[bhansali_hardik]

Originally Posted by GT_C89

So it turns out I can't DM you because of my membership status. However, finally got some good news today. The vehicle has been allotted and I should receive it in the next 4-5 days after the payment etc has been sorted out. Finally!

Thank you for offering to help, I really appreciate it.

Can't wait to get behind the wheel

Well, congratulations! (With a meek smile)

The whole GNCAP results have shook up the prospect buyers and owners like me! Sonet is not tested yet and the seltos results are a rude awakening!

[gopi_rm]

Originally Posted by bhansali_hardik

Well, congratulations! (With a meek smile)

The whole GNCAP results have shook up the prospect buyers and owners like me! Sonet is not tested yet and the seltos results are a rude awakening!

+1. My friend who booked Seltos diesel last week cancelled it today. Now deciding between Nexon and Ecosport.

[Venku2015]

Originally Posted by gopi_rm

+1. My friend who booked Seltos diesel last week cancelled it today. Now deciding between Nexon and Ecosport.

+1, I was about to book the Sonet and am now affirmative that I won't be looking back at the Koreans!

Now my eyes are set on the upcoming Skoda Vision IN, VW Taigun, new XUV 500, Jeep Compass Facelift and a few others. Just my advice to all the brothers here, there are at least 6 new Compact SUV's to be launched in the first half of 2021, and that's not too far away plus all the manufacturers are marching towards getting safer, feature-loaded cars in India, I am sure we will have an array of better choices to make

[GT_C89]

Originally Posted by bhansali_hardik

Well, congratulations! (With a meek smile)

The whole GNCAP results have shook up the prospect buyers and owners like me! Sonet is not tested yet and the seltos results are a rude awakening!

Yeah, I'm a little concerned now as well. But I'm going ahead with the purchase. Also need a car right now and this delay has already set me back with some of the plans, so I'm unwilling to wait until mid next year when more SUVs come out as Venku mentioned below. Just keeping my fingers crossed that the Sonet safety rating will be good.

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by gopi_rm

+1. My friend who booked Seltos diesel last week cancelled it today. Now deciding between Nexon and Ecosport.

Did pretty much the same thing. Kia's ethics made me uncomfortable. Took the Sonet off my list and booked the top end EcoSport with the full safety suite .

[bhansali_hardik]

Originally Posted by GT_C89

Yeah, I'm a little concerned now as well. But I'm going ahead with the purchase. Also need a car right now and this delay has already set me back with some of the plans, so I'm unwilling to wait until mid next year when more SUVs come out as Venku mentioned below. Just keeping my fingers crossed that the Sonet safety rating will be good.

Well, it's a beautiful machine and it runs great! So, don't have 2 mind about it either ways! Please enjoy the car rather than fretting about the unknowns!

Let's say the only way to look at it is, until it's proven to be bad it's not!

[DudeWithaFiat]

I think Tata takes all the credit for putting the thought of safety into the minds of Indians by highlighting the NCAP results and Safety of the cars in their advertisements. Pre-Nexon, very few common folks talked about safety.

[sambhav.jain]

So finally I had some time of work and decided to pen down my story. I had booked my car on 18th September on the day of the price reveal and had planned for delivery on 25th October Sunday on the auspicious day of dasshera. It was also one day before my birthday!!

I reached the showroom on Sunday morning at 11 am to find my Golden Chariot gleaming in the sunlight in all its glory!!



My first choice of colour was Beige Gold with Aurora Black Pearl. But since that was not available or had a higher waiting period I decided to go for the monotone colour. I have seen many sonets on the road in white, black, red, gray but none in this colour. As far as i remember this golden colour use to come on the Honda city in 2006. I like this colour it’s not too flashy and suits me in my profession.

That's me extremely happy seeing the car.



After reaching the showroom i realized that there were almost 10 cars for delivery on that day. It was going to be long day. So in the mean time i had a look at the accessories available, the showroom floor and the workshop. Since it was a Sunday the workshop was closed. All the accessories were available and the accessories i bought were 3D Cabin mats, 3D Trunk mat, Mud flaps and key cover.

So finally after 3 hours it was time for my car to enter the delivery area.



As you can see i am super excited and very happy!!



Delivery experience:-
As excited i was, the delivery was that much unexciting. I was handed over the car documents with a big key as is customary. Nothing else was done to make it special. No cake or flowers or chocolates or any Kia delivery kit.

Some pictures of delivery. That's me with my wife extremely happy!!





The car costed me 13.72 lakhs on road. I took insurance from the dealer and extended warranty of 120000 kms for the 4th and 5th year of ownership which costed me 16k.

Today - 13th November 2020:-
It's been 19 days since i bought my car and have driven it for almost 200 kms. The average is around 15 for city use.

