[sathya.bhat]

This is the ownership report of our new acquisition this month. A maroon red kia sonet. Maximus.

First let me list down my likes and dislikes.

What I like:

• Overall design, especially the front. The car styling gives the impression of a premium car
• Economical and convenient iMT tech. It is easy to get used to and makes driving in city pleasant.
• Decent ride quality. Not as comfy as a Duster but not something owner will complain about.
• Loaded with feature. Gives a good vibe while sitting inside the car.
• Touchscreen unit with Android auto is great to use

What I don't like:

• Rear space is good for two people and a child for long drives. Mostly the width is issue rather than the leg space.
• Real world KMPL of the 1.0 turbo engine could vary heavily. The difference in KMPL during city, spirited driving and relaxed highway cruising could be huge.
• Long term reliability will be a question mark. With issues coming up in multiple Hyundai cars and Seltos, its better to take that extended warranty.
• Kia dealers. Sales guys have been a pain to deal with for many people. Hope their service guys are better and their service centers are equipped to handle large number of Sonets they are selling.

Maximus

All of my friends know that I went through a phase every six months where I was fixed on selling my wife’s beat and getting a new car. It has been going on for the last 2-3 years. I had even posted an ad on team-bhp classified 2 years ago. But, every time I was either not happy with the price I used to get for the Beat or not happy with the choices of new cars. It used to be mostly the former.
Finally, this February major change happened. No, not the pandemic, We were blessed with a baby girl. Soon after lockdowns began and we were happily working from home and spending time with the little one. As the travel restrictions were starting to ease off I thought this is the right time to get a new car.
I casually posted an ad to sell Beat on Olx. Guess what, It got sold off within half a day. Turns out there was good demand for used cars once the lockdowns were lifted and all Maruti/Hyundai hatchback cars were asking premium on the used car market. I got the price that I was expecting from the Beat, which is actually more than what I got even a year ago.

One last drive with our companion for 8 years

Now, there was no backing down, We had to get a new car.
I have a Renault Duster too in the garage which is shared between us and in-laws. Whenever we needed the Duster for highway duty, we used to swap the Beat with Duster. Beat was my wife’s car and we needed a replacement for that now.

Hunt Begins:

One thing that was clear to me during this new car hunt was that the car market looks crowded from the outside. But, when you actually want to buy something with a list of features/items you need in the car, nothing sticks. Finally, we need to compromise on something else the budget goes out of hand.

Our requirements (initial list)

1. Safety - Airbags and Abs
2. Sedan - We both love sedan styling and had decided to take the next car as a sedan long back.
3. Automatic - Next car has to be automatic. Especially since it's a city car.
3. Android Auto - For all the convenience.
4. Projector Headlights
5. LED DRL
6. Features for back seats - Armrest, AC vent, Charging slot, etc
8. Steering mounted control
9. All windows control from the front - as kid and wife/me will be at the back and we need to control car seat side windows
10. Auto Ac

When you see point number 2, almost all the market comes down to 4 cars to us.

Skoda Rapid: The styling of the car was spot-on. We both like it a lot. Especially the red. We took a test drive of 1.0TSI and liked it. I knew the AT will be available soon so we waited for that to launch. When it was launched, we test drove that also.
It has one sweet engine and the AT mated to it is tuned for spirited driving. Even the D mode had a pretty good kick down on acceleration. Put in S and you will get pushed into the seat too. The engine sound was also great to my ears. I was interested in the onyx variant as Montecarlo was too expensive and SA was ready to give discounts up to 60K already.

Hyundai Verna: Looks and interiors feel like a decade ahead compared to Rapid. SX diesel auto was good and covered most of our requirements. It was not available in any of the dealers in Bengaluru. After a week-long wait, we got to test drive it. One thing I noticed was the higher seating position on Verna than Rapid. Verna was added to the shortlist.
Then there was new-gen City - Did not like the styling at all, did not even take the test drive. Same with Nexa Ciaz.

Now, for a twist in the tale:
On one of our usual morning drives, we had to drive past KIA showroom Yeshwanthpur. The showroom was not open yet, but we could see both Seltos and Sonet parked inside. I showed my wife the cars and voila she was sold. She now wanted to check out both, especially the Sonet. This happened between Rapid launch and Rapid automatic launch. We went to the KIA showroom next weekday afternoon. We test drove both cars. After looking at Sonet and Seltos closely, wife was fully sold on Sonet.
As the car will be a replacement for her, her decision was final. Wife found Sonet size perfect for her. She might have driven our Duster a whole of 10KM in the last 5 years. Seltos was again at the same size as Duster. So, Sonet it is.
I must say, if Rapid had auto available from day 1, we would have that parked in our garage than Sonet.

