to an SUV. Also, while I switched on the seat ventilation function in the GT, I couldn't feel anything. I have tried these before in a Hyundai and you simply can't miss feeling them. Do not know if this is that prototype, dummy trash!

14. The interiors do not feel a world apart from the competition - more so, because of that bar like screen and tacho conjoined design. While ergonomically it may be good as the screen is placed high-up in your eye-line and also slightly tilted to the driver, design wise it didn't appeal.

15. The screen itself though, is bright and responsive (better than Hector's). However, the layout of the UI was not appealing and was quite non-intuitive. The capacitive buttons below are also the same. The split screen though with the map and song looks cool. But further, the map becomes tiny because of the landscape orientation.

16. The 360 degree camera, again, wasn't sharp - at least in the dark.

17. The interior space in the back, is strictly Creta. The recline angle of the backseats does help though. But again, it is not as airy as even the Creta in the back.

18. There is no control of the rear-seat aircon vents behind, which means you will have to ask the driver to go through all the menus to switch it off. Otherwise, they will mimic the front ones. The purifier seems mostly a gimmick as the filter area is very small and housed just under the arm-rest cushion (not sure what it will do). The arm-rest doesn't slide, so is not comfortable.

19. The boot is decent sized although the tray is hanging by threads from the hatch.

20. The doors and hatch are fairly light and don't have a solid feel. Nowhere near to a Hector.

21. Loved the steering wheel - it looks very classy!

22. The MID is very nice, has a nice animation on startup. Also has a host of options and features. The dials look nice too. Both look better than Hector.

23. The GT is super silent - you could hardly hear it while standing next to it, even in a building.

24. Music system is nice, but not as nice as the MG's. The SA told me that the lights dance with the music and that there are lights in the speaker grilles in the front. But, I didn't see them when I tried to.

25. the rear door sunshades are a definite nice touch.

26. There are no mode selectors in the GTX+ Manual.

My time with HTX+ was limited after the GT. Also, it was kept under a cover, so I can't comment much.

27. The first thing I noticed was the 360 degree camera button, but the lack of any cameras except the rear. I wasn't allowed to start the car. There were 2 parking sensors in the front though.

28. The seat stitch pattern looked nice. Again, this one also had the ventilated seat buttons.

29. The little sunroof and Bose audio system were also present, but not the side and curtain airbags.

30. The red striping and stitching was also conspicuous.

31. The tyres on both cars were Goodyear Assurance 215/60 R17 - the same as Creta and Hector (although now the top-end Hector will have Continentals).

32. The key fobs are SWEET - Some of the best ones that I have seen.

33. There were only 2 airbags and the SA there had no idea about other safety features, if they are also present in the HTX+.

Sorry if I missed anything. I did missed checking quite a lot of things that I realised only after I had left.

I am now contemplating if the GTX+ DCT is not a reality, I can settle for the HTX+ CVT after checking the pricing and what features it misses. As I drive almost 70+ km a day, I am now thinking of a diesel auto as well. But, I would only consider it if it undercuts MG by a couple of lakhs at least.

While the Seltos is a whole size smaller than the MG, it does have some appeal. But, I also feel that it will very soon lose its stand-out value (with its success, regardless of the variants mix). Also, as newer cars come with the same features and flash headlights, I feel, given it's smaller appearance, the Seltos will not give it the same premium value as say the MG or the Harrier.

[nitinhegde]

Originally Posted by urajkumar

I was leaning towards compass but again nothing great is told about the petrol engine automatic there.

Agreed. Had test driven the compass petrol auto an year back. Felt very sluggish at the start. Was decent though after it picked up speed.

[sreejinair]

I found the compass too small, I'm 5,11 and my head almost comes in contact with the roof in the compass, this happens in the seating position of my preference. The same doesnt happen in Creta and now I'm wondering if that will happen in the Seltos as the height of the Seltos is smaller than that of the Creta. Hector despite of having the massive sunroof has loads of headroom. But with all the hector breakdown news coming out on t-bhp and other media(s) its difficult to buy that too, at least without waiting for a t-bhp review. Man this is getting more difficult than I thought.

