[DJ 0909]

As soon as a model becomes a success manufacturers start taking us buyers for a ride. Remember Ecosport the launch price looked VFM and as soon as it was a hit the price were increased drastically that too within span of months. Coming on Kia I simply don’t understand with such cosmetic upgrades why a price hike.
To top it all most of them can be done at a meagre cost in the aftermarket. The addition of sunroof should have been there since the very beginning in HTX/GTX models. IMO Kia is somewhat responding to its sibling ala Hyundai Creta with its SX and SX(o) both getting panoramic sunroof and wants to offer “sort off” value proposition to its buyers.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by VS1811

1. GTK is gone. Which means the entry point for Turbo Petrol has been raised by a substantial amount and will only come pretty much fully kitted now in GTX

Good friend was looking for a beater crossover (second car) to be partly self-driven and used 75% in heavy Kolkata traffic. Had suggested the GTK and he went on to enjoy a friend's Venue turbo petrol on a highway drive.

Super happy he got a GTK in November for ex-showroom 13.79L minus discounts. Today the entry level GTX 1.4 GDI at 15.54L would have been way above his budget.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

I agree with you. As a Diesel HTK+ AT variant owner, I feel that the most important things that are missing in this variant is auto climate control and telescopic steering.

With even these 2 available in HTK+ (hypothetically) - there will be very little left to provide additionally in the higher trims that justifies the premium price tag.

[TurboOnTarmac]

When Seltos came along with bang, I booked the HTK+ diesel AT in Aug last year. It looked like a complete car except for three features that kept nagging me and my father. Costing 16+ big ones on-road Bangalore, it felt absurd to miss these features.

1) Back seat head rests, center armrest, split folding - I don’t understand this neglect for the back-seat passengers. That would be mostly our family members. My father could not accept this deficiency (neither do I) and he became more rigid due to the fact that few of his friends/neighbors got cars costing less but have this feature and they talk about it often (blame it on peer status pressure )

2) Auto AC – Not a deal breaker but somehow felt sorely missing. We felt we need this feature for the money we are spending.

3) USB charging port at the back – It felt plain stupid for seltos to have the provision but mask it. It might cost very little for them to fit at the factory but a very practical and useful feature.

Point-1 (backseat head rests and center armrest) turned out to be a thorn while we could come to terms with other two. We debated and decided to go for higher model in automatic by swallowing the additional budget. But again, the higher model (HTX+) with beige interiors/seats and stretched delivery timelines gave me enough elapsed time to think over, again and again (almost every day I used to spend a couple of hours on thinking/reading about my new car) and finally cancelled the booking around Christmas. I know now the meaning of shaping the iron when it is hot.

Even today, I wonder why the back-seat comfort & utility is a luxury available only in TOP variants. I think all the mid variants should have it.
I also think there should be only 3 variants for any model, a base model – having all the base essentials and safety features, a mid-model – a complete car with all the features that a present day buyer want, a top-model – this adds the future looking features, some market differentiators to attract and luxury as of that year. But This is a separate topic but may be worthy of a new thread.

[vinbie2019]

With the price increase, almost similarly spec'ed Creta EX petrol is 1 lakh cheaper compared Seltos HTK petrol. More over, Seltos HTK is not getting any new feature update. Sad for buyers eyeing VFM variants.

[jithin23]

They still aren't providing the essential features such as ESP, traction, hill hold and isofix in all variants except GTX AT but end up jacking up prices for aesthetic features. Not even 6 airbags for HTX variants despite the average cost of 15L OTR Bangalore. Kia needs to learn from TATA(nexon facelift has all the safety features from the base variant)

[professor.march]

It's difficult to brag about one's car having ESP or a 5 star crash test rating. It's just much easier to brag that my car has cruise control, a feature available in more expensive cars. Oh, my car has auto wipers, for the barely 100 days of rain in India.

I also think us, as Indians don't like to talk about the what ifs. What if I get into a crash and so on. At least a concept in Telugu of Tathastu devatalu. There are said to be certain gods who grant our wishes. Whether they be good or bad.

[Vid6639]

It'd good to see minor updates to the Seltos but there's 2 features which I was hoping Kia would add to the Seltos to match the Hyundai.

1. Paddle shifters for the Automatics. Hyundai has this so I thought Kia would add this soon for sure.
2. Electric hand brake. This I had less hopes on as the console needs to be redesigned and it not as simple.

I kinda expected the Panoramic sunroof wouldn't make it to the Kia and Seltos would keep the smaller sunroof. One was because it requires structural updates but more importantly I think that was the main differentiating factor between the 2. Those who want Panoramic vs those who are ok with normal sunroof.

Nobody in India now want no sunroof option so to see the HTX (including the IVT) get a sunroof is a smart move.

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Just read on Autocar that the range topping GTX plus variant is likely to come with all black interiors and contrat red stitching. They should have had this from the beginning itself. The black and beige/grey interior is a dirt magnet and more importantly, does not create a sporty ambience at all. Good upgrade though

Fellow moderator and Eddy had questioned Kia on this decision at the time of media drive when they told us that GTX+ was confirmed but with beige interiors. Especially cause at the media drive they had the GTX DCT in black.

The Kia guys were also not sure why the decision was GTX in black but GTX+ in beige but I'm glad they have finally fixed this.

