Kia Carens Review

SR-71 · 26th June 2022, 14:51

Moneycontrol has an aptly titled article

Quote:

Kia fares poorly in global crash safety rating, highlights dual standards of MNC carmakers for India
Link

Playing the devil's advocate, building safe cars cost money, and expensive cars are not fast moving in the mass market segment. Unless the government sheds the obnoxious taxation policy, I am not sure if there is a positive way out for this for the mass market. And in this context, we have to appreciate the Tatas and Mahindras for rolling out 5 star candidates!

Dushie · 26th June 2022, 20:03

Booked Carens today went for Prestige 1.5 have paid booking advance . Went for white color , waiting period is 75 weeks. So it's wait and watch now of how things go. I informed them that I will be doing my own insurance, for accesories told them I want only 3d mats , boot mat and mud flaps. Dealer was fine with that

Opted 4th and 5th year extended warranty upto 120000 kms. Did not go for unlimited kms. Just wondering if spending 19k for 4th and 5th year warranty makes sense as 3 years is already there.Total cost is coming upto 13.5 lakhs currently with the options chosen.

SafeDrive · 27th June 2022, 10:55

I've been wanting to have a dashcam installed in my Carens. The dealer does not have one, probably because it is not an accessory from Kia. I've taken the KIA convenience package with the warranty being extended to 5 years. I'd like to have a dashcam that would not null this warranty and I'm also not keen on having wires hanging open in the car.
Has anyone installed a dashcam in their Carens? I live at Trivandrum and would also be interested to know on a reliable shop where I can get this installed.

Cheers

Meph1st0 · 27th June 2022, 11:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by SafeDrive

I'd like to have a dashcam that would not null this warranty and I'm also not keen on having wires hanging open in the car.
Cheers

Using a dashcam should not void the warranty in any way as long as wires are not cut. This thread (The Dashcam / Car Video Recorder (DVR) Thread)is a gold mine of information on installation as well as the type of dashcams.

The installation is fairly simple and can be done yourself as the cable can be easily routed through the rubber beading (there will not be any wires dangling around) and then connected to a USB charger. This is the simplest of the different installation methods and can be done in a few minutes.

vinbie2019 · 27th June 2022, 12:35

I'm in market for a second car, my usage will be all within Bangalore city, 20 to 30 kms per day for work and pleasure, hardly i do any highway trips. My first car is a used Ignis and this time family wants only a brand new car. We are small family of 3. 22 lakhs is our sweet spot as budget. Because of less usage, do not want to go further on budget. Car will be used by myself and wife equally.
It has to be a SUV to tackle Bangalore roads and seasonal flooding. Steering tuned for city speeds and tight space parkings. I'm getting little impatient nowadays at parking, will love a 360 degree camera. But since that filters out major bunch of cars, want to keep it an optional. I have all major car showrooms and service centers within 5 kms circumference. It has to be a Petrol and but hating turbo in small capacity engines, due to initial turbo lag.
Here are cars we test drove, based on my requirements mentioned above,
Mahindra Thar: Scored 4/10 for my requirements, too bumpy and U-Turns needs some work, no reverse camera, petrol super fun, but no efficient. but loved that respect on road.
Mahindra XUV 700: Scored 6/10. Only diesel was offered for test drive, meet all my requirements - 360 camera, steering was easy to use, infotainment system and gizmos are cool. Panoramic sunroof is a wow. Over my budget and felt too big for my use.
Hyundai Creta: 5/10, test drove 1.4P DCT, almost no initial turbo lag. It has everything that we wanted. Didn't felt like an upgrade from Ignis may be due to dark interiors.
Kia Carens: Scored 8/10: Neat 1.4P DCT, easy steering, Ease of drive in city traffic, AC, 10.5 inch display, privacy shade, huge list of features for 22 lakhs. Damn only missed feature is 360 camera. Negatives are the poor 3 star crash rating and initial turbo lag. Scored better than Creta as family liked the space and openness of the cabin.

Carens is meeting almost all my requirements, so planning to make a booking, Should i consider any other SUV? In few words my requirement is SUV, Petrol, no initial lag, City driving and spacious.

SakJel · 27th June 2022, 14:03

Hello,

I would like to know can we use maruti genuine OEM alloys of ertiga in carens, 15 inch alloy as they are also 5 studs, and change the centre cap. Is it possible?

Any other suggestion for 15 inch OEM alloys of any other brand of 5 studs will be highly appreciated.

Cheers...........

jain1982 · 27th June 2022, 15:36

Hello All,

I got my delivery of 1.4 7DCT Luxury Plus 7 seater on 19th June 2022.
Sorry for the delayed post, since was occupied with couple of things.

Delivery experience was quite good. Whatever accessories I requested, all were already fitted when we reached showroom. I already got my number, so car number plates were also fitted. Most of the paperwork was also done. Delivery was hassle free and it took not more than 1 hour for the delivery to take place.

Even though fast tag deduction were already done, but fast tag was not pasted. SA said some minor thing was pending, so they delivered fast tag to my home next day.

Its been a week, and I am already in love with this beast. Already covered 500+ KM in a week.

Mostly juggling between Delhi-Noida-Ghaziabad and take once to Murthal for one wedding via EPE.

Highway Mileage is 18+
Normal city traffic, mileage is 13-14 kmpl and bumber-to-bumber traffic it drops down to even 6-7 kmpl.

Average mileage its showing 12.7 kmpl in MID currently, which I think should improve after first service.

Few things I want to know:

1) Is their any way by which when I start my car, it start in a particular drive mode (e.g. Eco). Currently, whatever driving mode is set, after I re-start the car, it always start by default in normal mode.

2) Is their any way by which when I start my car, traction control gets automatically OFF. Currently, whenever car is started, by default it is always ON.