[pavanth]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

The Compass still trumps as the most desirable vehicle out there.

I feel we should start seeing some good lightly used Compass Limited/Limited Plus 4x4 units with 6 airbags...

Originally Posted by urajkumar

I was leaning towards compass but again nothing great is told about the petrol engine automatic there...

I came across this ad yesterday and I thought this ought to help you decide?
If you want a diesel automatic but don’t want to shell out the extra 6-8L bucks for the trailhawk, the to-be-introduced lower-spec and mid-spec diesel automatics should work for you.

[Rajiv0909]

Saw the car (Non GT version) last week at the Chennai OMR showroom. First Impressions

Positives -
1. Feature packed
2. Overall touch and feel comparable to the compass - doesn't feel cheap as a Hector
3. Good tech and audio
4. Ventilated seats

Negatives
1. Too much bling - It looks good in pictures but in reality that front looks straight from a diamond jewellery shop
2. Creta on botox? Sooner or later it will be compared to it's sibling. It maybe able to differentiate in terms of features but ride quality.. not sure
3. Front Indicators prone to damage even at slight impact. Replacements would come expensive

[Brishti]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

The irony is that the mass consumer is more swayed by a fancy touchscreen and a sunroof than by six airbags and driving dynamics

There is in fact no equal to the compass sunroof its the best out there better than even hector's. Even the wind deflector is much much better than hector's.

[Turbohead]

Originally Posted by sweetvar26

Are you talking about the actual red car color? That's the one I pre-ordered but also looking at the Grey and Blue version in the GT trim. I like the red accent lines that are visible in Grey and Blue but can't be seen in the Intense Red color.

Yes, the intense red colour. It's brilliant under proper lighting. Can't comment under other conditions. Please check it out in flesh.

[Guna]

Unveil event by Advait Kia in Bangalore

[realactivex]

So, I got the call from Epitome.Kia for their showroom opening this weekend.i have also been offered a test ride :-)
I had earlier visited them last weekend and had seen their parked car in the basement of an adjacent building.
Initial impressions were not so great. The door appeared very light, nit much space in the backseat, the flap on the socket reminded me of santro, no rear ac adjustible etc and a few other apprehensions mentioned by the learned folks in this forum.
What draws me there? Only hoping that the price and features of the final draw will pleasantly surprise me.

[Sebring]

Whew, that was some review. You covered most points and mirror my thoughts. So I got a sneak preview (all India launch is on 3rd) and got them to start the car just to hear the engine. Just couldn't believe my ears as the diesel engine was so quiet I had to ask again and again if it was turned on. Super job on sound insulation. Rear design lights up pretty well, and I must say is the most dashing aspect. UV cut glass and the in-built retractable screen are a nice touch. So is wireless phone charging and Air Purifier. The screen is crisp and not laggy. But like many pointed out, not intuitive at all.

Unfortunately, the good things end there. The car is a total melange of designs and textures upfront (exterior). It looks like one of those decked up Chinese cars (in China). Inside, the dash with its boxy structure and everything placed within did not appeal to me. It looked retro, with a digital update. The front window glass has a sharp angle to it, quite odd. Never liked the Bose audio (right from my Nissan Murano days), since it tends to be boomy and you struggle to get a good balance. LED sound mood lights flicker a lot and are very distracting. Seats are air-cooled, but couldn't make out anything since the seat covers ballooned up. Rear leg space being at a premium was a bummer, and the rear doors looked 'smallish'. There is the transmission tunnel hump, that restricts seating and comfort even further. If this car is in a face-off with Creta, it does stand a chance but not against Harrier/MG I feel. Oh, and the Gray colour is to watch out for!

Originally Posted by AGwagon

While Seltos is a whole size smaller than the MG, it does have some appeal. But I also feel that it will very soon lose its stand-out value

[RavenAvi]

Just received from one of my sources who wishes to remain anonymous.