[kaustavguha]

Has anyone who booked the Carens in May/June got delivery or an update regarding the same?

[Dushie]

Originally Posted by kaustavguha

Has anyone who booked the Carens in May/June got delivery or an update regarding the same?

I got an update and posted also in the same thread. My waiting list in Bangalore with my Kia dealer was 126 in June and after a month it came down to 99 , my SA called me and gave this update in last week of July. Hoping more cancellations to happen with Scorpio and other new car launches, that would help in reducing the waiting list. I do not think Kia will push or increase production capacity of low end models Premium and Prestige.

[jthomas]

My booking for Carens D1.5 AT (Black color) was made on March 8th with 20-21 weeks tentative waiting period. I was supposed to get the vehicle this month, but unfortunately, due to leasing vendor being changed at our organization, it will take 4 more month to finalize the new leasing vendor. I thought then its better to take the delivery next year.

Hence I changed the booking color from Black to White. New tentative waiting period is 28-29 weeks.

[kaustavguha]

Originally Posted by Dushie

I got an update and posted also in the same thread. My waiting list in Bangalore with my Kia dealer was 126 in June and after a month it came down to 99 , my SA called me and gave this update in last week of July. Hoping more cancellations to happen with Scorpio and other new car launches, that would help in reducing the waiting list. I do not think Kia will push or increase production capacity of low end models Premium and Prestige.

Originally Posted by jthomas

My booking for Carens D1.5 AT (Black color) was made on March 8th with 20-21 weeks tentative waiting period. I was supposed to get the vehicle this month, but unfortunately, due to leasing vendor being changed at our organization, it will take 4 more month to finalize the new leasing vendor. I thought then its better to take the delivery next year.

Hence I changed the booking color from Black to White. New tentative waiting period is 28-29 weeks.

Thank you for the updates.

I had booked the Luxury Plus Diesel MT 7 seater on 4th of June, the waiting period on the docket was 22-23 weeks, but the SA assured ,me that delivery will be within 8-12 weeks.

He called me on the 12 of July stating that car may arrive towards the end of July or beginning of August. No updates since then, and I haven't enquired either.

[mahesh_sn]

Originally Posted by kaustavguha

Has anyone who booked the Carens in May/June got delivery or an update regarding the same?

I booked top end diesel AT imperial blue on 8th March with tentative waiting period of 20-21 which got over by July end. I am still waiting with no firm commitment from dealer. I am not pushing much either.

[kaustavguha]

Originally Posted by mahesh_sn

I booked top end diesel AT imperial blue on 8th March with tentative waiting period of 20-21 which got over by July end. I am still waiting with no firm commitment from dealer. I am not pushing much either.

Thank you for the response!

I guess I too have to be prepared for a long wait, even after what is mentioned in the booking docket.

[warrioraks]

Someone I know got the Carens petrol top model within 2 weeks of booking. The catch - they did not get a colour choice so had to settle for white.

[furyrider]

Originally Posted by furyrider

My impressions after 2000 Km and 1 month of driving

Update after 4.5 months of ownership and 7000 Km (PP 1.5 Diesel for those wondering the variant)

- The engine/GB now seem to have settled down. Notchy shifts have reduced drastically and the engine pulls more freely. I believe the engine will open-up even more after the first oil change. Mileage has now settled down to around 18-20 highway and 14-16 city depending on the load. For those interested in my mileage logs, please find the screenshot below. Please note that all these were measured using tank-full to tank-full method.



- There seems to be a faint rattle from one of the doors which I am unable to locate. It is not irritating, but one can hear it if they pay attention. Yes, it is that faint.

- As many have already pointed out the plastic cladding is a pain to maintain. Since it is raining every other day, I have stopped worrying about it for now.

- Regarding NVH, the engine which was silent earlier seems to have gotten a wee bit vocal these days. It is not irritatingly loud, but can hear that familiar diesel clatter under hard acceleration. This is more pronounced in the city though. On highways, the engine is barely audible. Most of the noise you hear is tyre/wind noise.

- The headlights seems to be the weakest link on an overall good package. I am contemplating to switch to Philips H4 Xtreme Vision or Hella H4P50TB. Any suggestions are welcome. Noob question: Owner's manual says socket is H19L. Googling reveals H4 will fit the socket. I am not sure if both are the same. Experts, please guide me on this.

- C in Carens stands for condensation. This is a universal issue and so far, based on social media reports, Kia is still experimenting on owners to find a fix. Mine is not as severe (cold to touch mostly) as others have reported, but given the right set of conditions, it will rear it's ugly head.



- Have been driving in the rains a lot lately. The stock MRFs are holding up well for my highway speeds (read as 80-100). The wipers are another story. I could see streaks already. Looks like I have to change them during the first service. I am contemplating frameless wipers, but may stick to stock ones for now.

- The rear hatch door is a dirt magnet. Drive for 5 mins in rain and the entire door + mirror will be covered in dirt. The rear wash/wipe is a must on this vehicle. Sometimes, at the end of long trips, I even wonder how bad the visibility must be if I did not have a wiper at the rear.

- There seems to be an issue with how Kia has configured the hill-hold on the vehicle. The issue is mostly reported by 1.4T owners, but I hardly saw 1.5D owners complaining. A month ago, I had to stop on a incline which was not that steep. When I tried to accelerate, the vehicle stalled thrice and would not move. Luckily the road was wide enough for the traffic to safely pass around me. I gave a pause of 30 sec and tried restarting the vehicle. This time, hill hold was working as intended and the vehicle moved forward without problem. On the three occasions when the vehicle stalled, I felt as if the vehicle was applying brakes even harder if I pressed the throttle. Ideally, the vehicle should release the brakes when it senses that the driver wants to move forward. However, on this rare occasion, the vehicle probably held on to the brakes and did not move forward/back resulting in shuddering and stalling with the vehicle not even moving an inch forward. I tried this multiple times afterwards, but am unable to replicate it. I think this can be fixed with a software update, but am not sure about it. Will report it during the second free service though.

- Regarding the crash tests, enough has been said and discussed on this forum before. Although I am disappointed, I was not expecting more than 3 stars. So, I was sort of mentally prepared for what was to come. Quoting myself from a pervious post below:

Originally Posted by furyrider

I do not expect a rating above 3 though since the Creta and Seltos fared equally poor in crash tests.

My concluding remarks: This is a true blue family vehicle and remains the sole long distance runner and preferred choice in the family for highway runs. I was one of the few lucky ones who got this at the introductory price. So, for the price I paid, I am pretty happy with my decision so far. Sure, it has it's own drawbacks like mediocre safety ratings, an engine that feels moderately powerful, the infamous condensation issue, non functional roof rails (for an MPV - seriously Kia?), etc. But then, the more I use it, the more I begin to appreciate the vehicle for what it is. It is spacious, practical, has decent suspension that handles highways and rough patches equally well, is decently kitted for a mid variant (barring the headlights - the guy who approved these should be asked to drive blindfolded over a cliff), has running costs equal to my old B1 petrol hatch and most importantly keeps my family happy on long drives.

Will the vehicle age well? I don't know. Will this stay with me for a long time to come, oh yes!

[heavenlybull]

So, here are some initial observations of my Prestige Plus TGDI after completing 1,200 km in 2 months. All driving was in the NCR, with mostly 2-3 occupants.

Positives:

- Even though a turbo, the car has acceptable low-end power. It seems that the pulling power at low rpms (1-1.5k) gets better once the engine warms up after the initial 2-3 kms. Believe it or not, I find this car's low-end better than the Honda Brio, which has been my daily ride for the last 9 years.

- The AC is powerful, especially when you turn on the rear one also. Impressed.

- Passenger leg space is fine, unless all 6 passengers are over 5'10.

- The short back rests of the 2nd and 3rd rows can be a boon or bane, depending on your requirements. Since, except me (6'), all the family member are below 5'7, we have no issues at all. Moreover, shorter backrest means that I have a great rear view in the IRVM.

- All round visibility is excellent. Those little windows in the third row help when reversing or checking the IRVM.

Negatives:

- It's a 7 seater, but has only a lap belt for the middle passenger, and no headrest either. That middle space in the second row is for torture only, with a hard seatback and less thigh support.

- Useless mud guards provided by Kia/dealer. They're so small that all the mud/muck splashes onto the plastic claddings. Better get functional ones installed outside.

- Ultra-cheap hollow, plasticky click sounds when operating the horn, and also the power window switches. The official review mentions the same. Looks like it's a trait of all Hyundai cars, since our Grand I10 also has such irritating 'clicks' when using these door buttons.

- Keyless door unlock sensor button is only on the driver side! Man, this is such a horrible miss from Kia. A real convenience feature reduced to half in effectiveness. How many times I have come to the passenger side, and wish that door had the unlock button.

- The front center armrest is fixed too far back, and it's also non-sliding. So, for most people, it'll just be used as an elbow-rest.

- No roof grab handles in the third row. Maybe higher variants have them?

- The headlight leveler is illuminated, but not its dial!

- All door buttons are illuminated, but not the ORVM adjuster.

- The glovebox has a BIG gap inside at the top (refer to the image below), so if you fill it to the top, stuff will easily slide into that gap. I found this the hard way when some leaflets I had kept in there slipped through.

- There should have been an option to manually disable the front parking sensor. It comes on each time you engage the reverse; I find it a nuisance at most times.

- This is my first car with a rear camera, so I don't know if that's how it's supposed to work, but the camera shows objects further away than they really are. The field view and quality of the camera is good though.

Other points: MID showing a mileage of 8-8.5 kmpl. Totally acceptable in the short city runs (AC always on) that I have done (the Brio gives 11). Haven't gone beyond 2K RPM yet, but the turbo does kick in at around 1.5, and gives a strong push!

Overall, Carens is looking to be an excellent family car. I think it's virtues will really shine on the highway trips with our 6-member family aboard. On the other hand, the little negative observations I have made till now means that real attention to detail is lacking in some places.

[sou_3749]

5 month update

I had a chance to check full tank FE with only city drive as the last 2 months the rain gods have stopped me to have any long trips.

Car model : 1.4 T Prestige Plus Manual
Total distance covered : 432 kms
Total fuel consumed : 39.9 ltr
Avg FE calculated : 10.82 kmpl
Avg FE as per MID : 11.8 kmpl
Total drive time : 23 hours. It took me 2 months to fill the tank and the trips were very short. This is with AC 50% of the time but mostly with full load of even 9 people couple of occasions.

Considering the figures in Bangalore traffic in rains, I am convinced that it will not go below 9 kmpl.

And then I had a long drive to Chennai during long weekend.

Upward journey :
Distance covered : 353 km
Avg Speed : this time I kept the speeds around 100+ most of the journey just to check the effect of higher speeds on FE
Load on vehicle: 5 adults and 1 kid with 100kgs of luggage and 100% AC
Avg FE : 17.3 kmpl

Return Journey:
Similar parameters for distance, weight and speed
Avg FE : 16 kmpl
I always find the return journey to have 1.5 kmpl less FE mostly because of altitude difference.

So yes there is negative impact on FE if we go above 90 kmph. Last time the same yielded a FE of 18.5 kmpl when I kept the speeds around 90kmph.

In all these I did find the FE has taken a hit around 1 kmpl. I hope it will improve after oil change.

[technojazz]

Originally Posted by Rimfire

I have similar problem. It’s always the rear left door. It takes an extra effort to close it All other doors shut fine.

Have you found any solution to it. If any, please share it. It would be of much help.

Sorry for the late reply.

Though I had done the PDI for Kia Carens on 10/06/22, Kia Epitome Whitefield decided not to allocate the car to me since I decided to go with external insurance rather than Kia car insurance. This had that door issue, but came with two remote keys.

After a long battle with Kia Epitome Whitefield for this unfair treatment they delivered another Kia Carens on 01/07/22. This car did not have the door issue, but only came with one remote key with a promise to deliver another remote key after 6 months due to chip shortage problem. Essentially, the probable manufacturing defect was sorted in July 2022.

[Rimfire]

Originally Posted by technojazz

Sorry for the late reply.

Though I had done the PDI for Kia Carens on 10/06/22, Kia Epitome Whitefield decided not to allocate the car to me since I decided to go with external insurance rather than Kia car insurance. This had that door issue, but came with two remote keys.

After a long battle with Kia Epitome Whitefield for this unfair treatment they delivered another Kia Carens on 01/07/22. This car did not have the door issue, but only came with one remote key with a promise to deliver another remote key after 6 months due to chip shortage problem. Essentially, the probable manufacturing defect was sorted in July 2022.

Thank you for the reply. But are they correcting the defect on the cars which are already on the roads. Should I mention it to ASS during my second free service( or rather before it, considering my odo runs very slow- 3 and ½ months since delivery and meagre 1700 on the odo). Open to suggestions peeps.

[SakJel]

Hello,

In the past 5 months of owning carens, prestige variant, twice I have faced the issue when the Audio screen was not responding and it was blank. Even when I was putting to reverse gear, the camera was not showing, I had to switch off the car and switched on and it was working fine. Has anyone else faced anything similar.

Cheers........

[ObsessedByFIAT]

Originally Posted by sou_3749

Quoting MID image ....

A little off-topic: Do you normally go as low as 13KM to empty?
I hope not! But if yes, kindly consider filling up as soon as the low fuel warning pops up or better to fill up earlier than that.

Driving with so less fuel in the tank can have adverse effects on the fiel pump and there is also a possibility of getting air in the fuel lines. Both of which can leave you stranded.

Sorry for the unwarranted advice, however could not stop myself from penning this down!

[sou_3749]

Originally Posted by ObsessedByFIAT

A little off-topic: Do you normally go as low as 13KM to empty?
I hope not! But if yes, kindly consider filling up as soon as the low fuel warning pops up or better to fill up earlier than that.

Driving with so less fuel in the tank can have adverse effects on the fiel pump and there is also a possibility of getting air in the fuel lines. Both of which can leave you stranded.

Sorry for the unwarranted advice, however could not stop myself from penning this down!

Really appreciate
The reason I hardly measure tank to tank because my tank never goes below 50%.
However what I observed the low fuel warning comes up when there is still 10 litres of fuel available. So it’s ok to drive with low fuel if you are inside city limits and I was. When I filled up the tank had at least 6 litres of petrol.

This time around I wanted to check if I can make the return journey with 1 tank full which I do normally. Guess what I was not driving a diesel