[jithin23]

Originally Posted by professor.march

It's difficult to brag about one's car having ESP or a 5 star crash test rating. It's just much easier to brag that my car has cruise control, a feature available in more expensive cars. Oh, my car has auto wipers, for the barely 100 days of rain in India.

I also think us, as Indians don't like to talk about the what ifs.

Time to change our mindset to new bragging features such as ESP/TC or the additional airbags. These can be fitted in factory only and you can brag about the car that saved you in a crash(God forbid that this shouldn't be the apt scenario for anyone to brag, but that would be a USP for going for the most safest variant). Better to be safe than sorry right.

When you're in the road, especially in recent times, the more safety kit will protect us on our danger laden roads, sadly which very few acknowledge of.

Cruise control, black dashboard and leather gear knobs hardly cost 4,000-5,000 for installing it in a car, and sunroof: not a necessity for the dusty road conditions in India.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by jithin23

Cruise control, black dashboard and leather gear knobs hardly cost 4,000-5,000 for installing it in a car.

I don't think you can add cruise control for Rs. 5000 in any car. It is very difficult to add after market and costs much more than that. I agree with your overall points about safety. I wish KIA would include driver aids like collision avoidance, lane assist and adaptive cruise control. I would be happy to pay a few lakhs extra for that.

[jithin23]

Originally Posted by Lobogris

I don't think you can add cruise control for Rs. 5000 in any car. It is very difficult to add after market and costs much more than that. I agree with your overall points about safety. I wish KIA would include driver aids like collision avoidance, lane assist and adaptive cruise control. I would be happy to pay a few lakhs extra for that.

Actually if you search the thread on team bhp, someone has added cruise control in innova crysta for 4k.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...va-crysta.html (DIY: Paddle Shifts and Cruise Control installation in the Toyota Innova Crysta)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...-fortuner.html (DIY: Installing cruise control in a Toyota Fortuner)

Cruise control switch from Ford is 600-1000 but they don't sell wiring.

There are some people who add it even for creta as well. So on a mass production scale, it'll cost them very less.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by jithin23

Actually if you search the thread on team bhp, someone has added cruise control in Innova Crysta for 4k. Cruise control switch from Ford is 600-1000 but they don't sell wiring.

There are some people who add it even for creta as well. So on a mass-production scale, it'll cost them very less.

The lower prices that you see for adding cruise control in those Toyota's are because Toyota hasn't been stingy and did NOT skimp much in terms of the wiring etc for the cruise control. Adding a switch, harness enables the same in those cars but in Creta (Pre 2018 facelift models), life is difficult and not that straightforward to enable cruise control.



I purchased the whole set of switches even before the car was delivered from AliExpress for around ₹6,000. After trying to fit those switches, it was understood that Hyundai has made some deep changes in the ECU/BCM etc and will cost a lot to get them to work on my car.

Originally Posted by Lobogris

I don't think you can add cruise control for Rs. 5000 in any car. It is very difficult to add aftermarket and costs much more than that.

[momsonlydriver]

Originally Posted by Lobogris

I don't think you can add cruise control for Rs. 5000 in any car. It is very difficult to add after market and costs much more than that. I agree with your overall points about safety. I wish KIA would include driver aids like collision avoidance, lane assist and adaptive cruise control. I would be happy to pay a few lakhs extra for that.

These things don't seem to work in our Indian condition. There are barely roads in Kolkata where I find lanes drawn. Even if they are drawn they are mid way dissapeared. There has to be accuracy for these system to work.

Collision avoidance can be a great add on. In Europe it starts from Volkswagen Up (cheap hatch back competing Swift). I have not seen any car in India (sub 20L on road) with this feature.

Talking about Cruise control - it feels useless in our roads and adaptive cruise control just adds to the cost. Whereas adaptive cruise control is a great feature in start stop traffic.

[jithin23]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Adding a switch, harness enables the same in those cars but in Creta (Pre 2018 facelift models), life is difficult and not that straightforward to enable cruise control.

Attachment 2012909

I purchased the whole set of switches even before the car was delivered from AliExpress for around ₹6,000. After trying to fit those switches, it was understood that Hyundai has made some deep changes in the ECU/BCM etc and will cost a lot to get them to work on my car.

If there are BCM or PCM changes, then there's hardly any chance to get cruise control fixed. Does Hyundai have something like VCDS or Forscan so that we can check on our own?

Originally Posted by momsonlydriver

These things don't seem to work in our Indian condition. There are barely roads in Kolkata where I find lanes drawn. Even if they are drawn they are mid way dissapeared. There has to be accuracy for these system to work.

Collision avoidance can be a great add on. In Europe it starts from Volkswagen Up (cheap hatch back competing Swift). I have not seen any car in India (sub 20L on road) with this feature.

Talking about Cruise control - it feels useless in our roads and adaptive cruise control just adds to the cost. Whereas adaptive cruise control is a great feature in start stop traffic.

Agreed with the other driver aids, but for cruise control, I feel it's very useful on highways especially when you're driving about 600-700 km in a day. 85% of my car's odo is due to the highway kilometers I've clocked.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by jithin23

If there are BCM or PCM changes, then there's hardly any chance to get cruise control fixed. Does Hyundai have something like VCDS or Forscan so that we can check on our own?

Hyundai does have something called G-Scan II. I did check using that when I had retrofit those switches and trying to enable it but bad luck that it required more parts to be swapped to get the cruise control working hence left it at that for now.