[distiller]

Originally Posted by shabash

Planning to pickup a Seltos. Drove the Petrol IVT and the Diesel TC AT. Waiting for Kia Sales Person to bring the DCT, after which I want to make a decision. I have seen a lot of talk on the unreliable nature of the DCT and wanted to get an opinion.

I am someone who has 75% City drive (I am in Bengaluru) and 25% on highway, occasional weekend trips (100-200 kms) and drive to hometown (about 750 kms one way) once or twice in a year. I do about 12-15K a year. My view is that this does not warrant a Diesel car. But the issues with the DCT is worrying as I am someone who does not like problems with my car and the fact that last 7 years my Duster has been impeccable has increased the expectation further.

I would have picked the IVT, but somehow I felt the car was not very refined and overall felt too light for my taste. This is where I liked the Diesel. I felt it was more refined than the Petrol IVT even. Waiting for the DCT TD, should happen today or tomorrow.

Now to the questions.

1. What are the chances that the DCT issues can be sorted out via Software updates (AutoCar India says so)?
2. For someone who wants a non-nonsense car and drives 90% of the time sedately, is DCT really that much of an advantage ?

In fact I am sailing in same boat

The only difference is that my usage is exactly reverse of yours. 25% in city rides and 75% highway rides. My current ride falls short on parameters of outright power and safety and thus warranted a change. And being a petrol head I don't want to look at diesels neither my usage of 10-15K Km/years demands it.
If Seltos would have been offered in a choice of petrol with TC gearbox I would have come very close to pick it up. And hence my hunt continues!

[shabash]

Drove the DCT, except for the raw power on the highway, I came to the conclusion that the diesel is more suited for me, especially considering my 75% city drive and long term reliability. Liked the Sports mode with more weight in the steering and realised that the same is available in Diesel AT GTX+ too.

And so the decision is made, will book the GTX+ Diesel 6AT, punchy Orange (Wifeys choice)

Will keep you all posted.

[ramnaresh_2000]

Originally Posted by shabash

Drove the DCT, except for the raw power on the highway, I came to the conclusion that the diesel is more suited for me, especially considering my 75% city drive and long term reliability.

I understand the want to chose AT based on your usage, but I would suggest to stick with MT. I am speaking from personal experience.

I own a 3 years old TUV 300 AMT variant (which is now discontinued ) which I purchased because I drive 62 KM's per day current odo is at 55k, these are my observations

• Coming from MT to AT requires a lot of change in driving style. AT's are not as punchy as MT's and we have to adjust our driving style accordingly. No matter how many KM's you TD the AT, you will still have to adjust your driving style.
• Once you adjust to the new driving style, you may have inadvertently harmed the gearbox or AT Engine by accelerating too harshly which may lead to early wear and tear.
• We often give our vehicles to others - Chauffeur, Relatives, Valet Parking, KASS etc. It is not guaranteed that they aware of AT driving style. They want to push the baby to get those revs and overtake.
• Overtaking on highway will be a challenge. Timing is important.
• Local mechanic is of no use to you even if there is even a small issue. Every time AT fails, the KASS guys will pull out their laptop and connect it to the OBD reader. This itself is charged around 1500-2000 bucks.
• Parts for AT are costly than MT.
• Low mileage.
• Spares availability. Right technician availability at KASS is also important.

Now one can argue that Kia's AT is a lot better and reliable than M&M's AMT, trust me all above are still applicable.

Best of luck.

[CarLoverJosh]

Originally Posted by ramnaresh_2000

I understand the want to chose AT based on your usage, but I would suggest to stick with MT. I am speaking from personal experience.


Now one can argue that Kia's AT is a lot better and reliable than M&M's AMT, trust me all above are still applicable.

Best of luck.

Hi! Comparing an AMT which had a lot of issues to a reliable 6 speed torque converter isn’t justified. The 6 speed gearbox found in the seltos diesel auto is far more accomplished than any amt from Mahindra. Be it in the downshift times, upshift times or the overall responsiveness of the gearbox. Also, after driving just one car that too which doesn’t have a proper Automatic gearbox, making such a broad judgement regarding all auto boxes isn’t correct. Would request you to drive a Seltos Diesel Auto, or the petrol DCT and then revert back.