Now, we are looking at C-SUV's, we added more cars to our list and they all needed to beat Kia Sonet.

Hyundai Venue: Straight of the bat, wife did not like the style. Especially the DRL design. But, the ride was good. Loved the DCT gear shifts. Seamless when the driver is light/mild on the accelerator. Features were also good and ticked all of our boxes.

Tata Nexon: Spot on styling, good rear space, nice interior. Even the ride was decent. The major problem was with the AMT. It was too jerky even for my wife. I hadn’t told her that it's an AMT but still, she could make out that something is wrong with this. She had just driven the Venue DCT.
Here too we did not take test drives of XUV300, WRV, etc as we did not like the styling at all. Ecosport is with two of our friends and have driven it extensively. If we take that, it would definitely not feel like driving a new car.

Kia doesn't make it any easy to select the variant. We test drove all three combinations. Petrol iMT and DCT. Diesel 6 speed AT. Especially took a really long test drive of the iMT. In Bengaluru GTX+ and HTX+ auto were costing almost 16L. We felt it’s too expensive for what it offers and decided to go for HTX and iMT. What also worked in its favor is that it's priced at 9,99,000/- ex-showroom. That means huge savings on taxes in Karnataka.

Showroom experience:
In one word, bad. In two words, painstakingly bad.
All was good during test drives, pre-booking, etc. Once the discussion came to the final on-road price, things started to go bad. I got the final price list after a few days of pre-booking. It had the insurance quote with the dealer margin added. I told my SA immediately that either they need to reduce that or I will get it from outside. SA told he would come down and meet me at home to discuss in detail. He came down almost a week later. He outrightly told me that it is mandatory to take insurance from the KIA. I did not agree and told him to share the same in writing or via mail. Complete radio silence from him for the next 2 days. I went down to the dealer and talked with the sales manager. He too told the same thing. Again, when I asked for written confirmation or mail, complete silence.
The issue was that all this delay has made me too late to cancel the booking and book at another dealer. Already the Sonet waiting list was getting bigger. Complete radio silence from the dealer on car arrival or delivery date etc.
Thank god, a friend of mine works at the KIA factory. He kept me in the loop about the vehicle shipping from there and I went to the dealer armed with a VIN number. The dealer had no option but to deliver the car. In the meantime, I bought insurance from a known agent at a good price. I did not even buy mud flaps from the dealer.

Delivery moment

The silver lining in all of this was, at least the delivery day was smooth. We reached there on a rainy Saturday afternoon. It was festival time and the showroom was supposed to be closed for the next three days.They were delivering around 40 cars that day. We just took keys to our car and took off. Surprisingly the tyres had the right pressure. I was happy for that, see how low they had set the bar on expectations.

Sorry for all the useless rant. Lets move on to the car itself.

[sathya.bhat]

A lot has been said and written about this car by now. I still thought of penning down my thoughts for creating a long ownership review rather than just initial impressions.

Exterior:

At the outset, it must be said that Sonet is a handsome looking car. Front on, the car looks a lot bigger than what it actually is.

Front Look

Probably, one of the main reason for this car's demand. Macho looking well designed front. The front has a lot of creases and design elements. The KIA 'Tiger Nose' grill is in matt black with a silver chrome bar surrounding it. The chrome bar has some dotted design pattern to add some interest. Looks better than adding a plain chrome slab. (I am looking at you Honda City!) Wipers are not concealed like in some cars.

Focusing on Fog lights and Headlights

The focus on design is evident here. The headlights are complete LED and DRL's are above it. You can also see the covered tow hook.

LED DRL

I feel this LED design is very classy. Looks bright enough even in day time.

Side look

The bonet line starts pretty high for that aggressive stance. It gradually scoops down towards the front, but it's more gradual than sharp. Again, to get that aggressive look.

Radiator grill

Radiator grill is protected by this. But the gap between the slats is too wide. It won't be able to protect from smaller projectile stones.

Side profile

Body cladding, roof rails, skid plates and flared wheel arches give this car a Compact SUV appearance. The body cladding above the wheel arches even extends a bit on to the rear doors.

Tyres

The tyres are 16" and covered with silver plastic plates. I got Apollo Alnac 4Gs rather than MRF seen in some cars.

Rear quarter profile

This view makes it clear that it's a small car. The rear part again has many cuts and creases. Bumper is almost non-existent. Outermost part will be the red strip connecting the tail lamps.

