[neil008]

Hello Guys,
I've a question regarding Sonet, we all love Sonet and that's the reason this thread is ongoing for long now. However, almost none of the Youtubers ever talk a good thing about Sonet, and Venue still gets fair treatment while both are essentially the same vehicles. I'd like to know thoughts on this, because clearly Sonet offers great package in terms of most of the things a car owner would want.

[itsmeparvathy9]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

Sonet HTX D AT, 1000 KMS Ownership Experience and 1st Service Update
The 1 month / 1000 kms + ownership has been pretty good and overall I'm am satisfied with the car. I shall jot down a few pointers with regards to my ownership so far.

Thank you so much for the update. It gives us a great insight on how the Kia Sonet Diesel AT is to drive and maintain, the ownership experience and the service as well.
Hope you have many great memories with it!

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

I however follow the steps mentioned in the manual before parking i.e. Brakes --> Shift to 'P' --> Hand brake --> Ignition off.

Not sure why the manual says so, but this is an incorrect sequence for an AT car and would also stress the parking pawl pin in transmission.

Shift to P only after handbrake engaged AND release of foot brake. You will never see this issue. This is because due the reason both front and rear wheels are locked when suspension is still slightly compressed due to your weight and compress that happens when you come to a standstill. In MT cars, front wheel is free to roll hence even if you follow any sequence the suspension is relieved of the compression. But here it is not, hence it stresses the parking pawl and you find it difficult to shift back from P.

Try it and let us know.

[ajayc123]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

Sonet HTX D AT, 1000 KMS Ownership Experience and 1st Service Update

Attachment 2340068

The 1 month / 1000 kms + ownership has been pretty good and overall I'm am satisfied with the car. I shall jot down a few pointers with regards to my ownership so far.

Very nicely written review, it gives a very good idea of what to expect from this brand/model.

If you plan make ongoing updates, you could get this moved to a separate long term ownership thread.

[searacer932]

Originally Posted by itsmeparvathy9

To the Sonet Diesel AT owners out there, I am planning on purchasing the Kia Sonet Diesel AT with it being the only true automatic diesel SUV under my budget of 15 lakhs and the feeling that it will be truly worth it, I am only in favour of automatics (no AMT), I even considered the Sonet DCT too.

My family is a small one with just 4 members and all being on the shorter side under 165cm. We contemplated and looked at each and every SUV under 20 lakhs with an automatic transmission, from the Magnite/Kiger all the way to the Thar/Scorpio-N. Having test driven many of these as well. But the Sonet turned out to be the one that appealed to us all. We are not the best at cars, but it seemed good VFM with Diesel AT. What are your thoughts on the Sonet Diesel AT? How is it to drive? How is the maintenance cost? I am all ears.

I think for your kind of running which I believe is low and if there are no runs to the highways you might end up with DPF clogging issues on the Sonet Diesel AT! I would suggest a peaceful petrol vehicle than a diesel one for your specific case.

A Seltos or a Creta IVT would be a reasonable choice.

[itsmeparvathy9]

Originally Posted by searacer932

I think for your kind of running which I believe is low and if there are no runs to the highways you might end up with DPF clogging issues on the Sonet Diesel AT! I would suggest a peaceful petrol vehicle than a diesel one for your specific case.

A Seltos or a Creta IVT would be a reasonable choice.

Thanks for the concern, but we live beside the state highway and all our runs with the car will be on National or state highways only, only the very rare instances of Bumper-to-Bumper traffic

[ashvek3141]

Originally Posted by itsmeparvathy9

Thank you so much for the update. It gives us a great insight on how the Kia Sonet Diesel AT is to drive and maintain, the ownership experience and the service as well.
Hope you have many great memories with it!

Thank you itsmeparvathy9. Glad that my post could be of help.

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Not sure why the manual says so, but this is an incorrect sequence for an AT car and would also stress the parking pawl pin in transmission.

Shift to P only after handbrake engaged AND release of foot brake. You will never see this issue. This is because due the reason both front and rear wheels are locked when suspension is still slightly compressed due to your weight and compress that happens when you come to a standstill. In MT cars, front wheel is free to roll hence even if you follow any sequence the suspension is relieved of the compression. But here it is not, hence it stresses the parking pawl and you find it difficult to shift back from P.

Try it and let us know.

Not sure if I got this right, but shifting the gear to 'P' requires both the gear shifter button as well as the brakes to be pressed. Hence, the foot brakes are the last thing that can be released after shifting to 'P'. Having said that, I had also read this on the net (not sure where exactly) that owner's manual has mentioned an incorrect sequence of parking the vehicle. The correct sequence should be as under.
1. Press the brakes.
2. Engage the handbrake
3. Shift to P
4. Turn off the Ignition
5. Release the brakes.

I shall try the above sequence next time and share my feedback.

On a side note, I found quite a few irregularities in the owner's manual. For ex. it mentions that there is absolutely NO idling required for the turbo petrol engine and you can start moving from the word go! I mean how is this even logical? Any engine type needs to be idled atleast for 30 secs minimum during a cold start, let alone a complex turbo engine. I don't know which genius was given the task of proof-reading this.

Originally Posted by ajayc123

Very nicely written review, it gives a very good idea of what to expect from this brand/model.

If you plan make ongoing updates, you could get this moved to a separate long term ownership thread.

Thank you for your kind words ajayc123.

Well, I never thought I'd write so much actually. Also, my posts are spread across different threads which started a year back with the decision of buying a car.

I think it'll be a good idea to have a standalone thread of this ownership experience; though I agree that mine is nowhere near to some of the supremely in-depth owner's reviews that we have on the forum. But yeah, if I'm able to contribute something to the forum and if our members can benefit from this, surely I'd love to.

Request to Mods: Below are the key posts from my side regarding this ownership. It would be great if you'll could help me merge this into a separate thread in the ownership section, if you'll feel that's OK. If it isn't significant, I shall continue with my small updates on this official review page itself.

1. Purchase Dilemma
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/suvs-...ml#post5012489 (Which AT Compact SUV for me?)

2. PDI and Delivery Experience
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post5352735 (Kia Sonet : Official Review)

3. 1000 KMS Ownership Experience and 1st Service Update
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post5369603 (Kia Sonet : Official Review)

[harry10]

Originally Posted by itsmeparvathy9

Thanks for the concern, but we live beside the state highway and all our runs with the car will be on National or state highways only, only the very rare instances of Bumper-to-Bumper traffic

In that case go ahead with the purchase.
I believe DPF issue is overblown. I have driven Sonet D-At for 18k kms now. Have never experienced DPF issue even once. All I do is every 4-5 days once when I have a empty stretch of 10-15 kms i drive it at the 2500 rpm in sport mode. I do a lot of bumper to bumper driving too. But this way it has been managed well.

Engine and gearbox combo is a delight. If you are an aggressive driver or sedate one. It will please you both ways. Suspension of course is stiff as everyone knows but in my trial and error, maintaining 33 psi in all tyres is the sweet spot. 34 psi on highway drives. AC is a chiller.

I am satisfied till now with almost all positives and just couple of negatives. Like FE is less, I know how to get good mileage from a car and still I manage just 13kmpl in NCR drives. Engine is refined and powerful but it's fuel thirsty, especially switching on AC makes a difference of atleast 3kmpl. Handling could have been a touch better.

Overall it's the best bet for diesel automatic considering every other one in segment comes with the AMT.

[itsmeparvathy9]

Originally Posted by harry10

Overall it's the best bet for diesel automatic considering every other one in segment comes with the AMT.

This is exactly what brought me to the Diesel AT Sonet, I had considered petrols too but either the sub compact SUVs were compromising on the engine and gearbox over their larger counterparts or the fit and finish of the vehicles were not up to the mark, or they were AMTs, so Sonet seemed the best.

The Magnite/Kiger twins felt excellent VFM but I skipped on them considering the experience the Sonet brings.

The Grand Vitara/Hyryder could be considered as an alternative, if prices aren't way up north!

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

The correct sequence should be as under.
1. Press the brakes.
2. Engage the handbrake
3. Shift to P
4. Turn off the Ignition
5. Release the brakes.

I shall try the above sequence next time and share my feedback.

Yes, I missed that obvious piece. Going by same logic, I also missed to specify pressing of shifter knob for shifting to P, I didn't mention it as it is a given for any AT car. Obviously you need to first release foot brake and again press it while moving it to P. Your above sequence will not give any different results than what you are seeing already.

Below is right sequence.

1. Press the brakes.
2. Engage the handbrake
3. Release foot brake
4. Press foot brake
5. Shift to P
6. Release the foot brake.

[ashvek3141]

Originally Posted by itsmeparvathy9

The Grand Vitara/Hyryder could be considered as an alternative, if prices aren't way up north!

Looking at what Maruti has priced the new Brezza, I am 100% sure that the Grand Vitara will cross the 20 L mark on-road in majority of the states. For sure it will be a few thousands +/- the Korean twins.

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Below is right sequence.

1. Press the brakes.
2. Engage the handbrake
3. Release foot brake
4. Press foot brake
5. Shift to P
6. Release the foot brake.

I tried this exact sequence a few mins back when I had gone for a short spin. It’s the same thing; no much improvement. I forgot to mention earlier that there is also a slight resistance to shifting ‘into’ P from say D or R. And similarly when I moved out from ‘P’ there’s this resistance.
This is kinda getting me worried now if at all there is any issue with the gearbox.

On a side note, my friend who has a pre-facelift Venue DCT also complaints of this issue.

P. S.: Excuse my noob questions/ concerns as this is my first AT car. I have never really driven an AT car extensively as such.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

I tried this exact sequence a few mins back when I had gone for a short spin. It’s the same thing; no much improvement. I forgot to mention earlier that there is also a slight resistance to shifting ‘into’ P from say D or R. And similarly when I moved out from ‘P’ there’s this resistance.
This is kinda getting me worried now if at all there is any issue with the gearbox.

On a side note, my friend who has a pre-facelift Venue DCT also complaints of this issue.

P. S.: Excuse my noob questions/ concerns as this is my first AT car. I have never really driven an AT car extensively as such.

Try this next time.
If you want to shift from P to R or D, press the Knob, take a second, then shift it. Same way do it while shifting from D or R to P. There is obviously a slight resistance but by this method I have deduced it's negligible most of the times.

Also in my observation, resistance is more when it's a cold start in the morning than the rest of the day.

[condor]

Had a long "test" drive of the Sonet petrol MT today, in city. A 63km drive in traffic that varied between light to jammed, different types of roads. Coming from the Safari, it was easy to flick around. Quite comfortable, good audio, and overall good car, IMO. Only thing was - my left knee was protesting a bit, but this could be because the car had only done 25xx km so far. The MID showed a FE of about 14.2 by the end of the drive, though it was up to 15.5 initially. Took the potholes and rough patches easily. The load of electronics based features make it friendly.

[vamship]

What type of TPMS does Sonet have, is it iTPMs which is indirect or full-blown TPMS.

It would be great if someone can give more details on this

[crdi]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

I tried this exact sequence a few mins back when I had gone for a short spin. It’s the same thing; no much improvement.

This jerk usually happens when there is some load on the axles while shifting from P.

While parking, try; foot brake - hand brake - Shift to P -
release foot brake - retain the hand brake.
While shifting from P; foot brake - shift out of P - release hand brake - release foot brake - drive.

Even so, it could be jerky if the car is parked at an incline.