[s_gams]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

Eventually , zeroed in on the Kiger due to its overall more VFM feel and booked the RXZ 1.0 CVT in silver color last Sunday. The 4 star GNCAP rating which came one day after I booked was like an icing on the cake. The dealer whom I went to had a few Jan 2022 manufactured units in stock and I am expecting delivery by February 26th. I will be writing a detailed buying experience and initial ownership review a month after I take delivery of the car.

Congratulations sandsun7! All the best for the next steps and I look forward to your detailed buying experience and initial ownership review.

[s_gams]

Originally Posted by arnav17

Loved the Review...Wish you many smiles with many miles in your beautiful beast!

Just one question.. How is the Cabin noise considering it's a CVT?

Thank you arnav17! In my opinion, the cabin noise is not as much as it was mentioned in some of the reviews and actually this is one of those areas where I thought some of the reviews were either biased or incorrect. As I mentioned in my original post, the horn sounds loud inside the cabin but overall I find myself quite OK with the cabin insulation. Of course, I can not compare it with other cars in the category just based on my test drives and longer / specific runs may be required to test or compare it properly.

[souvikjana83]

Congratulations on your new car. The Kiger CVT is a very good car to drive in City traffic. I had almost finalised it before I saw videos on mud behind tail lights issue. I think if that is addressed by the company and if it is resolved, the sales of this car especially the CVT will definitely rise. I always prefer CVT above DCT due to CVTs long term reliability and Nissan's unit which is plonked in the Kiger and Magnite is one of the best out there.

Wish you a lot of happy miles with it.

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by souvikjana83

I had almost finalised it before I saw videos on mud behind tail lights issue. I think if that is addressed by the company and if it is resolved, the sales of this car especially the CVT will definitely rise.

This issue has been resolved is what I heard from other owners. It was a relatively simple fix, with a EPDM foam insert.
Related threads/posts on the forum : https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ml#post5242625 (Design defect! Mud & dirt getting deposited behind Renault Kiger tail-lights)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ml#post5178406 (Design defect! Mud & dirt getting deposited behind Renault Kiger tail-lights)

[535raj]

Originally Posted by s_gams

It was down to Kiger and Nexon ultimately and this was where I took almost 3 months to finalise.

Thank you very much for posting your selection process and initial review of Kiger. I too had gone through the same process but on paper, because I was still learning to drive Being a mechanical engineer and having work experience in automotive engine domain, I had put my knowledge/experience on paper to compare the specifications, transmission options. Considering my price bracket, family trips, and Bangalore traffic, finally shortlisted Nexon and Kiger. But ultimately chosen Kiger for its CVT and good looks. I took the RXZ CVT Kiger delivery in December 21 and have been really enjoying my city driving in Bangalore. Being a new learner, I feel confident on road thanks to good seating position, visibility of road and butter smooth CVT.

[ScorpWarp]

Originally Posted by s_gams

Thanks so much for reading this and apologies for the length of this post.

Congratulations on new car, I saw one today at Sunny Da Dhaba, it does indeed look good. Don't see many on road so you definitely got the exclusivity factor. Enjoy the new ride.

[GT007]

Congratulations on your new car and very nicely written the detailed review. Very practical considerations for selection of the final Car. I'm happy that Kiger emerged as the winner as i too have the same beast in Silver colour. I took delivery of my KIGER RXZ CVT on 6th Jan 2022 & its a 18th Dec manufactured model, i had done my detailed PDI on 28th Dec(Thanks to Team bhp exhaustive PDI checklist) at dealers stockyard and then paid the full amount on 31st Dec & got the car registered on 3rd Jan & delivery on 6th. Also before delivery got it painted dual tone at the dealers workshop along with fitting most of the Renault Kiger accesories. Also have taken extended warranty till 5 years along with annual maintenance package for 5yrs of 50k kms. So now its just fill forget & drive.

About the car i'm really happy with my purchase as i had my budget capped at 10L ex-showroom and believe this the best buy south of that budget if you need auto gearbox and good ground clearance which were two of major requirements in my new car.

[hrish90]

Originally Posted by hashwin

Then you have to turn it on again.

You mean the vehicle, right? Just by turning on the ignition doesn't activate the power windows

[s_gams]

Originally Posted by ashking101

This is an excellent choice, bro. Congratulations.

This February is a much happening time for India made Renault Kiger - one of the Top-5 finalists at the "World Urban Car of the Year: 2022" awards and has also secured 4 stars rating at the GNCAP.

Now, slowly more people will lean towards Kiger, when they look for a sub-compact SUV.

Thanks ashking101. I wish it emerges out as the winner of this award :-)

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

It felt so good reading your review. You are very thorough but also practical with your approach. All the 17 points from you "Other requirements/considerations" also made complete sense!

