[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by Axe77

I want to buy a second car in the 18-25 lakh price range and honestly cant find a single brand that has a car worth buying which is also sensibly priced AND reliable. Sad state of affairs.

A couple of OT lines Axe, due to what you mention.

Why don’t you look at the new Honda City ZX CVT, reading happy reviews from our folks on the forum. Honda’s are generally reliable, this one looks brilliant (subjective I know), fully loaded, park anywhere ability and on the lower end of your proposed budget as well.

Cheers

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

A couple of OT lines Axe, due to what you mention.

Why don’t you look at the new Honda City ZX CVT, reading happy reviews from our folks on the forum. Honda’s are generally reliable, this one looks brilliant (subjective I know), fully loaded, park anywhere ability and on the lower end of your proposed budget as well.

Cheers

It is indeed one of the options in my mind but I will feel a lot more inclined towards it if they launch it (as expected this year) in a full on hybrid avatar.

We are in no rush and could do this anytime in 2021 (honestly early next year too). So will wait and see how this space plays out. Currently the loose options in my mind are Creta D (AT); P (AT); Compass 4x4 A/T if it is around 30/31L not more (on road); City hybrid (if it comes); Nexon EV (outlier option).

The Sonet and Venue twins I find a tad too small for my requirements.

[bhansali_hardik]

Well, if the things were not enough initially about how bad things can be with kia. Here is another eye opener. Everoyone who is a prospect consumer might want to check this out :

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...demo-cars.html (Kia dealer fraud caught on dashcam | Frontier Kia swaps headunit with demo car's)

Here we go, a few more sleepless nights ahead for me!

[avira_tk]

Originally Posted by bhansali_hardik

Well, if the things were not enough initially about how bad things can be with kia. Here is another eye opener. Everoyone who is a prospect consumer might want to check this out :

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...demo-cars.html (Kia dealer fraud caught on dashcam | Frontier Kia swaps headunit with demo car's)

Here we go, a few more sleepless nights ahead for me!

This is really bad news and the ownership seems to be a hit or miss depending on the dealer. Kia has an ace up it's sleeve and that's the diesel automatic, the competition has left the field wide open to them.

I've lived with a fiat without much of a sweat for a decade, so I guess this should be manageable. My car will be delayed as I changed the colour halfway through the waiting period.

[bhansali_hardik]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

This is really bad news and the ownership seems to be a hit or miss depending on the dealer. Kia has an ace up it's sleeve and that's the diesel automatic, the competition has left the field wide open to them.

I've lived with a fiat without much of a sweat for a decade, so I guess this should be manageable. My car will be delayed as I changed the colour halfway through the waiting period.

Well, don't get me wrong! I have clocked 5000kms in less than three months and the second service is about due. The car is insanely fun and is great! But there are way too many issues being reported and there are a ton of dealer level issues which are not addressed!

I have already been through that mess during my purchase! I enjoy the car and the drives but again, that meek voice in the back of my head screaming : remember, the engine mount? remember the fuild leaks? remember the fire? remember the lousy RSA? remember when you screw up and expect SC to resolve it, how they will make it even worse? and I hate feeling!

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by bhansali_hardik

I enjoy the car and the drives but again, that meek voice in the back of my head screaming : remember, the engine mount? remember the fuild leaks? remember the fire? remember the lousy RSA? remember when you screw up and expect SC to resolve it, how they will make it even worse? and I hate feeling!

Unfortunately in India there is no proper redressal mechanism, hence it is there and will continue. No manufacturer or dealer is really concerned as they know nothing will happen to them or at best it will take years for anything to happen. They have their legal department in place for this kind of thing, it’s the customer who has to cope with all the stress.

Mostly customers get frustrated and get rid of the car (in this kind of case). Most people do not have the inclination or time and money to pursue this in our system.

Cheers

[bhansali_hardik]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Unfortunately in India there is no proper redressal mechanism, hence it is there and will continue. No manufacturer or dealer is really concerned as they know nothing will happen to them or at best it will take years for anything to happen. They have their legal department in place for this kind of thing, it’s the customer who has to cope with all the stress.

Mostly customers get frustrated and get rid of the car (in this kind of case). Most people do not have the inclination or time and money to pursue this in our system.

Cheers

I have had ASS licking my car squeaky clean for one mail which I shot to MSIL for the shoddy cleaning job that they had done and this seems to be in line with most of my other experiences as well. Where, a bad feedback given against a dealer will not be just let it sit around. The MSIL certainly chases them and keeps in touch with consumers for the redressal. This is my experience! Again I remember the Nexa incident where the dealer had just washed a car and given away to the consumer and charged a bomb! But, MSIL sure did chase the issue! But KIA does not even bother to get in touch for the sales right now, service is a far off wonderland.

[bhansali_hardik]

Need input on the grace period/km wise grace on the odo for the second service. I will be travelling again and will need to use my car. I'm going to breach the 5K mark before I head back home!

Will this be an issue with the warranty for rest of the 5 years? The SA seems very confident and says he will have the service in place and it will be ok, as this is inspect again kind of a service and not really a replacement.

Not sure how do I get all this documented, I'm sure this might pop up as a red flag if ever I have to claim warranty.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by bhansali_hardik

Need input on the grace period/km wise grace on the odo for the second service.

AFAIK, Kia allows a grace period of upto 1k kms beyond the recommended service interval. I was told this when I raised a similar query.

And it's true, the second service is just a check and inspect type without any replacements.

My first service was done at 1300 kms without any questions.

[bhansali_hardik]

Originally Posted by ashis89

AFAIK, Kia allows a grace period of upto 1k kms beyond the recommended service interval. I was told this when I raised a similar query.

And it's true, the second service is just a check and inspect type without any replacements.

My first service was done at 1300 kms without any questions.

Thanks for the quick response! I’ll take a leap of faith based on the inputs from the dealer and you!

[Turbolove]

Originally Posted by bhansali_hardik

Need input on the grace period/km wise grace on the odo for the second service. I will be travelling again and will need to use my car. I'm going to breach the 5K mark before I head back home!

Will this be an issue with the warranty for rest of the 5 years? The SA seems very confident and says he will have the service in place and it will be ok, as this is inspect again kind of a service and not really a replacement.

Not sure how do I get all this documented, I'm sure this might pop up as a red flag if ever I have to claim warranty.

As others have mentioned they give a grace period of 1k kms. I got my first service done at 1500 kms and the dealership didnt say anything.

[shabeermohamed]

I don't understand why people are assuming that the Company did not reach out to aggrieved customers in the case of issues. It's just that people are only interested in reporting bad things.

I have a Kia and recently went for the first service. After the service, I was not very happy with the way they cleaned the car. When I got a call for customer feedback, I informed them the same.

I promptly got a call from the service centre explaining about the issue. I was not aware that BBMP do not allow water washes for any of the Single Branded Automotive service centres and all they can do is dry washes.

[DeathPig]

Originally Posted by shabeermohamed

I don't understand why people are assuming that the Company did not reach out to aggrieved customers in the case of issues. It's just that people are only interested in reporting bad things.

In the case of the service center gone rogue, it's not an assumption. I've been in touch with Tariq, and he has not gotten a single response from Kia.

The Matheran fire issue victim had put up multiple tweets to @kiacares (or whatever their twitter handle is), and for such a serious issue, he was literally shouting "ANSWER ME, KIA". Same for Seltos' brake issues. There's no response.

They have the market in the palm of their hand, as well as multiple reviewers. It seems they have taken the popular Indian method of leaving ethics at the airport as soon as they got here. I'm going to buy a Sonet myself. I love the car and how it looks, but have braced myself for issues like this if they do pop up.

[bhansali_hardik]

Update:

Got my second free service done. The bill was 236 which was for the pick up and drop fee. Have clicked 5200k in around 3 months and have been very content with the car, the SC is not so competent in general! The breaks are not progressive and the service advisor has not even taken a test drive! (The dashcam never lies!) I’ve given up on the rattles at high music levels and the dampening is on cards but doesn’t justify the listening time that I generally have at high volume!

Have done Blr-Goa, Blr-Chennai, Blr-Chikmagalur and Blr-Sakleshpur along with this there have been night drives around the city! The iMT works pretty good and is precise, there have been 2-3 instances when there was a clank from the engine bay which was a little scary but that’s still to be seen! As SC couldn’t find anything weird in the visual inspection.have done ghats in these trips and it was an easy transition as iMT works just like an MT and I did not face any issues over taking or negotiating the curves.

It’s a great car and munches miles too, the suspension could’ve certainly helped if it was tuned for the city but highway it does shine well!
Did a bad patch on the weekend drive to sakhleshpur and 10kms was taken well overall. The car did slip at few spots but was able to negotiate it slowly when slotted in 1st!

The SC doesn’t inspire confidence at they lie on the face, but other than that So far so good!

Have to drive down for services next time around and invest a day there!

[Crazy_Bean]

Dear members, I am looking for a small SUV for city run abouts. Was looking at a nicely loaded automatic car, no such fuel type preference.

Narrowed down on the GTX+ Sonet Diesel AT which is about 13.xx ex showroom. Found it to be a bit expensive for what it is (a sub 4m compact SUV) but still went ahed with the booking. I recently also came across the Seltos HTX 1.5 CVT which is only 14.4 Lacs exshowroom before discount.

Apart from the engine difference, the only other difference is the Bose sound system, ventilated seats and front parking sensors (all available in the Sonet); but seltos is so much bigger.

What would the community suggest here. Size is not such a big deal and both should be easy to drive in the city. Which one makes more sense here?

Thanks so much