Tail lamps

Again, Very well designed LED tail lamps. These light up along with the DRL's.

Interior

Front interior view

The HTX variant gets dual tone interiors with dual tone seats. The lighter color here makes the cabin feel more airy and spacious. Almost all the plastics are hard, except inserts on the door pad. Front seats have good side bolstering and they are very comfy. All control fall into hands very easily. I was at home inside the car in around 30 mins. The seat is height adjustable and I have mine at the lowest level. Still, I do not have any issue seeing the road. I can't see the end of bonent though.

Touchscreen unit

The touchscreen here is 8" one rather than the 10'' one present in the top end. I used both and found this system a lot better to use. I think it's mainly due to the physical buttons. There are physical buttons available for most common functions. They make life a lot easier. I am not an audio guy, so I would say the music comes out great through the speakers.

Crowd pleasing feature. Sunroof

The showstopper in the interior is the sunroof. I was not a fan of sunroofs but wife wanted it. But after having it in the car, I too like it. The size is right for the car. It was raining the day we took delivery of the car. On the way back, we had kept the roof inner cover open and it made the cabin a lot brighter. Overall, even if we cant open the sunroof fully, keeping the inner cover open also does improves the ambiance inside the cabin a lot.

Awesome Steering Wheel

The steering wheel is leather wrapped and is great to hold. There are thumb contours for good grip. The HTX variant gets 'sonet' badging. The left side buttons control the media and the right side for the MID. All the buttons are perfectly placed and are tactile to use. The steering is light at slow and parking speeds and weighs up well at higher speeds. It behaves just as you’d expect it to.

Rear interior view

The most discussed point regarding Sonet has to be the rear seats. I was asked this question by people multiple times. To be frank, it is decent for the size of the car. Two people at the back will not have anything to complaint about. If three people sit at the back, based on their sizes they may touch shoulders.

Rear space

I am 5.11'' and there is enough space for the rear passenger behind me. There is enough creature comfort at the back (Rear AC, Power outlet and arm rest) to keep the rear passengers happy too.

Boot

The boot is good enough for our requirements. The spare wheel is steel and of 15" size.

Drive and Handling

Engine bay

1.0L turbo-petrol engine puts out 118 BHP & 172 Nm. Car needs to be in Neutral to start the vehicle. Otherwise it will chime and MID shows text asking to shift to N. Once started, engine noise isn't intrusive inside the cabin. I do not even feel much vibrations. My benchmark here is Duster and Beat (Pretty low!) To start off, just slot the gear to 1st or 2nd and as you release the brake car will start to roll forward. One point that has come up in Sonet thread seems to be that is there Hill Hold Assist on HTX variant. I can confirm that it isn't available. But, If you start the vehicle in 1st gear on a slope, the car will roll back like a half wheel. Then, the iMT system understands the role and adjusts to half-clutch and the car will stop/start moving forward. So, owners need to get adjusted to this. Another thing to get adjusted is during reversing. Owners need to be careful with the accelerator during reversing. It can jump off suddenly.
The lack of a clutch makes it very easy to drive around in city traffic. There are no jerks that would otherwise have been felt while the clutch was released. There’s no “head nod” of an AMT either. After driving for 250KM, I have found out the best way to shift is; Let go off the accelerator, Start pushing the gear lever slightly (this seems to give iMT hint to engage clutch)
Then complete the gear shift and get back on the accelerator. This sequence gives me shift time/quality that are of the same level that I used to achieve in manual cars. It is very enjoyable to use this transmission and go through the gears. But as you can see there is a definite learning curve here. My wife got used to this and is enjoying driving it now. My father-in-law is not so impressed. He feels it is confusing and will need to spend some time learning.
Turbo lag, if any, is masked well by the transmission. Power delivery is linear and driveability is very good. The MID will warn the driver with continuous chimes if the revs are too low and ask the driver to shift down. It will also warn you if you shift up too early (under ~1,000 rpm). If a driver shifts up too early, the engine will not complain or knock. Actually you can’t stall this engine.
The car can comfortably cruise at 40 km/h in 3rd gear with the engine spinning at ~1,750 rpm. On the highway, the iMT is just excellent. The gap between iMT and full automatic becomes too narrow on highways. The car is almost like an automatic car. Mid-range performance is strong and most of the time, there is enough power and torque to make good progress. I have been limiting top speed to 80KMPH for now, and it comes up in a flash. The engine comes into its powerband at 2,000 rpm. Cherry on top is that, The engine sounds good at high rpm.
Surprisingly, the ride is compliant. It is not as cushy as my Duster, but the suspension isn't bone-jarring either. On fully broken roads, it does get jiggly, but it’s never harsh. Either me or wife will have to be in the rear seat along with the kid and we have found it a comfortable place to be in. Even undulations on the road are dealt with very well. I have not pushed the car beyond 80 till now so can’t comment on tyre quality or on body roll. Brakes are very strong and stop the car well. Again, I had to re-calibrate myself after a few regular braking became like emergency braking.