Some points I noticed were:-
1. The mud flaps are useless as even after having them on their is mud on the body. They are just too short for the vehicle in my opinion.
2. Also the gear gets stuck at times in reverse and in 1st gear even when i have pressed the clutch fully.
3. All the SA at the dealership were not wearing any formal dress or shoes for that matter. It din look like it was a premium brand or a premium showroom. Also i could not tell the SA apart from the fokes who came to get their car or were looking for one.
4. With the recent Seltos Global NCAP ratings i am a bit apprensive about the safety of my car. But as it's the top end variant with all safety measures i am hoping my car will be safer than the base seltos that was tested.

Accessories Bought:-
1. Karcher K4 basic - 13k from flipkart.
2. Strongdry microfibre cloth (350 and 900 GSM)
3. Michelin Typre pressure guage.
4. TUSA Digital tyre inflater.
5. Burgmann Stunner vaccum cleaner.
6. Proklear Snow foam car shampoo.
7. Jopasu car duster.
8. VMTC high pressure washer kit for Karcher.

I'll keep updating this thread with my experience!!

Thanks for reading!! Cheeers!!

[vishal.jayakuma]

This is basically to highlight a few things about my experience with Hitech City KIA showroom, Hyderabad. In one word, T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E. They don't care about the customer at all. We had already booked the Sonet in Chennai and delivery is estimated to be around the 25th of November. I just wanted to test-drive the car to show my sister's family what we were getting, because of their inability to travel to Chennai later. I've tried going to the showroom to get test-drive as well as calling ahead to book a slot; they kept telling me that the test cars are always busy. Their latest excuse today, after going with a reservation, was that test cars aren't available due to festive season and apparently they were informed about the same, earlier today. I strongly expressed my disapproval to the SA and stormed out.

Interestingly, another person living in the same housing society as my sister's family has got the Kia Sonet, but from KIA Jubilee Hills. Perhaps they had a similar experience as well with the Hitech city one. I'd strongly advise against this Hitech City dealership.

[vinitadikonda]

Originally Posted by vishal.jayakuma

This is basically to highlight a few things about my experience with Hitech City KIA showroom, Hyderabad. In one word, T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E. They don't care about the customer at all. We had already booked the Sonet in Chennai and delivery is estimated to be around the 25th of November. I just wanted to test-drive the car to show my sister's family what we were getting, because of their inability to travel to Chennai later. I've tried going to the showroom to get test-drive as well as calling ahead to book a slot; they kept telling me that the test cars are always busy. Their latest excuse today, after going with a reservation, was that test cars aren't available due to festive season and apparently they were informed about the same, earlier today. I strongly expressed my disapproval to the SA and stormed out.

Interestingly, another person living in the same housing society as my sister's family has got the Kia Sonet, but from KIA Jubilee Hills. Perhaps they had a similar experience as well with the Hitech city one. I'd strongly advise against this Hitech City dealership.

Suffered! Worst pre-sales experience for me. My delivery was postponed twice on the day before. Hell. Had to escalate to Kia’s ASM to smoothen things.

[Dinesh_Malhotra]

Hello everyone,

Like most of the people who are interested (and even have made the bookings) for KIA SONET, I too am/was worried about the suspension and rear space issues highlighted by many, and rightly so. In fact, I have not been able to sleep properly from the day I have made the booking for the car on 3rd November 2020. The earlier short test drives did not help me in any way.

Finally, after much persuasion, today I convinced my Sales Advisor to grant me a long 15KMs Test Drive, which covered a good stretch of highway (Sion Panvel Expressway) and the service road adjacent to it, which is in shambles and crumbling day by day.

Drive Type: TEST
Car: KIA SONET
Model: GTX+
Transmission: Manual (I had made the booking for the Automatic)
Engine: Diesel
Duration: 30-45 minutes
Total Number of Passengers: 4 (including the SA)

Observations

The Car

• It looks great
• The stance is awesome
• Black is the pick of the color
• Upholstery and everything inside looks and feels comfortable
• The car looks big from outside
• The LED lights add to the sporty character of the car
• Inside, space is less when compared to a Tata Nexon, but 4 adults and a child will manage
• Ergonomics are bang on!
• Quality of the materials is the best in the segment

Ergonomics

• The bonnet looks big from inside and gives a feeling of driving a big SUV
• The D-Cut steering is small, chunky and feels great to hold
• The clutch, the dead pedal, the brakes and the accelerator are all at the right place and properly positioned
• The stalks feel good to touch
• Front seats are very comfortable, but the rear seats lack under thigh support
• The front dashboard screen setup eats into the front visibility of the car but, I am sure you'll get used to it in no time
• All buttons are available to touch, but sadly no knobs to manage the infotainment system
• Space available between your head and the roof gets drastically reduced in the variants that come with the sunroof. Do check out in person to see if you can arrange the seat height to your satisfaction when you visit the showroom
• Rear AC vents do their job well and the USB charging slot does come handy
• Glovebox size is average and you will sorely miss the "used-to-exist" features like cooling and lighting inside
• Only Tilt function available for steering adjustment. Another "used-to-exist" feature (telescopic) is missing
• Door Handles inside and outside are good to touch and feel
• Plastic feel and upholstery is top notch!
• Loads of space in the boot