Once, every few years you will see like cars like this, which are built perfectly well, absolute value for money, but for some strange reason does not sell as much as the more expensive alternatives. As you pointed out, it might be due to herd mentality, or it might be due to early mover advantage. What it Kiger was launched before Nexon? Story could have been different - just speculating!

But don't fret about it, and enjoy knowing the fact that you have a better value for money car than others.

Thanks vasanthn21. Yes, it's a better value for money and it suited my requirements as well.

Originally Posted by souvikjana83

Congratulations on your new car.

Wish you a lot of happy miles with it.

Thanks souvikjana83

Originally Posted by 535raj

Thank you very much for posting your selection process and initial review of Kiger. I too had gone through the same process but on paper, because I was still learning to drive Being a mechanical engineer and having work experience in automotive engine domain, I had put my knowledge/experience on paper to compare the specifications, transmission options. Considering my price bracket, family trips, and Bangalore traffic, finally shortlisted Nexon and Kiger. But ultimately chosen Kiger for its CVT and good looks. I took the RXZ CVT Kiger delivery in December 21 and have been really enjoying my city driving in Bangalore. Being a new learner, I feel confident on road thanks to good seating position, visibility of road and butter smooth CVT.

Thanks 535raj and congratulations to you.

Originally Posted by ScorpWarp

Congratulations on new car, I saw one today at Sunny Da Dhaba, it does indeed look good. Don't see many on road so you definitely got the exclusivity factor. Enjoy the new ride.

Thanks ScorpWarp

Originally Posted by GT007

Congratulations on your new car and very nicely written the detailed review. Very practical considerations for selection of the final Car. I'm happy that Kiger emerged as the winner as i too have the same beast in Silver colour. I took delivery of my KIGER RXZ CVT on 6th Jan 2022 & its a 18th Dec manufactured model, i had done my detailed PDI on 28th Dec(Thanks to Team bhp exhaustive PDI checklist) at dealers stockyard and then paid the full amount on 31st Dec & got the car registered on 3rd Jan & delivery on 6th. Also before delivery got it painted dual tone at the dealers workshop along with fitting most of the Renault Kiger accesories. Also have taken extended warranty till 5 years along with annual maintenance package for 5yrs of 50k kms. So now its just fill forget & drive.

About the car i'm really happy with my purchase as i had my budget capped at 10L ex-showroom and believe this the best buy south of that budget if you need auto gearbox and good ground clearance which were two of major requirements in my new car.

Thanks GT007 and congratulations to you!

[ron178]

Here's something weird about the Kiger: Global NCAP says the Top Tether was hidden behind the seat fabric and the NDTV Car&Bike video confirms it.

(Credit: NDTV Car&Bike: "Exclusive: Nissan Magnite & Renault Kiger Undergo Crash Tests" - YouTube)

But it looks like early versions had it! I don't know if this is a variant-specific issue but it's troubling nonetheless, because Global NCAP could have used a higher variant (with 2 airbags and ISOFIX, eg. RxL) for the test and Renault might have got away with this.

(Credit: Team-BHP)

Or, it could be a production control issue where a vendor was changed for later cars, in which case it would have been an issue if Global NCAP tested an earlier car.

I would really like to see an official statement from Renault on this.

[DK24]

Originally Posted by s_gams

I hope my review below will add some value to the group and will be of some help to anyone who is considering to buy Renault Kiger. Please bear with me for any newbie mistakes.


Thanks so much for reading this and apologies for the length of this post.

First of all, heartiest congratulations on buying the Renault Kiger. Wish you many many years of wonderful driving experience with the Kiger.

Thanks a lot for the very detailed review. Have been eyeing the Kiger for some time now, and I must admit you have covered all the points that any prospective buyer of Kiger should be aware of. I too have compared a couple of other cars and finally narrowed it down to Renault Kiger.

I test drove the CVT model of the Kiger. Call it muscle memory or whatever, the first thing I do when I sit in a car, is wear the seat belt. And it was so difficult to insert the seat belt buckle into the clasp. This is such a basic feature that I wondered if Renault ever did a usability test of the car.

I didn't experience any stiffness in the steering wheel even when making a U turn. Not sure what your experience has been, but some of the posts in this thread have mentioned that the steering doesn't return to its original/base/default position after making a turn.

I am not sure if the forum rules allow this, but would you be able to share the name of the dealer in Pune from where you bought. I went to the PPS PPS Renault showroom in Viman Nagar and I was quoted a much higher all-in price with insurance, extended warranty, RTO and similar accessories. I do understand that the base price would have gone up between Oct 2021 and the current price now in Mar 2022). Nevertheless, I got the feeling that they were trying to rip me off.

Please do update your ownership/driving experience in this thread. I will be keeping a keen eye on the updates.

Thanks so much.

[jackerhack]

Originally Posted by DK24

Call it muscle memory or whatever, the first thing I do when I sit in a car, is wear the seat belt. And it was so difficult to insert the seat belt buckle into the clasp. This is such a basic feature that I wondered if Renault ever did a usability test of the car.

This bothered me for the first few days and I considered getting a seatbelt extender, but muscle memory set in and the problem went away. I can now reliably insert the seat buckle in one movement. I do find first time co-passengers struggling with it though, so I have to clasp it for them.

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by jackerhack

This bothered me for the first few days and I considered getting a seatbelt extender, but muscle memory set in and the problem went away. I can now reliably insert the seat buckle in one movement. I do find first time co-passengers struggling with it though, so I have to clasp it for them.

Even me, only for a couple of days this bothered me and now I have got the knack of buckling in one go. Do not worry about this.

Regarding self-centering, I can confirm that the steering does self centre after turns. will try to post a video sometime later.

[s_gams]

Originally Posted by DK24

First of all, heartiest congratulations on buying the Renault Kiger. Wish you many many years of wonderful driving experience with the Kiger.

Thanks a lot for the very detailed review. Have been eyeing the Kiger for some time now, and I must admit you have covered all the points that any prospective buyer of Kiger should be aware of.

Thank you very much!

Originally Posted by DK24

I test drove the CVT model of the Kiger. Call it muscle memory or whatever, the first thing I do when I sit in a car, is wear the seat belt. And it was so difficult to insert the seat belt buckle into the clasp.

I completely concur with the above two comments - I too got used to it in couple of days. Yes, the ergonomics could have been better but this particular issue should not be a deal breaker in my opinion.

However, there are couple of other ergonomic issues that I noticed and they could be specific to me rather than the car design. One - I have the habit of holding the steering wheel slightly on the upper side or in the middle. However, when I do that, I can not rest my elbows on the central console and the door side rest. I have to hold the steering wheel more towards the bottom if I have to rest my elbows and this does not give me a feeling of a firm steering grip. My previous cars did not have central console and I have no idea if this issue is there in any other cars. I did not find this mentioned in any Kiger reviews as well. Second - I find the gap between the brake and accelerator slightly less and sometimes my foot touches the brake pedal while I am using accelerator pedal and vice versa. I did not find this too mentioned anywhere and this could be because of my longer foot as well. However, I have now got used to a foot position where this issue does not occur anymore.

Originally Posted by DK24

I didn't experience any stiffness in the steering wheel even when making a U turn. Not sure what your experience has been, but some of the posts in this thread have mentioned that the steering doesn't return to its original/base/default position after making a turn.

As mentioned in the post above, I too never experienced this problem and the steering wheel returns to its original position after making the turn. Actually, I took specific tests today with different conditions / speeds etc after you asked this question and the wheel returned to its position everytime.

Originally Posted by DK24

I am not sure if the forum rules allow this, but would you be able to share the name of the dealer in Pune from where you bought. I went to the PPS PPS Renault showroom in Viman Nagar and I was quoted a much higher all-in price with insurance, extended warranty, RTO and similar accessories. I do understand that the base price would have gone up between Oct 2021 and the current price now in Mar 2022). Nevertheless, I got the feeling that they were trying to rip me off.

I bought it through Unnati Motors in Fatimanagar. I had to negotiate hard for the insurance and it came down from some 42K to around 23K. Accessories would be up to your selections but rest of the cost components should be standard and you could check it online as well. The ex-showroom price increase for RXZ CVT turbo was in the range of 7K from January so the on-road difference should not be more than 10K. RXZ CVT Turbo should cost roughly around 11.25 all inclusive but without accessories.

Originally Posted by DK24

Please do update your ownership/driving experience in this thread. I will be keeping a keen eye on the updates.

Thanks so much.

The experience so far has been quite good and there was not a single moment when I felt I made a wrong choice. At least 5 to 6 friends and relatives have checked with me for more details after they have seen the car and the looks definitely provide an edge plus novelty. Functionally too, there is no major (or even a minor) problem.

All the best to you.

[rsm97]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

Even me, only for a couple of days this bothered me and now I have got the knack of buckling in one go. Do not worry about this.

Regarding self-centering, I can confirm that the steering does self centre after turns. will try to post a video sometime later.

Practically everyone using for the first time did notice the seatbelt issue. While agree that it is not a deal breaker, but Renault could have done better.

The steering in my view has a relativity aspect. I drive a Ford and still have not adjusted to the steering of Kiger, while other family members quite like it. The steering does self-centre, but not aggressively enough. Its quite light too and a gentle hold even may affect the winding action.