As for your other concern in regards to the excessive wear and tear, that would be the same in both a manual and an automatic car if you push them every single day. I have no reason to believe the wear would be more on an automatic (putting aside the brakes as most people driving an auto don’t use engine braking)

Giving your vehicles to a valet or your relatives is a personal decision, no one can force you, most valets know how to drive an automatic car, I personally prefer parking the car myself.
As for the Kia service centres, they have already dealt with thousands of vehicles, i doubt any of them wouldn’t have been trained to drive an automatic vehicle around the workshop.
Again, in a brand new car, a local mechanic being able to solve the problem or not shouldn’t be a concern. Part costs vary from brand to brand, so again a general assumption isn’t correct.
Regarding FE, i agree to a certain extent, it would be lower than it’s manual counterpart, but that can also be minimised depending on the driving style.
Spares would usually take the same amount of time until something major comes up.

Hope this clears some stuff up

[rayjaycleoful]

Originally Posted by ramnaresh_2000

I understand the want to chose AT based on your usage, but I would suggest to stick with MT. I am speaking from personal experience.


Best of luck.

Sir no offence, but extremely misleading post. I think you allowed a bad AMT to make an impression of automatics in general. Yes manuals are more fun/ involving but none of these points make sense. Let me elaborate-

1- No such chance great change is required in driving style. You just have to familiarize yourself with the gearshifts. This can be compared to familiarising yourself with driving a diesel car after a petrol one.
2- No such harm is caused to the gearbox by driving
the car. Unless it's excessive revving over long periods, revving in cold engine starts, or something wild like yanking into park while driving.
3- Unless someone is completely unfamiliar with AT, the potential to damage the car is much less than manual because you don't need to adjust to the clutch of the car. Rough valets will be rough on manuals too. In India, I feel one should avoids valets in general whether manual or AT because of lack of any training/ accountability.
4- Depends from gearbox to gearbox. No such thing in DSGs and nothing you can't learn in other types of gearboxes because of manual modes.
5- I think this is more of a FNG vs ASS point?
6- Maintenance wise, an occasional AT oil change is usually cheaper than replacing the entire clutch set.
7- Incorrect
8- Point related to car not gearbox

[himanshugoswami]

I took a long TD of a seltos HTX+Diesel AT today. One word- disappointed!

The car felt skittlish on less than perfect roads- firm ride and bounced all over the place. A couple of sensors were malfunctioning- the reverse parking sensor and the 80 kph speed sensor (which had a mind of its own)

The engine was sounding coarse and there was a lot of vibration on the steering, pedals and the gear lever. After a 30 min drive, my hands were tingling for a good five mins post that.

The car has gizmos, but what good are those when the underlying package is not optimal. Its not like its VFM too, at close to 20 big ones on the road. So I have definitely ruled out the Seltos from my shortlist.

The Harrier, in comparison, felt so much more sorted, well planted, great ride etc. It more than justifies the 2 lakh premium over the seltos.

[Brishti]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

I took a long TD of a seltos HTX+Diesel AT today. One word- disappointed!

The car felt skittlish on less than perfect roads- firm ride and bounced all over the place. A couple of sensors were malfunctioning- the reverse parking sensor and the 80 kph speed sensor (which had a mind of its own)

The engine was sounding coarse and there was a lot of vibration on the steering, pedals and the gear lever. After a 30 min drive, my hands were tingling for a good five mins post that.
.

The tyre pressure must be high and the speed sensor goes off randomly from 80-120kmph.

I have no idea about the NVH because my Seltos does not do that this much, maybe its a accidental car or a non maintained car.

[Stribog]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

Gmaps and inbuilt

Wonder why though they couldn't feed the Gmaps into the Mid. But yes like you I tend to use this on highway drives as not many gullies to get lost in etc nor do I need traffic alerts. For that it's only Gmaps I trust.

I do have a mobile mount in the right corner and use that a lot

[civic-dk]

I am getting a spanner sign in my Seltos gtx dct plus. There is another sign as well on the right hand corner. Is it just a reminder that my service is overdue (second service was due on 1st Jun) or is there some other problem?

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

I took a long TD of a seltos HTX+Diesel AT today. One word- disappointed!

The car felt skittlish on less than perfect roads- firm ride and bounced all over the place. A couple of sensors were malfunctioning- the reverse parking sensor and the 80 kph speed sensor (which had a mind of its own)

The engine was sounding coarse and there was a lot of vibration on the steering, pedals and the gear lever. After a 30 min drive, my hands were tingling for a good five mins post that.

In my years of experience in test-driving cars for personal use, I have come to the conclusion that one must usually NOT pass a verdict on the car based on one test drive at one dealership. At any typical dealership, most of the cars for test drive would have been subject to abuse/rough use , even repaired post accident. If possible, one must try different variants of the car with different dealerships and then mentally average out the experiences.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by civic-dk

I am getting a spanner sign in my Seltos gtx dct plus. There is another sign as well on the right hand corner. Is it just a reminder that my service is overdue (second service was due on 1st Jun) or is there some other problem?