3) I also experienced twice the issue when android auto suddenly stopped working. I think others also experienced such issue. Any advise for that ?

4) So far, did not encountered AC condensation issue.

5) Door close issue, as reported by other users, I also encountered. Though I myself closed the doors properly, but 3-4 times, after reaching back to home/office, I got alert from KIA connect that your door was not closed properly. So I had to do that remotely.

Any advise for above issues is welcomed.

Thanks

NivasBaskaran · 27th June 2022, 16:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by SafeDrive

I've been wanting to have a dashcam installed in my Carens. The dealer does not have one, probably because it is not an accessory from Kia. I've taken the KIA convenience package with the warranty being extended to 5 years. I'd like to have a dashcam that would not null this warranty and I'm also not keen on having wires hanging open in the car.
Has anyone installed a dashcam in their Carens? I live at Trivandrum and would also be interested to know on a reliable shop where I can get this installed.

Cheers

I have installed dashCam on my vehicle. In fact, I drove the vehicle to home from showroom with dashCam installed. I haven't connected hardware kit to fuse box for parking monitoring. Mine will get on once the vehicle is powered on.

I bought 70mai Pro Plus+ dual channel dashCam from nexdigitron website. Took it with me to showroom when going to take the vehicle for delivery. I thought to install it myself. Its very easy. But got help from showroom guys (off the record). Since, mine is dual channel, need to take the wires to rear side also. They helped to take wires to back by tucking it under roofline. For front, they took it through A pillar, and behind glove box.

It is connect to 12V socket. Only visible wire is from the Glove box to socket (around 10cm). Don't have photos, may be will share later.

Don't worry. If you connect to socket or USB ports, it won't void warranty.

Dushie · 28th June 2022, 08:48

Query for folks using Premium and Prestige 1.5 Petrol.
What is the fuel efficiency you are getting.
Is the 1.5 petrol engine good. Heard fuel efficiency of 1.4 turbo petrol is lower than that of 1.5. Also as 1.5 Petrol comes with 15" inch wheels, are they good enough or does one need to upgrade to 16". Will upgrading wheel size impact fuel efficiency for 1.5 petrol.

jain1982 · 28th June 2022, 10:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinbie2019

I'm in market for a second car, my usage will be all within Bangalore city, 20 to 30 kms per day for work and pleasure, hardly i do any highway trips. My first car is a used Ignis and this time family wants only a brand new car. We are small family of 3. 22 lakhs is our sweet spot as budget. Because of less usage, do not want to go further on budget. Car will be used by myself and wife equally.
It has to be a SUV to tackle Bangalore roads and seasonal flooding. Steering tuned for city speeds and tight space parkings. I'm getting little impatient nowadays at parking, will love a 360 degree camera. But since that filters out major bunch of cars, want to keep it an optional. I have all major car showrooms and service centers within 5 kms circumference. It has to be a Petrol and but hating turbo in small capacity engines, due to initial turbo lag.
Here are cars we test drove, based on my requirements mentioned above,
Mahindra Thar: Scored 4/10 for my requirements, too bumpy and U-Turns needs some work, no reverse camera, petrol super fun, but no efficient. but loved that respect on road.
Mahindra XUV 700: Scored 6/10. Only diesel was offered for test drive, meet all my requirements - 360 camera, steering was easy to use, infotainment system and gizmos are cool. Panoramic sunroof is a wow. Over my budget and felt too big for my use.
Hyundai Creta: 5/10, test drove 1.4P DCT, almost no initial turbo lag. It has everything that we wanted. Didn't felt like an upgrade from Ignis may be due to dark interiors.
Kia Carens: Scored 8/10: Neat 1.4P DCT, easy steering, Ease of drive in city traffic, AC, 10.5 inch display, privacy shade, huge list of features for 22 lakhs. Damn only missed feature is 360 camera. Negatives are the poor 3 star crash rating and initial turbo lag. Scored better than Creta as family liked the space and openness of the cabin.

Carens is meeting almost all my requirements, so planning to make a booking, Should i consider any other SUV? In few words my requirement is SUV, Petrol, no initial lag, City driving and spacious.

I just got delivered Carens 1.4P DCT a week back, and let me tell you its a fun to drive car. Very relaxed and enjoyable.

But for a family of only 3, it isn't oversized ? You can also consider Kia Seltos if its fir your requirement.

Also, can be considered are Kushaq and Taigun.

thiagust · 30th June 2022, 17:27

I took a test drive of the vehicle. My observations

1. The steering felt so tight. Got sometime to get used to.
2. The under thigh support in the driver's seat wasn't adequate for me and I felt I had to really stretch out to reach the accelerator pedal. I'm 5'10 and I'm not sure whether this is simply because I'm driving an MPV for the very first time. Any views on this?
3. Brakes were really adequate , but the pedal felt hard.
4. The second and third rows were good. The family liked it.
5. Fit and finish was really good.
6. The SA mentioned that the quality of the doors were good , I might feel a good thud, but was nothing close to my VW.
7. The car has done only 3K kms , but was able to hear consistent rattling on the rear door , I was doing hardly 50KMPH.
8. Ventilated seats were good.
9. The ride quality was good.
10. The seats on the back did not feel adequate in the sense they did not cover the entire back. Not sure if this was because of the bench seat , if we go for the 6 seater , might be different.

I have been taking a TD of a lot of cars in the last week. So far the only standout candidate has been Virtus & XUV 700. Requested TD from Tata & Maruti , not even a callback so far.

My next car needs to be there for at least 10 years. Would KIA fare well in that department?. My GT is 9 years old and will go on easily for another 6 years.

praveenkkr · 1st July 2022, 11:04

Quote: