[praveenkkr]

Originally Posted by SafeDrive

1) The right and left mirrors don't do overall justice to cover such a large car. I have not been able to adjust them to a point where I can see the top and bottom portion of the rear of the car.

Sensors are only for some kind of 2nd estimate, cannot be always dependable, unlike a camera.
I've come across many situations where the Sensor didn't work.
For e.g, there was a small wall, which was around 1ft tall, to the hieght of the front bumper. the sensor didn't make any sound while parking car facing this wall. I stopped the car based on my judgement and got down to see how close it was. Luckily, it was JUST touching the bumper and would have damaged the bumper if I had moved any further.
There is feedback from owners where the sensor didn't work when there is some mud deposited on it.

Originally Posted by SafeDrive

3) The mileage shown in the MID is much more than the mileage calculated in the full tank to full tank method. I've mentioned this to the service center during the first service, but nothing's been done so far. They required more time to check into this and I've told them that I will bring it in another day. The best mileage I've got is around 18 (mainly highway) with the worst being a little above 7 (short city runs).
4) The temperature shown in the MID is not right. This is specifically true if the car has been parked outside for some time and then driven for a few minutes. I've had instances where the temperature shown has been in the high 40s. This too has been pointed out to the service center and they checked and responded that the sensors fine. The next time I took pictures to show them, but they were not able to find the cause.

Both these issues are common to each and every car. Don't get into trouble by asking SC to fix it

Originally Posted by SafeDrive

5) And the big daddy of them all - DPF.

This DPF regen is not at all reliable and there is not proper way to know what really causes the accumulation/error.
They should have given some way to know the % of blockage, instead of sudden warning.
My cousin's Venue got this error in 1 week of car purchase. That too, he had driven only on highway and refuelled it only once.
He took it to SC and they struggled to clear it. It appeared again when he just drove it back to his home and had to visit some senior technician for getting it rectified. Hasn't come back after that, it has been 2 months now.
My Carens, on the other hand, hasn't got it (touch wood) in last 6 months, have done 4000 KMs, mostly city driving!

[ImranHyd]

Originally Posted by SafeDrive

3) The mileage shown in the MID is much more than the mileage calculated in the full tank to full tank method. I've mentioned this to the service center during the first service, but nothing's been done so far. They required more time to check into this and I've told them that I will bring it in another day. The best mileage I've got is around 18 (mainly highway) with the worst being a little above 7 (short city runs).

I believe the MID calculation is an approximate guess and this guess is usually towards higher side.

The difference between mileage displayed on MID and actual mileage (tank-full to tank-full) usually hovers between 1 and 2 kmpl in my Vitara Brezza (Diesel). But on my Carens D AT it is more than 2 kmpl. The odometer reading is yet to reach 2000 kms but I have filled tank thrice till now. The difference on most recent tank fill was ~ 3 ( MID calculation was 16.5 while actual was 13.77). I hope the calculation becomes more accurate with more driving.

[ImranHyd]

Originally Posted by ant_vas

have a Carens D AT and so far have done 11.8K KMs.

What is the actual mileage you are getting (Tankful to Tankful) ?

[India2022]

Originally Posted by vishk12

Only Prestige & Prestige Plus variants have Wireless Android Auto, higher variants - Luxury & Luxury Plus have wired Android Auto

You are right here. We did not realised that maps we seeing in our car were actually coming from car inbuilt gps navigation system, not from phone .
So Luxury plus has inbuilt GPS navigation device with maps loaded, no need of phone for navigation (probably Kia intentionally not provided wireless android auto so that you use car inbuilt navigation, and if really need to use phone map, then connect using a wire)

[India2022]

Issue with Auto-rain sensing windshield wipers of Carens:

A very dangerous issue faced by my relative with auto rain sensing wiper. He was on a highway drive with family when heavy rain started. Rain was so heavy as if cloud burst. And the rain sensing wiper stopped working. He was on highway and other vehicles running so could not slow or stop the car or change the lane. So dangerous and he was not able to see. Somehow used manual one time trigger wiper button and managed to drive and rain become normal after 15 mins then wiper start working.

This seems either fault in our car wiper system or Carens has not been tested for heavy rains where it failed.

Now following up with local service center to find what was the issue.

Did anybody else faced this issue?

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by India2022

Issue with Auto-rain sensing windshield wipers of Carens:

And the rain sensing wiper stopped working.

Somehow used manual one time trigger wiper button and managed to drive and rain become normal after 15 mins then wiper start working.

This seems either fault in our car wiper system or Carens has not been tested for heavy rains where it failed.

The wiper stalk will have the following positions :
1. off
2. auto (uses the rain sensor)
3. wiper speed 1
4. wiper speed 2
5. pull once to initiate one time sweep

So when position 2 stopped working, are you saying your friend had to resort to 5 in a continuos human loop, instead of using either 3 or 4 ?

[India2022]

Yes he used option 5 in continuous human loop. Let me ask further if he knows/tried option 3 and 4!! Thanks a lot

[guru_to_be]

Hi all, Would like to post a quick few review points after almost 5 months of ownership and close to 8000Kms of running. I won't be repeating what people have already posted but would want to give some opinions for sure. I own Luxury Plus Diesel Auto.

a. Most of the reviews I've read or watched on youtube share similar opinions whether its Mileage, Ride Comfort, Features, Power etc. Its a lovely Car, period! More SUVish than an MPV. More comfort & luxury than the competition. The direct competitor Ertiga is not a bad car at all, in fact the newer version aces it's game but Carens is a better car overall and the price difference is justified. In fact, it matched our requirements better than what Safari, XUV700, Alcazar had to offer overall.

b. Wired Android Auto / Carplay in Luxury Plus models - this to me seems like a deliberate attempt by Kia so that the users enjoy Bose speaker system. Bluetooth audio is just about okay. But if you really want to enjoy true Bose, connect those wires and see the difference. Many users are feeling less sound at the rear seats - please adjust the Fad and incline the sound more towards the rear. This would balance volume across all rows. If you're more of a bluetooth audio user, this would also help you hear the bass coming from the woofer which is placed at the last seat making the overall music experience better.

c. It seems that the Rear doors are lighter than the front ones. The Bonet and Boot Doors are decent heavy. Overall I feel the rear and front are well built but the build quality for rear doors is a tad compromised or could have been better. Recently a bike crashed my car from the rear damaging one of the taillights and putting a small dent just above the "Auto" badge. Surprisingly the rear bumper absorbed the crash really well without breaking anything. I feel the bumpers have been designed smartly to take minor crashes like these really well.

d. There are hardly any rattles overall even after almost 8000kms of usage. Most of the rattles observed so far were from those little things kept here and there.

e. I was in the market for almost a year test driving multiple options and finally chose Carens. Budget was never an issue, but ride comfort and body roll was paramount for us in the family. There is far less Body roll in Carens as compared to the other SUVs and MPVs I test drove. The best car in terms of ride comfort and body roll (amongst all the options in the market) was Hexa followed by Carens. Though Hexa is no longer available, a used one was always on my mind. However, test driving Carens twice helped in ironing out the options quickly. I wanted to keep what I buy for a good 8-10 years and a used Hexa could have been troublesome in later years for obvious reasons hence the Carens. Those looking for ride comfort, you can buy Carens with closed eyes. Important point to note though - if you're coming from a large size hatch or sedans even, Carens will feel like having little bit of body roll at slow speeds when going over bumps, specially while going over speed breakers diagonally (sometimes you need to in those odd parkings or coming out of malls etc).

f. Pickup - Have driven on almost all terrains so far with as much as 7 full grown adults and weekend luggage and found no power issues whatsoever with Diesel Auto. the power is just about enough and the car never has to stress. Note: I hardly ever put on sports mode!

g. Cold engine - There is diesel clatter like noise that filters into the cabin till the time the engine picks up it's ideal temperature. This I believe is a Diesel Engine characteristic. Once the temperate hits mid-point on the display, it feels like a smooth petrol engine. Revs like one too! Simply superb!

h. Condensation Issue - It's there, surely there! However, I am ignoring it for now. I don't want my car to be parked or played around with at the SVC till the time a confirmed solution is out. I keep the rear AC vents open as much as possible so that the air passes through rather than being stalled thereby increasing the condensation issue.

I have not posted many common opinions that have already been talked about in the forum. However, I'd love to answer any questions the new owners may have.

[Knightrider]

Originally Posted by guru_to_be

Hi all, Would like to post a quick few review points after almost 5 months of ownership and close to 8000Kms of running.

Very nicely summarized.

My requirements, comparisons and experience with Carens so far are all same as you have mentioned.

I see you are from Pune. We can have a Carens meet-up with other fellow Punekars some time.

[ImranHyd]

Originally Posted by guru_to_be

In fact, it matched our requirements better than what Safari, XUV700, Alcazar had to offer overall.

Exactly same scenario here. Alcazar was outright rejected for want of space while XUV700 was too costly if I needed all the features. AX5 doesn't provide cruise control feature.

No complains till now - 2000 kms covered.

How did you find the LED headlights?

[praveenkkr]

Originally Posted by guru_to_be

If you're more of a bluetooth audio user, this would also help you hear the bass coming from the woofer which is placed at the last seat making the overall music experience better.

Woofer is on the dashboard, AFAIK.

[pavi]

Originally Posted by praveenkkr

Woofer is on the dashboard, AFAIK.

You meant sub woofer or just the 6.5 inch woofers? If it is sub woofer, it will be kept in the boot, as the bass from it will make the dashboard vibrate like crazy. Also for sound staging I believe the sub need to be kept in the boot.

[ajkail]

Originally Posted by guru_to_be

h. Condensation Issue - It's there, surely there! However, I am ignoring it for now. I don't want my car to be parked or played around with at the SVC till the time a confirmed solution is out. I keep the rear AC vents open as much as possible so that the air passes through rather than being stalled thereby increasing the condensation issue.

Your update comes at the most opportune time (for me atleast) picked up a Carens LP Diesel Auto couple of days ago, mostly concur with your assessment. That said the aforementioned Condensation Issue is something I plan to watch closely, hopefully it is resolved at the source by now, your tip to keep all vents open is something I intend to adhere to.

Also, while I have your attention, what has been your experience with the LED Headlamps? I have pottered around a bit in the night on dark roads in the city & found them to be adequate, will be good to have your thoughts, especially if you are considering an upgrade.

[guru_to_be]

Originally Posted by ajkail

Your update comes at the most opportune time (for me atleast) picked up a Carens LP Diesel Auto couple of days ago, mostly concur with your assessment. That said the aforementioned Condensation Issue is something I plan to watch closely, hopefully it is resolved at the source by now, your tip to keep all vents open is something I intend to adhere to.

Also, while I have your attention, what has been your experience with the LED Headlamps? I have pottered around a bit in the night on dark roads in the city & found them to be adequate, will be good to have your thoughts, especially if you are considering an upgrade.

I am happy that you found the review to be helpful. The LED Headlamps are generally and mostly OK. The problem is mostly during rains. I drove this car extensively during this monsoon both during long (500Kms +) and short trips (~50-200 Kms) and found it to be inadequate during rains specially on roads with inadequate street lights + oncoming traffic. It could also be dangerous on those roads with faded or no colors on road dividers (please exercise caution) but otherwise its just inadequate enough to not being able to spot difference between rough road and potholes.

[volkman10]

Over 44,000 Kia Carens recalled over faulty airbag control unit.

Kia India has issued a recall for 44,174 units of the Carens MPV to inspect any potential error with the Airbag Control module/unit (ACU) software.

The company has confirmed that 44,174 units of the Kia Carens will be part of this recall campaign, and Kia will directly reach out to the owners of the concerned vehicles to update them about this voluntary recall campaign. Customers of the affected vehicles would be required to get in touch with their respective Kia Authorized dealers to schedule an appointment. Kia will inspect the ACU module and if required, a software update will be provided free of cost.

Link