Features

• UVO connect is less useful, but cool!
• Auto headlamps work. No Automatic wipers
• Auto Dimming IRVM is good
• AC with Automatic Climate Control works properly
• Instrument Cluster if filled with more information than you'll need throughout the ownership of this car
• Cruise Control is present and usable
• Steering buttons are good to touch and functional
• The Dance Type (advertised) Mood Lights LED strips are poor and are fitted only on the front doors
• Bose 6.1 Speaker setup is really good (not great)
• All wipers do their job well
• Rear AC vent has good throw
• Air Purifier works but, I am not still not sure if we need one in our cars
• Sunroof didn't have tilt function
• Front Ventilated Cooled Seats are awesome

Drivability

• What you see on the outside from inside is a little less thanks to the small windshield area
• You can see the bonnet properly only after you have setup your seating right
• Steering is light with poor precision. If you are used to Hyundai cars, you won't mind this at all
• Gears slot easy and the clutch is super light for a Diesel. Manual buyers will not be complaining in the long term I feel
• Gearing is good. 3rd gear is the car's favorite!
• Even at the speeds of 120 kmph the car felt nimble yet stable
• Passengers inside tend to slightly move in the opposite direction against the car's
• Body roll is evident and hatchback/sedans users will feel it right away. It's well controlled though
• The passengers were seating comfortably with me driving the car. I am 179cms at height
• The car sticks to road like a leech
• The LED headlamps along with the Projector Fog Lamps are simply superb and brighten up the road ahead quite effectively

Suspension, Ride and Handling

• It's not STIFF!
• It won't break your bones!
• It is not as good as the NEXON's but very much quite there
• At low speeds you will feel the bumps, ever so slightly more than you would on the nexon (not bad at all)
• At fast speeds it would gobble up all the bumps and undulations on the highway, and if you intend do a little soft-roading, it will manage that too with a very few undulations passing through the cabin. If you slow down as would in any hatchback or sedan, this particular problem can be tackled effectively
• Highway manners are great and the car remains stable during fast lane changes
• I want to reiterate that the suspension setup is not at all inferior to any of the hatchbacks or sedans (except TATA) that are available in the Indian Market. It's still a progress when you decide to own a SONET and get on the CSUV bandwagon
• On a normal drive, the ride is supple and mature to be frank!
• At some very, very bad roads with craters, if you are being faster than you should be, some bumps can and will catch you out and surprise you with a nice thud from below. Still, you can continue to ride as the car does not lose its composure or stability

Safety

• NOT RATED BY ANY VERIFIABLE AGENCY in terms of safety and structural integrity
• Car is loaded with safety "features" to the gills
• I do understand that TATAs and M&M have been doing a great job with their safety standards, but then they have problems cropping up in their cars which by themselves can prove to be hazardous from safety point of view on a bad day (just stating my opinion. I had almost decided to book a nexon if not for the horror my siblings and relatives have faced and are facing with the TATAS)
• This car is as safe as your previous hatchback or sedan. So, choose wisely!

Hope this helps!

[Googleman]

Originally Posted by sambhav.jain

The car costed me 13.72 lakhs on road. I took insurance from the dealer and extended warranty of 120000 kms for the 4th and 5th year of ownership which costed me 16k.

Congrats, have a safe driving experience.

I guess your's is the GT line top end if I am not wrong? You guys are really lucky. Literally paying a high price for staying in Bangalore my HTX+ costed me 14.8 on road.

Why would you but a tyre pressure gauge? the vehicle is already equipped with one.

[Speedshift]

The Sonet launched in Indonesia is almost 5 inches longer than the one sold in India. The wheelbase and the trunk capacity remain the same. How is the Indonesian version longer. Bumpers maybe?

[Dinesh_Malhotra]

Originally Posted by Speedshift

The Sonet launched in Indonesia is almost 5 inches longer than the one sold in India. The wheelbase and the trunk capacity remain the same. How is the Indonesian version longer. Bumpers maybe?

More rear seat space I think!

GOI's sub-4 meter rule uniquely, and some times adversely impacts the cars that are sold in India.

[harpreetsubhi]

I somehow feel the car is very overpriced. A petrol DCT GTX+ comes with a 14.7L price tag. This seems too much for a sub 4 meter CSUV. No doubt features are rich and feel very much like the car overall, but does not excite me to buy this car at such a whopping price.