The spanner is for service due reminder. Mine was due on June 30 and I was getting this reminder since May 30 everytime I cranked the car (mine is HTK+). Got the service done last week and this reminder is gone.



I am not sure of the second sign that you are seeing on the MID. Please post image of it for clarity.

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

I took a long TD of a seltos HTX+Diesel AT today. One word- disappointed!

The car felt skittlish on less than perfect roads- firm ride and bounced all over the place. A couple of sensors were malfunctioning- the reverse parking sensor and the 80 kph speed sensor (which had a mind of its own)

The engine was sounding coarse and there was a lot of vibration on the steering, pedals and the gear lever. After a 30 min drive, my hands were tingling for a good five mins post that.

My two cents. Appears like you've driven a test car that's not in top shape (read bad alignment and unbalanced wheels) and not maintained well. Also most test cars don't maintain correct tyre pressure, they jack up the psi so as to avoid topping up every now and then. I had experienced this on 4 seltos I test drove before I bought mine.

Two points I would like to share on your firm and bouncy ride experience basis the stint with my Seltos which has now clocked 15000 kms - a diesel AT.

- Seltos' suspension is extremely sensitive to tyre pressure. A 1 psi makes a hell lot of difference. Our official review suggested 33 psi is the sweet spot. I've been maintaining that and even found that 32 is even more better if it's a solo drive most of the time. A 35-36 psi is a hell on earth with Seltos. Do you remember seeing the psi in TPMS when you test drove?

- The suspension is little firmer generally, more firm for the first 2000-2500 kms. It eases out considerably and settles into relatively plushy ride.

I would urge you to watch out these points and as fellow members suggested, take a test drive with another car at a different dealer and can even insist to give you a car that's maintained well. You will know what went wrong and would most likely to have a contrary experience to the earlier one.

Regarding the warning chimes on speed limits, please refer the below link and images. It's supposed to chime every two minutes if driven continuously above 80 and every 2 seconds if above 120. Hope it helps.

https://www.autocarindia.com/car-new...ighways-409842

[Traveler]

Are there any reported issues in the Diesel AT variant. I am aware of the various issues reported like a firm ride, DCT overheat in Petrol variant, rear parcel tray rattle, Media Unit Rebooting over rough roads, Door Ajar warning popping up sometimes. Is there anything else that has been reported so far.

Have the above issues been resolved by the company.

Owners kindly chime in and let us know.

[himanshugoswami]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

In my years of experience in test-driving cars for personal use, I have come to the conclusion that one must usually NOT pass a verdict on the car based on one test drive at one dealership. At any typical dealership, most of the cars for test drive would have been subject to abuse/rough use , even repaired post accident. If possible, one must try different variants of the car with different dealerships and then mentally average out the experiences.

This was a six month old car with 12k on the clock. The SA confirmed the car had no mishap. Moreover this was in Chandigarh where you will need to make an effort to find a pothole on the road. I had earlier driven a seltos gtx dct which drove much better. This diesel was far from being abused. The malfunctioning of the electronics in a 12 k run car is definitely a cause for concern

[ashis89]

Adding couple of additional issues reported so far:

1. Rear AC vents are not the most effective ones. No fix yet.

2. Front windscreen fogging due to air escaping from the vents below the windscreen. No known fix yet.

3. Tyre bursts reported in 17" Goodyear tyres available on the top of the line variants. Tyres are being replaced by the company

4. 'Potential' brake fail or ABS failure issues though there are just 1 or 2 cases reported. Again not widely reported and no known fix.

5. DPF was getting clogged and gave an engine check light. Service centers blamed it on the BS4 fuel with high Sulphur. They cleaned the filter and then in December 2019, KIA released an ECU update which was supposed to help the engine cope with this BS4 fuel. In the past 4 months, hardly any owner on the FB group has reported this issue anymore. With the BS6 fuel being available across the country, I am hoping this resolved for good. Note, I didn't face this during my ownership period.

Originally Posted by Traveler

Owners kindly chime in and let us know.

Mine is the lower variant with the 8" headunit and 16" wheels. I can share my experience:

- firm ride can be tackled by reducing air pressure to 32 PSi and makes the ride 'better'.

- rear parcel tray rattle fix was provided by the service center on the day of delivery. It hasn't recurred for me in the past 8600 kms.

- Media Unit Rebooting over rough roads - This hasn't been reported on the smaller 8" unit. For the 10.25" unit, restarting the car has fixed the issue.

- Door Ajar warning popping up sometimes - I haven't encountered this so far. However do note the boot needs a good push to be closed fully. If not done, this could trigger a warning if the door was not closed properly.