Some Random Points about the car

Classy analog clock that can be set as screensaver


Zooming in on the matt black grill. It gathers a lot of dust.


The 8" system supports wireless android auto. But, I keep getting this error. It is working via USB though.

My current odo is at ~300KM and I see on the MID economy as 13-14KMPL. I have not gone above 80 yet and all the drive has been with AC on. I will get the exact number only during my next tankful.

Overall, Maximus has been a good car for us. It has met all of our expectations. I am foreseeing issues at KIA when they need to manage the service of all these cars they have sold. Even now none of dealers in Bengaluru are having accessories. Not even mud flaps. I strongly recommend getting that extended warranty for peace of mind.

Signing off, few parking shots. Hoping for a long and happy ownership.

Until next time.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

Your car is going to our homepage today .

[vigsom]

Congratulations on both the new arrivals, @sathya.bhat !!!

Enjoy your little Red Riding Hood.

A few observations:

Originally Posted by sathya.bhat

I casually posted an ad to sell Beat. Guess what, It got sold off within half a day.

I got the price that I was expecting from the Beat, which is actually more than what I got even a year ago

Just goes to prove yet again that one shouldnt sell a car in desperation. Playing the waiting game pays, and this is the best strategy that used car dealers adopt.

decided to go for HTX and iMT, priced at 9,99,000/- ex-showroom. That means huge savings on taxes in Karnataka

Wise decision; it is unfortunate that we have such bad road tax policies in some states, making one compromise on some important features eg.rear wash wipe.

It looks like your car doesn't have this feature.

He outrightly told me that it is mandatory to take insurance from the KIA

Think Kia in India and two things come to mind first - dadagiri with insurance and tension about brakes deployment.

No entity can force anything on a customer; just shows their business ethics.

Beware of the dealer trying to "recover" the margins on lost insurance via inflated service costs.

The HTX variant gets dual tone interiors with dual tone seats.

There are physical buttons available for most common functions. They make life a lot easier.

Nicely designed seats with fabric inside and leatherette on the sides and back.

In India, it is extremely important to have a HU with a few physical buttons. I've seen many Honda Citys with "dancing" touchscreens in just 2 years.

Enjoy the ride !!!!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Congrats on the 'red' Sathya. So many prospects came and went over the years - but it's the Sonet finally that won the garage.

HTX iMT is true VFM in the Sonet range, especially in Bangalore with the 9.99L pricing IMHO. You get the brilliant TGDi motor, the convenience of not having the clutch pedal, lots of features from all LED everything to the sunroof etc. No competing variants from the upper segment to confuse either - because at GTX prices - I ended up wondering if the Seltos HTK+ made better sense than the Sonet.

Did you try the wireless android auto with a different phone?

[aan nhu mare?]

Congrats on your new car.
I have a question regarding the iMT: How long did it take you to get used to it? Is it really as simple to use as advertised or are there some adjustment issues?

[sathya.bhat]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Congratulations on both the new arrivals, @sathya.bhat !!!

Enjoy your little Red Riding Hood.

Thanks a lot.

Originally Posted by vigsom

It looks like your car doesn't have this feature.

No, HTX variant does not get a rear wiper.

Originally Posted by vigsom

Think Kia in India and two things come to mind first - dadagiri with insurance and tension about brakes deployment.

No entity can force anything on a customer; just shows their business ethics.

Beware of the dealer trying to "recover" the margins on lost insurance via inflated service costs.

Actually, it is the dealer who is trying to bully the buyer. I got a reply from KIA officially that insurance isn't mandatory to be bought from them. But, definitely, KIA can do more to bring transparency here.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Congrats on the 'red' Sathya. So many prospects came and went over the years - but it's the Sonet finally that won the garage.

Thanks a lot.
Yeah, I am glad that I waited, got a good price on Beat, and got a good car too.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

HTX iMT is true VFM in the Sonet range, especially in Bangalore with the 9.99L pricing IMHO. You get the brilliant TGDi motor, the convenience of not having the clutch pedal, lots of features from all LED everything to the sunroof etc. No competing variants from the upper segment to confuse either - because at GTX prices - I ended up wondering if the Seltos HTK+ made better sense than the Sonet.

Yep. I had to decide whether to pay premium also for DCT on top of the TDGi. I decided not to and selected iMT

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Did you try the wireless android auto with a different phone?

Yes, with my wife's phone. Dint work. I am visiting service center today. Will get it checked.

Originally Posted by aan nhu mare?

I have a question regarding the iMT: How long did it take you to get used to it? Is it really as simple to use as advertised or are there some adjustment issues?

Thanks a lot.
I got adjusted to driving it pretty quickly, around 10KM of driving in city. I had even taken a test drive of venue iMT and liked it too. All will depend on how confidant is the driver. What you need to focus on is keeping the left leg free (not to use it to brake) and let off the accelerator and do the gear shift. One thing is for sure, a manual driver can get adjusted to iMT, but an automatic driver will face issues.

[Raghu M]

Congratulations on your new car. It really looks great indeed. I did look at the Sonet but booked the XUV300 only because I was not sure Kia would be able to handle such sales volumes well. I am not confident that Kia would do a good job at ASS. While we will have to wait and watch, please keep us posted on your experience after services. Sorry that your showroom experience did not go well. When I called Kia, they said the TD vehicle was not available and did not get back to me after that. I did not follow up as it is their responsibility to reach out to customers. On the other hand, M&M Hyd (VVC Motors) was very cordial. They arranged a TD vehicle on my first visit to the showroom. The sales guy was also pretty reasonable in his approach. I told him that I would not take insurance at their showroom and he immediately said ok. He also asked me for my quotation and said they will try to match that quote which was very good to hear.

Wish you happy miles of driving.

[Speedshift]

Originally Posted by sathya.bhat

Attachment 2074084
The 8" system supports wireless android auto. But, I keep getting this error. It is working via USB though.

For wireless Android Auto the phone should be on Android 11 and support 5GHZ WI-FI.

[born.4thnov]

Thanks for the exhaustive review. Loved it - Team BHP style. I would agree with you on one thing in the review, the showroom experience. This happened to me exactly one year back when I was scouting for a new car and ended up in the KIA showroom looking at the Seltios. My budget was 13 lakhs and KIA sonet had a petrol version available at the price range to suit my needs. I wanted to have a test drive of the same and was bluntly refused by the executive and the showroom manager saying that " If you don't want to book please don't waster our time sir. We give test drive only to people who have asked for it after booking".

Now, I own a Ciaz and I am happy with the car. It fulfils all my needs, though not as sturdy as I would have liked it to be.

All the best with your car and happy and safe driving.

[shibujp]

Congrats on the buy. Wish you many more happy miles with Maximus.

I test drove a Sonet over the weekend. The diesel AT though and not the petrol. As you mentioned it's a very easy car to get used to and the space on the rear seat was more than I expected. The Venue felt a bit more cramped in the rear seat.

I drove the top end Sonet with the black interiors. I feel that the dual tone looks much better and as you said convey a sense of space.

Luckily for me here in TVM, the showroom experience is pretty decent. Yes there is quite a rush but a test drive was obligingly provided in a short span of time. But follow-up is poor which since I am not looking for a serious purchase is ironically good since I don't have to deal with the sales calls. I faced something similar at the VW showroom where the SA told me that I will have to take 30K worth of accessories just to book an Polo Highline Plus AT.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[bhansali_hardik]

Hey! Congrats. Which dealer did you go to? I bought mine from JSP Hosur road and can literally reverberate line to line on the overall experience of buying and using and why I chose the HTX iMT.

Either ways, save your trip to the dealer. You need android 11 on your phone to project wirelessly/Google samsung phone.

[SideView]

If sales was such pain, i wonder how the aftersales would be. Keep this thread updated. I wonder how things would have been if you had no contacts.

Stunning colour. Happy motoring.

[PrasannaDhana]

Congratulations on the Sonet!

The car looks cute

I was surprised to see the pic of the cabin. I mean I haven't seen the dual tone interiors before. All I saw was the black interiors which i felt was too claustrophobic. The dual tone actually looks superb to me.

Wishing you lakhs of km on the new car!

PS: I used a Chevy beat too (diesel) for 3 years and 90,000 km before replacing it. It was such a nice little car. Was nice to see your beat

[NFS2024]

Hey congrats on your ride and for the initial ownership reviews.

I have booked a Venue iMT myself and hopefully it will be equally good.

I started seeing the Sonet on the road regularly now and looks like most of the customers were forced to buy the chrome package. The exterior looks yuck with all those chrome everywhere and spoils the looks of the car.